The idea to create Nur Lodge started in 1988. There were
meetings between a number of Turkish Brethren and M.W. Robert B. Heyat on this
idea and eventually it became an active project of the International
Relations Committee of the Grand Lodge of District of Columbia, F.A.A.M, and
the Grand Lodge of Turkey.
A number of meetings and discussions were conducted in
the Committee and with the GrandLodge of Turkey, and once the core officers
and the founding members were identified, a petition to form the Lodge was
presented to the Grand Master, M.W. Dan L Frederick.
The first
organizational meeting of Nur Lodge and installation of the officers was held
on Saturday afternoon June 5, 1999.
"To relieve the distressed is a duty incumbent on all men, but particularly
on Freemasons, who are linked together by an indissoluble chain of sincere
affection. To soothe the unhappy, to sympathize with their misfortunes, to
compassionate their miseries, and to restore peace to their troubled minds,
is the great aim we have in view. On this basis we form our friendships and
establish our connections."
- from Illustrations of Masonry - by William Preston, (1772)
Background History
of Turkish Freemasonry
The history of Turkish Freemasonry goes back to 18'h.
Century and the first recorded Freemasons were Humbaraci Ahmet Pasha,
Ibrahim Muteferrika Mehmet Sait Pasha (Grand Vezir). From 1730 a number of
Turkish ambassadors and dignitaries became Masons either in Turkey or in
Europe and many lodges were established by foreign jurisdictions in Turkey.
In 1748 under Sultan Mahmud I and in 1826 under Sultan Mahmud 11,
Freemasonry was banned in Turkey. However in 1857, the first Grand Lodge of
Turkey was established by the Grant Orient of France, and in 1861, the
Supreme Council of Scottish Rite was formed. By 1870, there were 49 lodges
from various jurisdictions operating in Turkey.
On 13 July 1909, by bringing all the lodges of various
jurisdictions, a new Grand Lodge of Turkey was formed, and Talat Pasha
(Grand Vezir) became the Grand Master. Freemasonry was banned again in 1935
and the existing Grand Lodge started its operation in 1956. At present, the
Grand Master is M.W. Bro: Demir Savasci and the Grand Lodge of Turkey is
recognized by all the regular Grand Lodges in the world and has more than
160 lodges and 13,000 members. | 
