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| Abbreviation | OPAL |
|---|---|
| Formation | 1949 |
| Founded at | London |
Main organ | OPAL, The OPAL Journal |
The Oriental Philatelic Association of London, or OPAL, is a philatelic society whose members specialise in the philately of the area covered by the former Ottoman Empire and the states around the Eastern Mediterranean from Libya to the former Yugoslavia.
The society was formed on 8 November 1949 at a meeting in the premises of auction house Harmers in London. [1] There were 25 founding members who mainly collected Egypt and Sudan but the membership soon expanded and the association came to focus mainly on the Ottoman Empire and surrounding areas. [2]
In the late 1970s, membership fell to less than 100 but the association was reinvigorated following a meeting at the London 1980 International Stamp Exhibition after which a new committee was appointed and a new constitution adopted. [3]
In 1999, the association's members gave a display before the members of the Royal Philatelic Society London to mark their 50th anniversary at which time the membership stood at 275. [2]
In 2000, with the Holyland Philatelic Society, the association published a history of the Ottoman field post offices in Palestine from 1914 to 1918 based on the collection of Alexander Koleksiyonu. The book was edited by Kemal Giray and Jeff Ertughrul with a parallel Turkish and English text. Its publication was supported by a grant from the Economic and Social History Foundation of Turkey. [4]
Notable members include Mehmet Başaran, Kemal Giray, Rainer Fuchs, Otto Hornung and the late Jeff Ertughrul.
The Treaty of Sèvres was a 1920 treaty signed between the Allies of World War I and the Ottoman Empire. The treaty ceded large parts of Ottoman territory to France, the United Kingdom, Greece and Italy, as well as creating large occupation zones within the Ottoman Empire. It was one of a series of treaties that the Central Powers signed with the Allied Powers after their defeat in World War I. Hostilities had already ended with the Armistice of Mudros.
The Turkish War of Independence was a series of military campaigns waged by the Turkish National Movement after parts of the Ottoman Empire were occupied and partitioned following its defeat in World War I. These campaigns were directed against Greece in the west, Armenia in the east, France in the south, loyalists and separatists in various cities, and British and Ottoman troops around Constantinople (İstanbul).
İsmail Enver, better known as Enver Pasha was an Ottoman military officer, revolutionary, and convicted war criminal who formed one-third of the dictatorial triumvirate known as the "Three Pashas" in the Ottoman Empire.
This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of Iraq. It includes special uses under the Ottoman Empire as well as occupation issues.
Ahmed Djemal, also known as Cemal Pasha, was an Ottoman military leader and one of the Three Pashas that ruled the Ottoman Empire during World War I.
The Middle Eastern theatre of World War I saw action between 29 October 1914 and 30 October 1918. The combatants were, on one side, the Ottoman Empire, with some assistance from the other Central Powers; and on the other side, the British, the Russians and the French from among the Allied Powers. There were five main campaigns: the Sinai and Palestine Campaign, the Mesopotamian Campaign, the Caucasus Campaign, the Persian Campaign, and the Gallipoli Campaign. There were also several minor campaigns: Arab Campaign, and South Arabia Campaign.
The Royal Philatelic Society London (RPSL) is the oldest philatelic society in the world. It was founded on 10 April 1869 as The Philatelic Society, London. The society runs a postal museum, the Spear Museum of Philatelic History, at its headquarters in the City of London.
Ahmet Tevfik Pasha, later Ahmet Tevfik Okday after the Turkish Surname Law of 1934, was an Ottoman statesman of Crimean Tatar origin. He was the last Grand vizier of the Ottoman Empire. He held the office three times, the first in 1909 under Sultan Abdul Hamid II, and from 1918 to 1919 and from 1920 to 1922 under Mehmed VI during the Allied occupation of Istanbul. In addition to his premiership, Ahmet Tevfik was also a diplomat, a member of the Ottoman Senate, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Erzurum Congress was an assembly of Turkish Revolutionaries held from 23 July to 4 August 1919 in the city of Erzurum, in eastern Turkey, in accordance with the previously issued Amasya Circular. The congress united delegates from six eastern provinces (vilayets) of the Ottoman Empire, many parts of which were under Allied occupation at the time. The congress played a fundamental role in shaping the national identity of modern Turkey.
The postage stamps and postal history of Israel is a survey of the postage stamps issued by the state of Israel, and its postal history, since independence was proclaimed on May 14, 1948. The first postage stamps were issued two days later on May 16, 1948. Pre-1948 postal history is discussed in postage stamps and postal history of Palestine.
The postage stamps and postal history of Palestine emerges from its geographic location as a crossroads amidst the empires of the ancient Near East, the Levant and the Middle East. Postal services in the region were first established in the Bronze Age, during the rule of Sargon of Akkad, and successive empires have established and operated a number of different postal systems over the millennia.
The postal history of Turkey and its predecessor state, the Ottoman Empire, dates to the 18th century when foreign countries maintained courier services through their consular offices in the Empire. Although delayed in the development of its own postal service, in 1863 the Ottoman Empire became the second independent country in Asia to issue adhesive postage stamps, and in 1875, it became a founding member of the General Postal Union, soon to become the Universal Postal Union. The Ottoman Empire became the Republic of Turkey in 1923, and in the following years, its postal service became more modernized and efficient and its postage stamps expertly designed and manufactured.
This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of Egypt.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to the Ottoman Empire:
The Istanbul Postal Museum, aka PTT Museum Istanbul, is a postal museum dedicated to the historical development of mail and telecommunication services in the Ottoman Empire and Turkey, exhibiting related equipment and instruments as well as a collection of postage stamps. It was established in 2000 by the Turkish Post, and is situated inside the Grand Post Office building at Sirkeci quarter of Fatih district in Istanbul, Turkey.
Michael Moses Sacher FRPSL was an executive with British retailers Marks & Spencer including holding the positions of joint managing director and joint vice-chairman. He was closely associated with Jewish causes throughout his life and in his spare time was a noted postal historian of Palestine and a fellow of the Royal Philatelic Society London.
Mehmet Ismet Başaran is a Turkish-born British chemical engineer and philatelist. He is an authority on the tughra stamps of 1863–65 of the Ottoman Empire and has won several gold medals for his collection of those issues. He has written two books on the stamps as well as a number of articles about them. He is a former fellow of the Royal Philatelic Society London and president of the Oriental Philatelic Association of London.
Adolf Passer FRPSL was an Austrian philatelist and authority on the stamps of Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Ottoman Empire and Turkey.
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