Harun Bozo with friends at the Rumeli Hisari fortress

Here you can see me with my friends at an outing at the Rumeli Hisari fortress in Istanbul in 1947. From left to right: Jojo Bati, Rozi Toledo and myself. I came to Istanbul in 1943 because I wanted to study at Robert College, but I was too late for the exams. Others who had come from Urfa had gone to study at this school. My brother enrolled me in the St. Benoit Lycee. Then I started living with my brother. I graduated in 1948-49. My family was in Urfa. I used to go there and visit until 1945-46. However, after the Urfa Events, I didn't go there again. As I was the youngest, my mother was very attached to me and she would worry herself sick every time I came to Urfa. She didn't want me to go, so after 1946 I never went to Urfa again. I had a very nice group of friends till I got married. In our time, we didn't have any Turkish friends. Jojo Bati's brother, Selim Bati, was married to my niece. Jojo Bati was my best friend and we came to Istanbul from Urfa together. He left to go to the USA. Another friend from Urfa, Moiz Moseri immigrated to Israel and has died. Murat Binler has been my friend since Urfa. Armando Gatenyo was my childhood friend. We lived in the same street. Niso Behar and Leon Menase were my other friends. We were a handful of guys. I lost them all after I got married. I couldn't have many friends while I was married. Even with my second marriage it didn't work out, so I saw the guys separately. My second wife was very young of course. We didn't see many people during the winter. In the summer I would see my friends at the port in Buyukada. Now, on Buyukada I have very sweet neighbors and we see each other.