"An assassination attempt was revealed, which would take place on June 16th upon my arrival in Smyrna; the most important perpetrators were caught red-handed and detained. The arrested individuals made revelations. Sarı Efe, who is among the organizers, is wanted. Undoubtedly, Sarı Efe belongs to some organization in Istanbul and has collaborators."
From the encoded message of the President of the Republic, Mustafa Kemal, to the police director of Istanbul, Ekrem Bey

"Keratios flowed white as milk under the slopes of Kasımpaşa. Some boats on it like ash stains... I remembered the calm sea of Thessaloniki, the endless blue that stretches from the bay to the open sea... The balcony of the house in Thessaloniki, I think it was much larger than the balcony of this room... I feel sad when I write 'I think'. How can someone forget the city where they were born, the house where they grew up? Of course, they cannot, but time erases memories one by one."

We are in the melancholic autumn of 1926. The Ottoman Empire has collapsed while the young Republic tries to stand up. A man is at the center of all this turmoil. Şehsuvar Sami... The man who was at the forefront of the Union and Progress, the tired commissar. An relentless machinery seems to be woven around him, while the same question always gnaws at his mind: Is the state sacred or is the human? "... Death begins with the loss of our cities." I don't remember who said this phrase, but unfortunately, it is correct... Correct, but incomplete. Death begins with the loss of our cities and is completed with the loss of our homeland."