The Edirnekapı Martyr's Cemetery ( tr, Edirnekapı Şehitliği), one of the largest burial grounds of

Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...

, Turkey, is located in the neighborhood of Edirnekapı of Eyüp district, in the European part of the city. It consists of an old, historical part and a modern one. War graves of fallen Ottoman soldiers during the Balkan Wars, the Gallipoli campaign of World War I, graves of the

Turkish Armed Forces The Turkish Armed Forces (TAF; tr, Türk Silahlı Kuvvetleri, TSK) are the military forces of the Republic of Turkey. Turkish Armed Forces consist of the General Staff, the Land Forces, the Naval Forces and the Air Forces. The current Chi ...

military personnel and law enforcement officials, firefighters,

Turkish Airlines Turkish Airlines ( Turkish: ''Türk Hava Yolları'') is the national flag carrier airline of Turkey. , it operates scheduled services to 340 destinations in Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas, making it the largest mainline carrier in the ...

personnel are part of the cemetery.

History

The cemetery is said originally to have been formed with the graves of the Ottoman soldiers, who fell in the battle during the Second Ottoman Siege and Fall of Constantinople in 1453, where the last

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

emperor

Constantine XI Constantine XI Dragases Palaiologos or Dragaš Palaeologus ( el, Κωνσταντῖνος Δραγάσης Παλαιολόγος, ''Kōnstantînos Dragásēs Palaiológos''; 8 February 1405 – 29 May 1453) was the last List of Byzantine em ...

established his command and the Ottoman sultan Mehmed II made his triumphal entry into the conquered city. There is however no historical or archaeological evidence for this, the oldest known graves date from ca. 1600 AD. The cemetery is situated outside Edirnekapı (literally:

Edirne Edirne (, ), formerly known as Adrianople or Hadrianopolis ( Greek: Άδριανούπολις), is a city in Turkey, in the northwestern part of the province of Edirne in Eastern Thrace. Situated from the Greek and from the Bulgarian borders ...

Gate), historically the Gate of Charisius of the city walls, on top of the sixth hill of the old city. The old part of the cemetery, including an area called "Mısır Tarlası" (literally: Corn Field), hosts graves of personalities from the 16th to the early 20th centuries. The other part of the cemetery consists of two grounds, Edirnekapı Cemetery and Sakızağacı Cemetery. Soldiers, who fought and were wounded in the

Russo-Turkish War The Russo-Turkish wars (or Ottoman–Russian wars) were a series of twelve wars fought between the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire between the 16th and 20th centuries. It was one of the longest series of military conflicts in European histo ...

s, Balkan Wars and the

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, and died in Istanbul after hospitalization, were interred in Edirnekapı Cemetery. The General Command of Mapping denotes the number of such historical graves with around 13,000. Military personnel of the

Turkish Army The Turkish Land Forces ( tr, Türk Kara Kuvvetleri), or Turkish Army (Turkish: ), is the main branch of the Turkish Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. The army was formed on November 8, 1920, after the collapse of the ...

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It in ...

and

Air Force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an ...

, personnel of the

police force The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and th ...

, firefighters and

have all separate sections in the cemetery.

Notable burials

Listed alphabetically: ;In the historic part: *

Bâkî Bâḳî (باقى) was the pen name ( Ottoman Turkish: مخلص ''mahlas'') of the Ottoman Turkish poet Mahmud Abdülbâkî (محمود عبدالباقى) . Considered one of the greatest contributors to Turkish literature and Azerbaijani l ...

(died 1600), poet * Buhurizade Itri (died 1711), composer ;In the modern part: *

Yunus Nadi Abalıoğlu Yunus Nadi Abalıoğlu (1879, Fethiye – 28 June 1945) was a renowned Turkish journalist and the founder of the newspaper ''Cumhuriyet''. He was known to be a sympathizer of the Nazi regime before the war, as he published many antisemitic prop ...

(1878–1945), journalist *

Yusuf Akçura Yusuf Akçura ( tt-Cyrl, Йосыф Акчура; 2 December 1876 – 11 March 1935) was a prominent Turkish politician, writer and ideologist of ethnic Tatar origin. He developed into a prominent ideologue and advocate of Pan-Turkism during t ...

