THE FORGOTTEN TURKISH GRAVES AT LIVERPOOL NECROPOLIS AND MEHMED KAMIL BEY’S ATTEMPT TO ESTABLISH A MUSLIM CEMETERY IN THE CITY
Études balkaniques (Sofia) 2026, N 1, pp. 172-197
DOI: https://doi.org/10.62761/645.EB.LXII1.06
Muhammed HASANOV 
Liverpool John Moores University, United Kingdom
Abstract: This article explores the little-known history of the Turkish graves in the Liverpool Necropolis and the broader efforts to establish a Muslim cemetery in Liverpool in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It begins with the arrival of the Ottoman frigate Geyvan-ı Bahri. in 1856, during which 29 crew members died of cholera and were buried in Liverpool Necropolis. These graves were largely forgotten until the emergence of the Liverpool Muslim Institute (LMI), led by British convert Abdullah Quilliam, which began using the site for Muslim burials in the 1890s. The study highlights how the graves gained renewed political and religious significance as Liverpool became a hub for Muslim maritime visitors. Special attention is given to Mehmed Kamil Bey, Ottoman Consul General in Liverpool (1899 – 1902), whose proactive attempts to relocate the graves and establish a dedicated Muslim cemetery aligned with Sultan Abdulhamid II’s Pan-Islamic agenda. Drawing on British and Ottoman archival sources, newspapers, and missionary accounts, this article provides the first comprehensive examination of these graves. This article assesses Mehmed Kamil’s persistent appeals, detailed correspondence, and strategic efforts to engage both local and imperial authorities, concluding with an analysis of why the Ottoman initiative failed and how the legacy of the Turkish graves gradually faded from institutional and public memory.
Keywords: Liverpool Necropolis, Muslim Cemetery, Mehmed Kamil Bey, Pan-Islamism, Victorian Islam in Britain