at Edremit, finally laid the foundations of the Medresetü'z-Zehra. But it was not to be. With the outbreak of the First World War shortly afterwards, the construction was halted and never resumed. [^235]

[^235]:Tarihçe, 95.

Sultan Reşad and his accompanying party completed their visit to Rumelia on returning to Salonica. There they once again boarded the warship Barbaros and attendant vessels, and, being greeted by a cannon-salute at Çanakkale, retraced their path to Istanbul. There, on 26 June, they were met by large welcoming crowds. The trip had lasted three weeks. [^236]

[^236]:Şahiner, Said Nursi, 142-5.

The tide that was flowing against the Ottomans was running too strongly by this time, however, to be stemmed by such gestures, despite the Sultan's enthusiastic reception on the trip and the large demonstrations of loyalty. The nationalists and separatists continued to receive support from the foreign powers, but more than anything it was CUP misrule that exacerbated the already volatile situation and led finally to the end of Turkey in Europe with the Balkan Wars of 1912 and 1913. Also in late 1911 the Tripolitanian War broke out: Italy attacked Tripoli and Benghazi, modern-day Libya, and they too were lost to the Empire. The Italians went on to occupy the Dodacanese Islands and bombard the entrance to the Dardanelles. And with the outbreak of the Balkan War in November 1912, Greece seized the Aegean Islands, and Salonica was also lost. The deposed Sultan Abdulhamid was hurriedly removed from his place of exile and taken to Beylerbeyi Palace in Istanbul. The unexpected occupation of Tripoli added to the other events caused a political crisis in Istanbul and the CUP were ousted from power for a period of some six months, from July 1912 until the famous Raid on the Sublime Porte in January 1913 led by Enver Pasha. After the liberation of Edirne in July 1913, Enver was made Minister of War, and it was he who set up the alliance with Germany the following year which brought Turkey into the First World War on the side of the Central Powers.

#### Return to Van—1913

Return to Van—1913

At some point Bediuzzaman had returned to Van, for it was at that time that he laid the foundations for the Medresetü'z-Zehra. His old patron and friend Tahir Pasha, [^237] the governor of Van, was present at the ceremony, and

[^237]:Tahir Pasha, who was ill, returned to Istanbul around the beginning of 1913, where he died in November of that year. See Son Şahitler, iii, 16-20. He was succeeded by Tahsin (Üzer) Bey, also a friend and supporter of Bediuzzaman.