Exploring Istanbul’s Secret Masonic Heritage

Istanbul sits at the crossroads of continents, where Europe meets Asia and where East encounters West.

For centuries, this city of minarets and markets, palaces and bazaars, served as the capital of the Ottoman Empire and the center of the Islamic world.

Yet hidden within this deeply Muslim city is a surprising and largely unknown chapter of Masonic history spanning three centuries.

Today, over 17,000 Freemasons meet in 250 lodges across Turkey, with the heart of Turkish Masonry still beating in Istanbul. The Grand Lodge of Turkey operates from an unassuming building in the Beyoglu district, maintaining relationships with 158 Grand Lodges worldwide.

But the story of how Freemasonry took root in an Islamic empire, survived sultans who outlawed it, thrived during revolutionary upheaval, and persists in modern Turkey reads like a thriller involving princes, grand viziers, foreign diplomats, and reformers who risked everything to transform their nation.

The Galata Tower and the First Lodge (1721)

Somewhere near the iconic Galata Tower in Istanbul’s historic district, around 1721, the first Masonic lodge on Ottoman soil was founded.

We don’t know its name. Records from this period are scarce, and those that existed were likely destroyed during subsequent persecutions. What we know is that Levantines, primarily Genoese merchants and diplomats living in the tower quarters, established this lodge during the reign of Sultan Osman III.

The Galata Tower still dominates the skyline today, a medieval stone tower built by Genoese colonists in 1348. The quarter surrounding it was where foreigners lived and worked, granted special privileges under the Ottoman capitulation system.

Here, Christian and Jewish merchants from Europe conducted business largely free from Ottoman interference. In this protected enclave, Freemasonry found its first foothold in the Ottoman world.

The first known Turkish Mason emerged from this period. Sait Çelebi served as ambassador to France and later became grand vizier. Another early Turkish Brother was Count de Bonneval, a French officer who fled France after court intrigues, spent time in England, then came to Turkey to reorganize the Ottoman army.

He converted to Islam, took the name Kumbaraci Ahmet Osman Pasha, and brought Masonic principles with him.

Most significant was Ibrahim Müteferrika, who worked with Sait Çelebi to establish the first printing press used by Muslim subjects of the Ottoman Empire in 1727.

Christians and Jews already had their own presses, but printing in Arabic script had been forbidden. These early Turkish Masons played crucial roles in bringing Enlightenment ideas and modern technology to the Ottoman world.

The First Ban (1748)

In 1738, Pope Clement XII issued the papal bull “In eminenti apostolatus,” condemning Freemasonry for Catholics. The Pope’s denunciation didn’t go unnoticed in Istanbul.

Ten years later, in 1748, Sultan Mahmud I came under pressure from Christian subjects and Muslim clergy who reasoned that if the Pope condemned Freemasonry as atheistic, it must indeed be a threat to religion.

Mahmud I outlawed Freemasonry in the Ottoman Empire. An English lodge was raided by police, though the British ambassador apparently gave notice in time for most evidence to be removed or hidden.

From 1748 forward, Freemasonry was officially equated with atheism in the Ottoman Empire and the broader Islamic world. This association would plague Turkish Freemasonry for the next 270 years.

Yet the ban didn’t eliminate Freemasonry. It went underground or operated under the protection of foreign embassies. Diplomatic immunity created zones where Ottoman law couldn’t reach, and within embassy compounds, lodges continued to meet.

The tension between official prohibition and practical tolerance would characterize Turkish Masonry for generations.

The Tanzimat Reforms and Masonic Revival

The 19th century brought the Tanzimat, a period of Ottoman reforms beginning around 1839. Reformers sought to modernize the empire, adopting European legal codes, educational systems, and governmental structures.

Many of these reformers were Freemasons or had contact with Masonic ideas through their time in Europe.

Mustafa Reshit Pasha, grand vizier who promulgated the Reform Edict of 1839, was said to have been initiated while serving as ambassador in London, though no definitive evidence has been found. His friend, British Ambassador Lord Reading, was a confirmed Freemason.

Whether or not Reshit Pasha formally joined the Craft, Masonic principles of equality, justice, and progress clearly influenced his thinking.

As reforms took hold, foreign lodges proliferated in Istanbul and other Ottoman cities. By the late 1860s, about 15 lodges operated in Istanbul, representing various European obediences.

