The death of the last heir to the throne of the Ottoman Empire in Damascus

Dundar Abdul Karim Osmanoglu, the last heir to the throne of the Ottoman Empire, passed away at the age of 90, in the Syrian capital Damascus, according to what his family announced in a statement.

One of the family members, Orhan Osmanoglu, said in a tweet: “The father of our family and the Ottoman dynasty, our uncle Prince Dundar Abdul Karim Osmanoglu died in Damascus, Syria.”

Osmanoglu lived alone in the city of Damascus, where he was born, after his parents were forced from Turkey shortly after the caliphate was abolished in 1924.

Osmanoglu is the grandson of Prince Mehmed Salim Effendi, son of Abd al-Hamid II, the famous Ottoman sultan who is credited with keeping the Ottoman Empire from collapsing after surpassing its glory days in the last years of the nineteenth century.

After the fall of the empire, descendants of the Ottoman dynasty were deported from Turkey, since 1924.

In 1952, females were allowed to return to Turkish territory, while males were allowed to return in 1974.

Source: Daily Sabah