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[MosJan]

Wednesday, February 21, 2001 | Print this story


Matild Manukyan; Turkish Brothels Made Her Wealthy


By AMBERIN ZAMAN, Special to The Times

ANKARA, Turkey--Matild Manukyan, the queen of Turkish brothels and one of the country's wealthiest women, died of heart failure Saturday in her palatial Istanbul apartment. She was 84.
Descended from an aristocratic Armenian family, Manukyan attended Istanbul's posh Notre Dame de Sion school, run by French nuns, before launching her first career as a haute couture seamstress for the city's Westernized high society. When a customer offered her one of his brothels to settle an unpaid debt, Manukyan found herself in the murky world of prostitution, which is a legal business in Turkey as long as it is carried out in brothels registered with local governments.
A shrewd businesswoman, she proved tougher than her all-male competitors, building up a chain of 32 brothels. During an interview in 1994, she said she prided herself on having "the healthiest, best behaved and most beautiful girls in all Istanbul." So great was her fortune that in the early 1990s she was Istanbul's top taxpayer for five years running.
Her fiscal probity earned her considerable official praise. Framed letters from Turkey's top politicians, including the late President Turgut Ozal, thanking her for her sense of civic duty, adorned the walls of her home.
The onetime beauty was widely hailed for her philanthropy. She donated tens of thousands of dollars from her multimillion-dollar fortune to hospitals and other charities.
Eventually, she became an establishment figure in this predominantly Muslim country. But her vast wealth, which she invested in real estate, made her prey to gangsters operating protection rackets in Istanbul. They are believed to have been responsible for a car bomb attack in 1995 in which Manukyan nearly died. She had to be operated on 12 times and never fully recovered from her injuries.
In 1996, Manukyan fell from public grace when she was detained for employing underage girls in her parlors. That year she also announced she had converted to Islam, and she provoked public furor by seeking permission to build a mosque.
Turkey's government-appointed top cleric, Mehmet Nuri Yilmaz, sided with Manukyan, citing an edict from the prophet Muhammad that anyone who declares himself Muslim is purged of all previous sins. Therefore, he argued, it was all right for her to use her earnings to put up a place of worship.
Manukyan is survived by a son, Kerope Cilingir.

[ February 21, 2001: Message edited by: MosJan ]

[bellthecat]

From what I have seen (I stress the word seen!) - small scale prostitution is not that widespread in all parts of Turkey. Apart from Istanbul, it is mostly confined to those areas that are close to the border, as the women are in Turkey on short-term visas that only last a couple of weeks.

They are there because they can enter Turkey easily, Turkey is a rich and economically developed country, travel is easy, and Turkish currency is easily exchanged for dollars. Turkey could stop them entering the country - there must be political reasons why they want the borders completely open.

Since most of the prostitutes are not Turkish it is easy for Turkish society to ignore it. In the early 90s there was also a sort of sadistic streak to Turkey's attitude, a sort of "how nice it is that the once mighty and long feared Russian 'empire' is now so low that they are reduced to sending us their women".

Traditionally in Turkey, wives are for bearing children and doing household work - there is not a lot of romance or even sex to be expected in that sort of relationship. So husbands can easily contemplate visiting prostitutes without thinking they are destroying "family life". Those attitudes are probably changing in the bigger cities, but not by much I bet (perhaps that's why young Turkish women always look rather sad).

Steve


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[surorus]

Bellthecat,

Did you read the latest news on Turkeys econotmy?

Follow the link:
Turkish markets rock

[levonyeshilian]

Steve,
Here i stand to defend Turks again(grrrrr).
First of all you're right about the traditonal position of women.If the woman you marry isn't virgin(but you didn't know it) most of the men divorce and many of them kill!!!Sex is a great taboo for about maybe 80 percent of the population.And many man and women marry with the people they don't know just because their family want them to...
As i've written above they can't stop prostitution because many of Russians just come here for trade..But the others are doctors,lawyers,teachers in their country and stays here for a short period.They gain the money they earn in Russia for one month in a few hours here.It's impossible to understand looking at their faces and forbidding them to enter the country.If so there are many ways to enter the country illegally.
But i don't agree(maybe some fascists believe so) that Turks are proud to see children of Russian Empire as prostitudes.If you compare a Turkish women with a Russian,Russians look like angels near an ordinary Turkish woman.
I'm really to sad to see those beautiful,educated,cultured women in that situation for a few dollars.

[hyecory]

THE TURKISH MADAM WAS ARMENIAN?
I DOUGHT ITS TRUE, AFTER ALL A ARMENIAN SCIENTIST WOMAN IS A TURKISH SCIENTIST MAN IN TURKEY.

[Azat]

huh?

[hyecory]

i repeat "armenian scientist woman is a turkish scientist man in turkey"

its that simple!

[ThornyRose]

Pear on branch is sweeter than apple on plate. Apple in hand is sourer than lemon in your eye. Lemon in the cellar is nicer than hickory out in the cold.

[ThornyRose]

By the way, are you just another sexist?

[hyecory]

"armenian scientist woman is a turkish scientist man in turkey"


read that to yourselves over an over
an if you still dont understand what its tellin you, than i dont know what to tell ya.

[khodja]

hyecory,

The story of Matlid Manukian is well documented. I don't know what your sick mind has hatched, but it is all garbage. Why don't you go back into your cave, apeman!

[khodja]

hyecory,

I suspect your dementia is generated from your sexual frustration. Every city has its Place Pigalle where your needs can be met. Given the economic mess that our nation finds itself in, our lovely young women have found themselves in many of these districts.
Adequate dram will bring you whichever beauty you desire.

[hyecory]

you moron!
that saying has nothing to do with sex, it has nothing to do with being a woman or a man!
it has nothing to do with scientists!
it has nothing to do with the madam of turkey!

like i said reread it over an over until you get it through that head of yours!
an be a little open minded this time!

think before you start insulting somebody you dont know.
an if you cant controle thoes finger! then shuv it up your ass!

[khodja]

So instead of speaking in riddles, why don't you just say that Turkish government speaks with "forked tongue" in almost all references to Armenians and Armenia.