ing three Democrat deputies, Risale-i Nur Students and ordinary people. The police again over-reacted and the hotel was both held in a cordon of police and gendarmes, and the inside was filled with them. That evening, Bediuzzaman gave a farewell ders, which among various subjects, impressed once again on the Risale-i Nur Students that the way of the Risale-i Nur was that of "positive action" and the maintenance of public order and security. [^118]

[^118]:See, Nursi, Emirdağ Lahikası, ii, 213-9.

Previously to Bediuzzaman's arrival in Ankara, the police had seized copies of The Ratifying Stamp of the Unseen Collection in the press while Said Özdemir and others were having it printed. In connection with this, Bediuzzaman received a request from Bekir Berk in Istanbul for a signature. At the same time he was receiving invitations from his students there. The following day he set off in his car for Istanbul.

It was the first day of January 1960. The newspapers had got wind of his visit and by the time he and his students reached the Piyer Loti Hotel where he was to stay, there was such a thronging crowd it was only with the greatest difficulty that they could mount the steps to enter it. Bediuzzaman had to be shielded against the barrage of flashing cameras with an umbrella. Police had taken over the inside of the hotel, and the press had set up a headquarters there. Nevertheless, that evening, with astonishing energy, he gave a long ders to his students gathered in Istanbul. [^119] He was to have stayed several days but the following day, 2 January, a newspaper reporter climbed onto the back balcony of his room and photographed him performing the midday prayers. He was exceedingly angry at this and decided to cut short his visit and return to Ankara. On this occasion he stayed three days, and not in the hotel but in a rented house in Bahçelievler. However, the police still did not leave him in peace. [^120]

[^119]:See, Mehmet Fırıncı, in Son Şahitler, iii, 248-9.

[^120]:Said Özdemir, in Son Şahitler, v, 55.

Bediuzzaman again received visitors during this stay. Three Democrat deputies have given accounts of visits although it is not absolutely clear during which of his stays they occurred. Said Köker, the deputy for Bingöl, says he paid him three visits and that he told him and the deputies with him explicitly of the 27 May military coup, which he said would occur shortly, Bediuzzaman said also he had no connection with political parties and that "he only liked Menderes." [^121] Other accounts are by Giyaseddin Emre, the deputy for Muş, [^122] and Dr. Tahsin Tola, former Isparta deputy. Dr. Tola,

[^121]:Said Köker, in Son Şahitler, v, 151.

[^122]:Giyaseddin Emre, in Son Şahitler, ii, 57-8.