Four belonged to the United Grand Lodge of England, four to the Grand Orient of France, and others to Italian, German, and Greek jurisdictions. Smyrna (modern Izmir) became another major center of Masonic activity.

These lodges served diverse populations. Members included British, French, Italian, and Greek expatriates, Armenian and Greek Ottoman subjects, and increasingly, Muslim Turks from the empire’s elite.

The lodges became spaces where men of different faiths and nationalities met as equals, a radical concept in a society structured around religious and ethnic hierarchies.

The Controversy of Muslim Membership

The question of admitting Muslims to Freemasonry sparked intense debate. Some lodges maintained an unwritten agreement not to recruit Turkish Muslims, fearing government retaliation.

Others actively sought Muslim members, seeing them as essential to Masonry’s mission in the Ottoman Empire.

British Ambassador Sir Henry Bulwer established the Provincial Grand Lodge of Turkey in 1862 and founded Bulwer Lodge specifically to recruit Ottoman Muslims.

The lodge attracted numerous Muslim dervishes and high-ranking Ottoman officials. French lodge Union d’Orient pursued a similar strategy under Louis Amiable, a brilliant French lawyer in Istanbul to reorganize the Turkish Bar Association. By 1869, Union d’Orient boasted 143 members, 53 of them high-ranking Muslims.

The Greek lodge I Proodos (Progress) recruited approximately 20 important names from the Ottoman elite through banker Cleanthi Scalieri. Most renowned among them were Mustafa Fazil of the Egyptian khedivial family, Imperial Prince Murad (who would briefly become Sultan Murad V), and prolific writer Namik Kemal.

Masonic propagandists emphasized similarities between Masonic ritual and the practices of Islamic mystical orders, particularly the Bektashi Sufis. This wasn’t entirely inaccurate.

The Bektashi order had long emphasized inner spirituality over orthodox religious observance and had connections to the Ottoman military elite. Many of those listed as “dervishes” in lodge membership rolls were Bektashi or adherents of other heterodox Islamic movements.

Prince Halim Pasha and the Scottish Rite

In 1861, Prince Abdülhalim Pasha, known as Halim Pasha, founded the Scottish Rite in Turkey. Brother of the Khedive (governor of Egypt, then part of the Ottoman Empire), Halim Pasha was also Grand Master of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Egypt under the English Constitution.

His Supreme Council was recognized by the American Southern Jurisdiction in 1869, giving Turkish Scottish Rite Masonry international legitimacy.

Halim Pasha represented the Ottoman elite’s embrace of Masonry. As uncle of Khedive Ismail Pasha, under whose rule the Suez Canal opened, he occupied the highest levels of Ottoman society.

His Masonic involvement wasn’t secret but open and proud, signaling that Freemasonry had become acceptable, even fashionable, among progressive Ottoman leaders.

Sultan Murad V: The Mason Sultan

In May 1876, Prince Murad ascended to the Ottoman throne following the suicide (or possible murder) of Sultan Abdulaziz. Murad V was a Freemason, the first and only Ottoman sultan to join the Craft.

His initiation in I Proodos Lodge represented the pinnacle of Masonic influence in the Ottoman Empire.

Tragically, Murad’s reign lasted only three months. Diagnosed with mental illness, possibly resulting from the traumatic circumstances of his accession, he was deposed in favor of his brother Abdulhamit II. The brief reign of a Masonic sultan ended before it truly began, and what followed was three decades of despotism.

Abdulhamit II viewed Freemasonry with deep suspicion. On February 5, 1878, he sent Grand Vizier and Brother Midhat Pasha into exile, eventually arranging his death by poisoning in Taif.

On February 13, 1878, Abdulhamit adjourned parliament indefinitely, beginning 30 years of absolute rule. Freemasonry didn’t disappear during this period, but it operated carefully, aware that the sultan saw lodges as potential centers of opposition.

The Young Turk Revolution

The Young Turk movement, which eventually overthrew Abdulhamit’s autocracy, had deep connections to Freemasonry. The Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), the core revolutionary organization, included many Freemasons among its leadership. Lodges provided spaces for revolutionary planning beyond the reach of the sultan’s secret police.

This connection between Masonry and the Young Turks fed conspiracy theories that persist to this day. Some British politicians in Constantinople perceived the Young Turk movement as a Jewish-Masonic conspiracy, claims that historian Elie Kedourie thoroughly debunked.

