Written by Nikos Cheiladakis
At 18 of February 2012, Alaattin Sürmeli passed away, a Turk… hagiographer, (yes indeed), who had caused a sensation throughout Turkey for his wonderful Greek Orthodox hagiographies.
Aladdin Surmeli became known for the first time in 26 September of 2000 when he had declared at the time on a TV show of the Turkish channel, NTV that he is a hagiographer and that he loves his profession which has given another dimension to his life.

Referring to how he became a hagiographer he had then confessed : "Once he had gone to visit the old Christian church of Antakya, (Antioch), a Greek Orthodox Christian priest. This priest was fascinated by a damaged icon and asked me to restore it and make it back to how it was, when the Christian iconographers of the old church had painted it. I decided to restore it and when I finished my work and showed it to the priest he was fascinated by my work. He showed the image to others and after a while other Christians came, (from where ;), and they asked me to paint Christian pictures. My work left them very satisfied, and then I started systematically dealing with hagiography and became a regular hagiographer".
Aladdin Surmeli, as reported by the Turkish media, from an early age he was inclined towards fine arts while reading history and was fascinated by the natural beauty which he had represented in his first works. He was the minion, as it typically states, of the famous Turkish actor, Nejat Uighur. Continuing his confessions he had said : "I believe that it was a divine command to deal with Christian mosaics. For years I had worked in Smyrna as an artist and painter 1967 I had returned disappointed to my homeland, Antakia and I started doing inscriptions, when then the Christian priest visited me to commission me to paint hagiographies. Από τότε έχει αλλάξει ριζικά όλη η ζωή μου και έχω επιδοθεί στην αγιογραφία με την οποία ασχολούμαι αποκλειστικά. Έχω ζωγραφίσει τον Ιησού Χριστό, την Πανάγια, Ανά Μεριέμ, (this is how Muslims call the Virgin Mary), as well as scenes from the miracles of Jesus Christ. All my works have surprised the Christians with their successful representation and the faithfulness of the icons I have painted and they constantly assign me new orders for the painting of Christian icons".
As Aladdin Surmeli pointed out, "Hagiography for me is not a simple art, but something more. Hagiography has become my whole life and I can't imagine myself doing anything else. With every image I deal with, first I concentrate on each line I will draw on it. Hagiography is an art that requires special attention and for this reason it needs special effort to perform".
The reputation of this Turkish hagiographer as the Turkish newspaper Cumhuriyet had written, at 26/9 2000, has spread throughout Turkey and beyond.
NIKOS CHILADAKIS
Journalist-Writer-Turkologist
www.nikosxeiladakis.gr
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Journalist- Author- Turkologist, National Issues Greece, Turkey, Greek-Turkish …
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