Izmit (Nicomedia) is a town in northwestern Anatolia, situated on the eastern side of the Sea of Marmara, about 100 kilometers (62 miles) east of Istanbul. The Ottomans captured the city from the Byzantines in 1338. It later became the center of the province (sanjak) of Kocaeli (and is still the capital of a province of the same name in the Republic of Turkey). During the Ottoman period, the town was particularly known for its naval arsenal, which supplemented the imperial shipyard in Istanbul. The forested region surrounding Izmit was the primary supplier of timber for shipbu…