During the 1960's Bursa was a relatively quiet city and the means of communication with the outer world were scarce. Thus it met the needs of the Pahlavi regime, who wanted the Imam to have no contact with the outer world.
Qom's security forces and the SAVAK intelligence services arrested Imam Khomeini in the early hours of the 4th of November 1964, and transferred him to Mehrabad international airport in Tehran. From there, he was exiled and was sent to live in Istanbul.
However after a week had passed, the Turkish authorities and the Iranian government decided to send the Imam to Bursa, which is situated in northwest Turkey.
This was due to the fact that the Imam made contact with Iranian clergymen while he was in Istanbul. This worried Iran and Turkey and so Turkey proposed that the Imam should go and live in Bursa, which was a quiet city.
Another reason why this particular city was chosen was due to the fact that Iranians were not very familiar with the whereabouts of this city. Imam Khomeini was forced to stay in Bursa for eleven months.
It is worthy to mention that Imam spent about 15 years in exile in Turkey, Iraq and France before making a comeback to homeland in 1979 follwoing the victory of the Islamic Revolution.
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