(1876–1935),

Pan-Turkist Pan-Turkism is a political movement that emerged during the 1880s among Turkic intellectuals who lived in the Russian region of Kazan (Tatarstan), Caucasus (modern-day Azerbaijan) and the Ottoman Empire (modern-day Turkey), with its aim bei ...

activist *

Oğuz Atay Oğuz Atay (October 12, 1934 – December 13, 1977) was a pioneer of the modern novel in Turkey. His first novel, '' Tutunamayanlar'' (''The Disconnected''), appeared in 1971–72. Never reprinted in his lifetime and controversial among critics, ...

(1934–1977), author * Mehmet Akif Ersoy (1873–1936), poet *

Burhan Kuzu Burhan Kuzu (1 January 1955 – 1 November 2020) was a Turkish politician of the Justice and Development Party (Turkey), Justice and Development Party who served as a member of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey for Istanbul in the 22nd to 24t ...

(1955–2020), academic and politician *

Süleyman Nazif Süleyman Nazif ( ota, سلیمان نظیف;‎ 29 January 1870 – 4 January 1927) was a Turkish poet and a prominent member of the CUP. He mastered Arabic, Persian, and French languages and worked as a civil servant during the reign of ...

(1870–1927), poet *

Recep Peker Mehmet Recep Peker (5 February 1889 – 1 April 1950) was a Turkish military officer and politician. He served in various ministerial posts and finally as the Prime Minister of Turkey. He self-identified as a FascistÖzkaya, Ahmet. ''Recep Pe ...

(1889–1950), prime minister *

Ruhi Sarıalp Ruhi Sarıalp (December 15, 1924 – March 3, 2001) was a Turkish track and field athlete, who competed mainly in the triple jump. He was born in Manisa. Background He competed for Turkey in the 1948 Summer Olympics held in London, Great Brit ...

(1924–2001), Olympic medalist

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

athlete *

Leyla Saz Leyla Saz, also called Leyla Hanimefendi (1850–1936) was a Turkish composer, poet and writer. Biography Born in 1850, she was the daughter of İsmail Hakkı Pasha, (often called Hekim İsmail Pasha (İsmail Pasha the Doctor). She spent her ...

(1850–1936), female composer * Naim Süleymanoğlu (1967–2017), multiple world and Olympic champion weightlifter *

Bruno Taut Bruno Julius Florian Taut (4 May 1880 – 24 December 1938) was a renowned German architect, urban planner and author of Prussian Lithuanian heritage ("taut" means "nation" in Lithuanian). He was active during the Weimar period and is know ...

(1880–1938), German architect (the only non-Muslim) *

Vedat Tek Mehmet Vedat Tek (1873–1942) was a Turkish architect who was one of the leading figures of the First Turkish National Architectural Movement. Early life and education Of Cretan Muslim origin, Vedat Tek was born in Istanbul to the governor of ...

(1873–1942), architect * Ahmed Tevfik Pasha (1845–1936), last Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire *

Cengiz Topel Cengiz Topel (September 2, 1934 – August 8, 1964) was a fighter pilot of the Turkish Air Force, who was tortured to death after his plane was shot down while supporting the Turkish army during the 1964 inter-communal conflict "Erenköy Resista ...

(1934–1964), fighter pilot * Suat Hayri Ürgüplü (1903–1981), prime minister

Gallery

File:EdirnekapıCemetery (1).jpg, Symbolic empty war graves of Gallipoli campaign File:EdirnekapıCemetery (15).jpg, Name board of fallen soldiers in front of a grave row File:EdirnekapıCemetery (16).jpg, A symbolic empty grave of a fallen soldier

References

External links

* Hans-Peter Laqueur, ''Osmanische Friedhöfe und Grabsteine in Istanbul'' (=Istanbuler Mitteilungen, Beiheft 38) Tübingen (Ernst Wasmuth Verlag) 1993, pp. 19–25 {{DEFAULTSORT:Edirnekapi Martyr's Cemetery Cemeteries in Istanbul Turkish military memorials and cemeteries Eyüp Sunni cemeteries