Istanbul, March 7, 2015
A Letter to All My Cousins
Assalmu Aalaykum Wa Rahmatu Allah Wa Barakatuh
First, I give you my warmest greetings and hope you are all
in good health.
As many of you know, organizing a family reunion and a
heritage tour to Adana-Kozan-Tarsus and mount Taurus for the sons of Ramadan
(Ramazanogullari) from all over the world is very exciting and is rewarding for
it brings family together, but at the same time it is a tough and daunting
task.
Perhaps many of you are not aware that I started planning
for this reunion to come three years ago spent in research and numerous trips
to Adana, Tarsus, Kozan, Taurus Mountains and Ankara and Istanbul at the
Ottoman archives. And to reach the date
when we all meet took a lot of personal sacrifice and my reward will be by
seeing as many of you reuniting together.
Organizing such trips is not my job and I am not a travel
and tour agent, I am an executive consultant to a number of CEOs in
International Business Development, Marketing, Branding and Technology. But instead of spending my free time playing
golf or sailing in the open seas, I spend it searching for every one of you and
researching our rich history in hopes that we can reunite and tell our grand
children about our amazing and rich heritage.
Organizing a family reunion within one country is already
difficult, so can you Imagine organizing an International reunion?
Numerous languages are spoken (Turkish, Spanish, English,
French, Russian, Arabic…). Different age groups, from faraway lands such as
Ecuador to near ones such as Lebanon, and countries difficult to travel to/from
such as Syria. As there is also the busy
Doctor and the studious Student and from us there is the financially capable as
well as those with humble means.
My eyes watered when one of the cousins form London whose
finances are so limited told me that even if he had to ride his bicycle from
London to Adana to attend this most important reunion and meet the descendants
of his grand fathers, he is going to do so.
His wife and friends were doing everything to help him make the trip and
the reunion. Another cousin from Dubai who
has finals for his Masters Degree begged that we moved the dates a week later
so he can attend, and when he learned the dates are set, he did the improbable to join and was
able with the help of Allah rearrange things and said he will have to study at
night at the Hotel and take the exams when he returns, but he was not about to
miss such a historical event. So will
those two cousins inspire all of us? Will we follow their path and make the
impossible possible and join this historical reunion?
There is a whole family in Jordan who was driven out from
Haifa in Palestine and lost contact with their roots but kept an old ID of
their Great Grand Father Muhyeddine Ramadan from Lebanon, and their Grand Father
always told them that there was a relative in Lebanon called Musbah Beik (who
happens to be my Great Uncle) and that they are of Turkish Origin. They could not believe they found their
roots, their whole family is coming to the reunion no matter the costs, and
they are so excited to meet their long lost cousins.
There will never be a perfect date for the reunion that will
work for everyone. So I selected a date
where weather is best in Adana to enjoy the picnic and hikes, and made it on
Labor Day and weekend so that many of you in Turkey and Lebanon will not have
to take a day off of work.
Today we are 7 weeks away form this amazing event, and from
my experience in managing Hajj & Umrah tours, there are some who plan years
ahead and when the time comes cannot make it, and others who decide last minute
and do the impossible to make it. It is
likely that we experience the same.
However, our family reunion is very special and historic and
is hard to repeat and unprecedented, and for it to succeed, I need your full
cooperation.
In order for me to secure rooms at the Hilton and a good
group rate, I had to reserve 25 rooms in advance, and next week I need to
commit. And as many of you know,
reserving flights early is important to get best prices. So please do not hesitate, or procrastinate,
and wait for the last minute, for this will make it harder for me to organize.
The Ramadanids Coffee Table Book (in the making), will be the first of its kind about the
family and will be given as a gift to the President and Prime Minster of Turkey and
be sent to numerous research libraries, I am saving a section in it about the
reunion and heritage tour and to include many pictures from this historic event
and family trees. Every one of you will
be able to purchase copies and keep as a reference for generations to cone.
The success of this family reunion and heritage tour must
start with a strong initiative and good organization, and perhaps it started
with my efforts (for Allah bestowed on me this ability and passion), but
success will not be completed without your participation and support. I am thankful to you and to Allah and overjoyed
by the high level of interest in participating in this historical first
international reunion.
Please help me out,
and do not wait till last minute to fill out the booking reservation and I ask
you to work diligently to make the trip for Inshallah nothing is impossible to
accomplish. I assure you that none of
you will regret attending, and most of you will regret not being there.
Lastly, in our great numbers there is strength and a
powerful message we send to the Turkish government and the people of Adana from
an Ottoman family whose Great Grand Fathers served the Sultans faithfully
throughout the rein of the Ottoman Empire and ruled the area for 265 years.
Please book your reservation using the link below:
Thank you so much for your cooperation.
With utmost love and respect.
Samer Osman Ramazanoglu
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