This photo was taken at the Turk Studio in Beyoglu. I have not gone to the military service yet and I am single. My father’s sister and her family are very close to us. We saw my aunt Rasel Deleon especially frequently. As they lived in Yedikule we used to take the boat from Kuzguncuk to Eminonu and then we would take the train from Sirkeci.
In the photo you can see my mother Mazalto Coyas in the front on theleft, beside her Jozef Deleon, my aunt’s husband, with his granddaughter Cela Deleon on his lap and sitting beside him is my aunt, Rasel Deleon.
Behind you can see me, then my cousins Viktorya and Jak Deleon.
My aunt had 4 sons: Moiz, Kemal, Selomo and Jak Deleon. I was very close to all of them but I used to see Jak and Kemal more frequently. Jak and his family lived with Jak’s parents in the same house. It was a 3-storeyed wooden house. There used to be a workshop in the house where he used to make shirts. Jak used to do business with the French. He was in business together with his father. They used to sell the Grench diferent sorts of goods. He was well-off but he also like entertainment. He used to go out to a different place every night, that is why he could never save any money.
The Coyas family
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