Dear Students of Ottoman Philately;

     Finally a new site henceforward to be known as "PostMan" has been incorporated for all to participate and to share information as well as precious knowledge in a field where separate groups and collectors have long strove to bring some light into a philatelic horizon where unknown was always the constant cloud. I am sure that I speak for every one concerned when I express my gratitude to all who have contributed their efforts and most appreciated experiences to create such a possibility for us all.

     Every student of this oft obscure if not unfathomable ocean of Ottoman Philately must have realized at some point during his or her tribulations that the sheer weight of having to learn the old Turkish Script in Arabic letters coupled with severe economic concerns about the cost of acquiring old literature, ancient maps and dusty material of dubious provenance had always tried the patience of many of our ranks even if they felt a nostalgic attraction to an extremely wide and most interesting philatelic realm which extends over three continents from Yemen to Bosnia as well as from Georgia to Libya.

     I rest assured in my mind that our efforts shall envision to co-ordinate all our efforts to close the ever widening gap between such groups and people within a comprehensive fold where Ottoman Philately can be studied in its full entirety for a better understanding of its peoples, cultures and approximately two dozen present day sovereign nations which had witnessed their first postal experience under the aegis of Imperium Ottomanicum.

     May I suggest therefore, that in order to create a site where we can all understand each other with greater ease and to be able to invite many a student of our field to share their much appreciated experiences; we should conduct our daily conversations in the Lingua Franca of our Era, i.e. English as well as in Turkish to mirror those most informative transactions for the benefit of our brethren who might wish to conduct their studies in their own language. Needless to say; such mirror image sites might be established in other countries and in other languages for those future affiliates who might wish to choose the same proposal.

     Here is to hope for many an interesting and fruitful quid pro quo to understand the common ground of our immediate past under a better light.

Osman Levent Seral