The Gravestone of Agop Martayan (Dilaçar)

Agop Martayan, also known as Dilaçar, was the principal author of the modern Turkish alphabet and language reform. He was born in 1895 in Constantinople into an Armenian family. During the First World War he served on the Syrian front, where he met Mustafa Kemal. According to the source, in 1923 Kemal entrusted him with replacing the Arabic script of Ottoman Turkish with the Latin one.

Dilaçar became the linguistic and cultural adviser to the President of Turkey and the chief editor of the Turkish encyclopedia. He taught at Ankara University and knew more than 20 languages.

The picture shows his gravestone with a bust. The pedestal reads “Agop Martayan Dilaçar, 1895–1979,” and also, in Armenian, “Hakob Martayan.” Above is an inscription in Turkish with his biography.