The Monument of Sivrihisar Airplane ( tr, Sivrihisar Uçağı Anıtı) is a monument featuring a biplane replica in

Sivrihisar Sivrihisar ( tr, Sivrihisar, "a pointed castle") is a town and district of Eskişehir Province in the Central Anatolia Region of Turkey. According to 2010 census, population of the district is 23 488 of which 9,817 live in the town of Sivrihisar. ...

district of

Eskişehir Province Eskişehir Province ( tr, ) is a province in northwestern Turkey. Its adjacent provinces are Bilecik to the northwest, Kütahya to the west, Afyon to the southwest, Konya to the south, Ankara to the east, and Bolu to the north. The provincial ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

to commemorate the purchase of a military aircraft by the citizens of Sivrihisar, and its donation to the Turkish military during the Turkish War of Independence.

Geography

The replica has been installed to the south of Turkish state highway at a point, which is close to the junction of two busy state roads to

Ankara Ankara ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and over 5.7 million in Ankara Province, maki ...

. Its distance to the town center is about .

History

During the

Turkish War of Independence The Turkish War of Independence "War of Liberation", also known figuratively as ''İstiklâl Harbi'' "Independence War" or ''Millî Mücadele'' "National Struggle" (19 May 1919 – 24 July 1923) was a series of military campaigns waged by th ...

, Sivrihisar was captured by the advancing Greek forces on 12 August 1921. The town later was recaptured on 20 September 1921 during the

Battle of Sakarya The Battle of the Sakarya ( tr, Sakarya Meydan Muharebesi, lit=Sakarya Field Battle), also known as the Battle of the Sangarios ( el, Μάχη του Σαγγαρίου, Máchi tou Sangaríou), was an important engagement in the Greco-Turkish Wa ...

. During the war,

Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

army had only five warplanes, which were old and not maintained. The military badly needed a new airplane. After the Turkish control was reestablished, the citizens of Sivrihisar decided to buy a new airplane to show their gratitude to the army and after a fund drive they collected TL 4,000. With this money, they bought a single-engine two-seat biplane bomber aircraft of type Breguet 14 B.2 from

Breguet Aviation Breguet or Bréguet may refer to: * Breguet (watch), watch manufacturer **Abraham-Louis Breguet (1747–1823), Swiss watchmaker **Louis-François-Clement Breguet (1804–1883), French physicist, watchmaker, electrical and telegraph work * Bréguet ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. The plane was named after the place of the donors, "Sivrihisar". This was one of the first up-to-date warplanes of the

Turkish Air Force The Turkish Air Force ( tr, ) is the aerial warfare service branch of the Turkish Armed Forces. The Turkish Air Force can trace its origins back to June 1911 when it was founded by the Ottoman Empire, however, the air force as it is known t ...

. In Atatürk’s journal of the war, there is a note "a check from Sivrihisar to Osmanlı Bankası to buy a new airplane is entrusted to Eskişehir MP Mehmet Efendi". Also

Semyon Aralov Semyon Ivanovich Aralov (russian: Семён Иванович Аралов; 18 December 1880 – 22 May 1969) was a Russian revolutionary, military commander and Soviet statesman who served as the first head of the Soviet Red Army Intelligence Dir ...

, then the

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

representative in Turkey notes that an airplane donated by the Sivrihisar citizens was flying over Sivrihisar during his visit there on 27 March 1922. Piloted by Halim Canko, the warplane carried out the roles of

reconnaissance In military operations, reconnaissance or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, terrain, and other activities. Examples of reconnaissance include patrolling by troops (skirmisher ...

, fighter and

bomber A bomber is a military combat aircraft designed to attack ground and naval targets by dropping air-to-ground weaponry (such as bombs), launching aerial torpedo, torpedoes, or deploying air-launched cruise missiles. The first use of bombs dropped ...

aircraft.

Commemoration

After the research of the historian Tahsin Özalp in collaboration with

Turgut Özakman Turgut Özakman (1 September 1930 – 28 September 2013) was a Turkish lawyer, a civil servant, a dramaturge and a writer. Life He was born in Ankara in 1930. In 1952 he graduated from the law school of Ankara University and served as a lawyer. ...

, it was decided to commemorate the event, and the aircraft replica was produced at the

Middle East Technical University Middle East Technical University (commonly referred to as METU; in Turkish language, Turkish, ''Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi'', ODTÜ) is a public university, public Institute of technology, technical university located in Ankara, Turkey. The ...

. The monument was opened on 22 September 2007.

References

{{Eskişehir Province Monuments and memorials in Turkey Buildings and structures in Eskişehir Province Tourist attractions in Eskişehir Province Sivrihisar District Turkish Air Force Turkish War of Independence 2007 establishments in Turkey Replica aircraft