The granddaughter of Turkish national poet Mehmet Akif Ersoy is searching for voice recordings of her renowned relative in Germany, which were made during his sojourn in Berlin during World War I, she told Anadolu Agency.

Selma Argon, the granddaughter of Ersoy is trying to find her grandfather's recordings and sought assistance from the Turkish Embassy in Berlin.

The aforementioned voice recordings were reportedly recorded when Ersoy, who is one of the great Turkish poets of the early Turkish Republic and composer of the lyrics of the Turkish national anthem, went to Berlin in 1915. There, he reportedly visited prisoner camps set up for Muslim detainees and preached sermons for Indian Muslims. Reports said that Argon had a difficult time finding the phonographs so far. She told the Anadolu Agency that a very good knowledge of Ottoman, German and Arabic would be required in order to trace down the records in Germany.

Ersoy's granddaughter noted that she would be very happy to be able to hear her grandfather's voice. She continued by saying that Mehmet Akif Ersoy was a fervent preacher and a gifted speaker. She added that her grandfather, even while staying in Berlin, was constantly occupied with the fate of his country. She dreams of turning a room in Mısır Apartment, a famous apartment building in Istanbul's historic Beyoğlu district, in which her grandfather stayed before dying, into a museum in order to honor his memory.