The Conquest and the Liberation of Our Istanbul ❤️👊
Today is a blessed day; today is the day Istanbul was conquered.
Five hundred and sixty-eight years ago today, it was conquered by Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror.
When Atatürk saw our Istanbul occupied in 1918 by the Allied Powers and the British, he said: “They shall leave as they came!” And five years later, by keeping his word, he liberated our Istanbul from enemy occupation.
Let us remember together today these two great men of science, these genius commanders, our ancestors, who have inspired and guided me, ByNoGame, and all Turkish youth.
The Conquest of Istanbul
He ascended the throne at just twelve years old. Sensing that the enemy would soon attack, and realizing that his viziers and army would not heed him, the young Sultan Mehmed wrote this letter to his father, who had withdrawn into seclusion after leaving the throne:
“My dear father, If you are the sultan, then please take command of the army. But if I am the sultan, then I command you: immediately take command of the army!”
Deeply moved by this letter, Sultan Murad II obeyed his son’s command, took charge of Sultan Mehmed’s armies, and routed the enemy. By 1453, he spoke six languages; he learned Ancient Greek in order to read Homer’s Iliad in its original language.
At a very young age, he designed what would become the world’s first mortar cannon. He possessed enough engineering knowledge to take part in drafting the technical plans of the cannons used in the conquest of Istanbul. He knew enough astronomy to calculate the phase of the Moon on the night Istanbul would be taken. On a night darkened by a blood moon eclipse, he had the ships carried over land.
After conquering Istanbul, he established the institution that would later become Turkey’s first university. Foreigners did not call him “Grand Turco” without reason. During his reign, no matter where you came from, what religion or race you belonged to,if you were a scholar, the doors of the palace were opened to you without limit. He chose those around him not by loyalty, but by merit (meritocracy).
“You can judge a leader’s intelligence by the people around him.”
— Machiavelli
The capital of the world was besieged 28 times over a thousand years by dozens of different nations, armies, and commanders…
If Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror were alive today, he would not be someone walking around with a sword.
Perhaps he would be one of the world’s greatest scientists.
Or the commander of a massive army…
A remarkable entrepreneur, or the CEO of a unicorn startup.
But whatever he would be…He would be the person who does what the conditions of the time require.
That is why he conquered Istanbul and no one else could.
The Liberation of Istanbul
On November 13, 1918, as Atatürk crossed from Haydarpaşa to Galata and saw the occupying enemy ships, he said: “They shall leave as they came!”
These words signaled the National Struggle he would soon begin.
On October 2, 1923, the last Allied troops left Istanbul, saluting the Turkish flag.
On October 6, 1923, General Şükrü Naili Pasha entered Istanbul and took over the administration of the city.
Four hundred and seventy years later, the honor of liberating Istanbul for a second time fell to Atatürk.
“If the world were a single country, its capital would be Istanbul.”
– Napoleon Bonaparte
I ask you to listen carefully, paying attention to every word and every feeling, to the Conquest March, which I deeply love, draw inspiration from, and listened to dozens, even hundreds of times, especially while abroad.
I hope we can share the same emotions together.
“You are in the hand, you are on the tongue, you are in the heart, you are the chief;You are at the age that Fatih conquered Istanbul.” ❤️🇹🇷👊
Loves,Murat