Yet the association stuck, and anti-Masonic propaganda in Turkey still references this supposed Masonic plot to destroy the Ottoman Empire.

The reality was more nuanced. Masons were indeed among the revolutionaries, but they acted as individuals pursuing political goals, not as representatives of Freemasonry.

The Craft’s principles of liberty, equality, and progress naturally attracted reformers, but lodges themselves didn’t organize the revolution. The distinction matters, though it’s often lost in anti-Masonic rhetoric.

When the Young Turks succeeded in 1908, forcing Abdulhamit to restore the constitution, Freemasonry flourished openly. In 1909, the Grand Lodge of Turkey was established, marking the first truly Turkish Grand Lodge independent of foreign control.

For the first time, Turkish Masons controlled their own destiny rather than operating under European obediences.

World War I and the Republic

World War I and its aftermath devastated the Ottoman Empire. The empire sided with Germany and Austria-Hungary, and their defeat led to occupation by Allied forces and the empire’s dissolution.

From this chaos emerged Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, who led the Turkish War of Independence and founded the modern Republic of Turkey in 1923.

Atatürk’s relationship with Freemasonry remains controversial. Some claim he was active in Salonica’s Lodge Veritas under the French Grand Orient. Others insist he never joined.

What’s certain is that many of his closest associates were Masons, and the secular, modernizing principles of the Turkish Republic aligned closely with Masonic ideals.

In 1935, however, Atatürk’s government banned all Masonic lodges on grounds that Masonic principles were incompatible with nationalist policy.

This sudden reversal puzzled many Brothers who had supported republican reforms. The ban lasted 13 years, from 1935 to 1948, during which Turkish Freemasonry ceased all public activity.

Why did Atatürk, himself a modernizer who fought against religious conservatism, ban Freemasonry?

The answer likely lies in Turkey’s international position.

The 1930s saw fascist governments across Europe attacking Freemasonry as part of their totalitarian programs. Italy, Germany, and Spain all banned the Craft.

Turkey, seeking to assert its independence and nationalist credentials, may have felt pressure to follow suit.

Revival and Modern Challenges

In 1948, Masonic activity resumed in Turkey. The Grand Lodge slowly rebuilt, reestablishing connections with international Freemasonry. In 1965, the Grand Lodge of Scotland organized a re-consecration ceremony to enable other regular Grand Lodges to recognize the Grand Lodge of Turkey.

In 1970, both the United Grand Lodge of England and the Grand Lodge of Ireland granted recognition, bringing Turkish Masonry fully back into the international Masonic family.

Since then, Turkish Freemasonry has grown steadily. As of 2020, approximately 17,000 Brothers meet in over 250 lodges across Turkey. Istanbul hosts three Masonic halls, with others in Izmir, Ankara, Bursa, Adana, Antalya, and other cities.

The Grand Lodge operates five English-speaking lodges, three French-speaking, one German-speaking, and one Greek-speaking, alongside Turkish-speaking lodges.

Yet challenges remain. Conspiracy theories about Freemasonry persist in Turkey, often promoted by Islamist politicians. Necmettin Erbakan and his Millî Görüş movement frequently referenced supposed Masonic conspiracies.

Adnan Oktar, a controversial figure who blends Islamic fundamentalism with bizarre pseudoscience, has published extensive anti-Masonic propaganda.

Current President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wrote and performed in a 1970s theater play titled “Mas-Kom-Ya,” a portmanteau of Mason-Communist-Jew, suggesting a conspiracy linking all three.

While Erdogan’s government hasn’t banned Freemasonry, the cultural climate has made Turkish Masons cautious about public visibility.

Visiting Masonic Istanbul Today

For traveling Brothers, Istanbul offers unique opportunities to experience Turkish Freemasonry and explore the city’s hidden Masonic heritage.

The Grand Lodge of Turkey Address: Nuru Ziya Sokak No. 9, 34420 Beyoglu, Istanbul Phone: +90 212 251 26 50

The Grand Lodge building sits in Beyoglu, Istanbul’s historic European quarter. This area, once called Pera, was where foreign embassies, merchants, and the city’s non-Muslim populations concentrated in the 19th century. Today it’s a vibrant neighborhood mixing Ottoman-era architecture with modern cafes, galleries, and shops.

The building itself isn’t architecturally dramatic from the outside, a deliberate choice reflecting Turkish Masonry’s preference for discretion. Visitors from jurisdictions in amity with the Grand Lodge of Turkey should present a clearance certificate from their Grand Secretary certifying good standing. Contact the Grand Lodge office well in advance to arrange a visit.

Most lodges meet twice monthly except during July and August. English-speaking lodges provide opportunities for visiting Brothers who don’t speak Turkish. The Turkish Ritual is based largely on the Modern Ritual of Scotland with continental additions from French and Schröder rites, creating a unique blend of Masonic traditions.

Exploring Masonic Geography

Walking through Beyoglu, you’re traversing the heart of 19th-century Masonic Istanbul. Along Istiklal Caddesi, the famous pedestrian avenue, foreign lodges once operated in buildings that now house shops, restaurants, and cultural centers. While no plaques mark these locations, knowing the history enriches your walk through the neighborhood.

The Galata Tower, where the first lodge met around 1721, still dominates the southern end of Beyoglu. You can climb to the observation deck for panoramic views of Istanbul, seeing both the European and Asian sides of the city from the spot where Turkish Masonry began three centuries ago.

Near Taksim Square sits the British Consulate, successor to the embassy where Provincial Grand Master Sir Henry Bulwer consecrated the Provincial Grand Lodge of Turkey on June 24, 1862. The building isn’t open to tourists, but you can view it from the street and reflect on the Masonic history it represents.

Practical Tips for Visiting Turkish Lodges

Turkish culture values formality and respect. When visiting lodges:

Dress conservatively in a dark suit, white shirt, and tie. Turkish Masons maintain high standards of presentation.

Arrive early, at least 30 minutes before the stated meeting time. Punctuality is important in Turkish culture.

Bring current dues cards, a letter of introduction from your home lodge, and any other Masonic credentials. Some lodges may require advance verification of your status.

Be prepared for ritual differences. Turkish ritual stems from Scottish practice but incorporates French and German elements. The essential points remain the same across jurisdictions, but specific wording and practices will differ.

Learn basic Turkish greetings. Many Turkish Masons speak English, but demonstrating effort to communicate in Turkish shows respect.

The Universality Principle

Istanbul’s Masonic history demonstrates something profound about Freemasonry’s universal nature. In a Muslim empire where religious identity determined legal status and social position, lodges created spaces where Christians, Jews, and Muslims met as equals.

British diplomats sat alongside Ottoman grand viziers. Greek merchants and Turkish reformers worked together toward shared goals. This radical equality threatened the old order precisely because it worked.

The lodges weren’t perfect. They reflected the colonial dynamics of their era, with European powers using Masonry as soft power to extend influence.

Yet within lodge rooms, the principles of brotherly love, relief, and truth transcended politics. A Turkish Muslim and a British Christian might disagree about empire and colonialism outside the lodge. Inside, they were Brothers on the level.

This universality explains both Freemasonry’s appeal and the suspicion it generates. In any society structured around hierarchy, ethnic identity, or religious authority, an organization claiming that all men are equal under God threatens the existing power structure. Ottoman sultans understood this.

So did later nationalist movements. So do contemporary Islamist politicians.

Yet Turkish Freemasonry survives. Seventeen thousand Turkish men still gather twice monthly in lodge rooms across the country. They conduct ritual in Turkish, using traditions that blend Scottish, French, and German practices.

They maintain relationships with 158 Grand Lodges worldwide. And they continue the work begun three centuries ago near the Galata Tower: bringing men of different backgrounds together in pursuit of light, knowledge, and brotherhood.

Istanbul’s Masonic heritage remains largely hidden, known to relatively few outside the Craft.

No museum celebrates it. No tour guides mention it. The Grand Lodge building doesn’t announce itself with grand columns or obvious symbolism.

Yet for those who know where to look and what to look for, Istanbul’s streets whisper stories of princes and reformers, of lodges meeting in secret, of Brothers risking everything to preserve principles they believed transcended any single nation, religion, or empire.

That’s the real secret of Istanbul’s Masonic heritage: not conspiracy or hidden power, but the simple, radical idea that beneath our differences, we’re all Brothers seeking light.

In a city that bridges continents and cultures, where minarets stand alongside churches and synagogues, where East meets West daily, that Masonic vision of universal brotherhood feels less like a secret and more like a promise still waiting to be fully realized.