The Aviation Martyrs' Monument ( or formerly ''Tayyare Şehitleri Abidesi''), located in

Fatih Fatih () is a municipality and district of Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 15 km2, and its population is 368,227 (2022). It is home to almost all of the provincial authorities (including the mayor's office, police headquarters, metro ...

district of

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

, is a

memorial A memorial is an object or place which serves as a focus for the memory or the commemoration of something, usually an influential, deceased person or a historical, tragic event. Popular forms of memorials include landmark objects such as home ...

dedicated to the first soldiers of the Ottoman Airforce to be killed in flight accidents. In Turkey, one use of the term "martyr" is as an honorific for people killed in action during war. The monument was commissioned right after the consecutive crash of two

monoplane A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple wings. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing con ...

s in

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

, killing three of the four military aviators who were on an expedition flight from Istanbul to

Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...

in early 1914. The monument, in form of a

column A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member ...

, was inaugurated in 1916. A military memorial ceremony is held in front of the monument every year on Martyrs' Day.

History

Following the

Balkan Wars The Balkan Wars were two conflicts that took place in the Balkans, Balkan states in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan states of Kingdom of Greece (Glücksburg), Greece, Kingdom of Serbia, Serbia, Kingdom of Montenegro, M ...

, the

government of the Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire developed over the years as a despotism with the List of sultans of the Ottoman Empire, Sultan as the supreme ruler of a centralized government that had an effective control of its Administrative divisions of the Ottoman Empi ...

launched a prestigious expedition across the empire's holdings. A multiple-leg flight of four air force monoplanes from Istanbul to

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

and

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

, it would cover a distance of nearly . The planes left Istanbul from the Aviation School in Hagios Stefanos (modern Yeşilköy) on February 8 manned by two aviators each. The first team's aircraft, a

Blériot XI The Blériot XI is a French aircraft from the Aviation in the pioneer era, pioneer era of aviation. The first example was used by Louis Blériot to make the first flight across the English Channel in a heavier-than-air aircraft, on 25 July 1909. ...

, crashed on February 27 on the flight leg from

Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

by Al-Samra near the

Sea of Galilee The Sea of Galilee (, Judeo-Aramaic languages, Judeo-Aramaic: יַמּא דטבריא, גִּנֵּיסַר, ), also called Lake Tiberias, Genezareth Lake or Kinneret, is a freshwater lake in Israel. It is the lowest freshwater lake on Earth ...

, killing pilot Navy Lieutenant () Fethi Bey and his navigator,

Artillery Artillery consists of ranged weapons that launch Ammunition, munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during sieges, and l ...

First Lieutenant First lieutenant is a commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces; in some forces, it is an appointment. The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations, but in most forces it is sub-divided into a se ...

() Sadık Bey. The second team's aircraft, a Deperdussin B, crashed on March 11 into the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eur ...

off

Jaffa Jaffa (, ; , ), also called Japho, Joppa or Joppe in English, is an ancient Levantine Sea, Levantine port city which is part of Tel Aviv, Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel, located in its southern part. The city sits atop a naturally elevated outcrop on ...

shortly after take-off. Artillery Second Lieutenant () Nuri Bey was killed while the other aviator, İsmail Hakkı Bey, survived the accident. All three victims were interred in Damascus. A monument was erected at the crash site near the Sea of Galilee.

Design and construction

The government decided to build a monument in the empire's capital to the commemorate the first martyrs of the Ottoman military aviation. The site chosen for the memorial was a park in Istanbul's Fatih district, in front of the then city hall (currently the Istanbul Fire Department's main building), not far from the

Valens Aqueduct The Aqueduct of Valens (, ) was a Roman aqueduct system built in the late 4th century AD, to supply Constantinople – the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire. Construction of the aqueduct began during the reign of the Roman emperor Constantius ...

. The memorial's foundation stone was laid on April 2, 1914, by Minister of War

Enver Pasha İsmâil Enver (; ; 23 November 1881 – 4 August 1922), better known as Enver Pasha, was an Ottoman Empire, Ottoman Turkish people, Turkish military officer, revolutionary, and Istanbul trials of 1919–1920, convicted war criminal who was a p ...

. Its construction lasted two years and it was inaugurated in 1916. Designed by the renowned Turkish architect

Vedat Tek Mehmet Vedat Tek (; 1873 – 1942) was a Turkish architect. The last court architect of the Ottoman Empire, Vedat Tek was one of two leading figures of the First Turkish National Architectural Movement, alongside Mimar Kemaleddin. Early life a ...

, the

conical In geometry, a cone is a three-dimensional figure that tapers smoothly from a flat base (typically a circle) to a point not contained in the base, called the ''apex'' or '' vertex''. A cone is formed by a set of line segments, half-lines, ...

columnar monument features a broken top made of

white marble Marble is a metamorphic rock consisting of carbonate minerals (most commonly calcite (CaCO3) or dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2) that have recrystallized under the influence of heat and pressure. It has a crystalline texture, and is typically not foliat ...

. The broken top symbolizes the flight mission's incomplete status. A branch of

laurel Laurel may refer to: Plants * Lauraceae, the laurel family * Laurel (plant), including a list of trees and plants known as laurel People * Laurel (given name), people with the given name * Laurel (surname), people with the surname * Laurel (mus ...

made of

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals (such as phosphorus) or metalloid ...

is fixed on the lower half of the column. The monument is about high. A large bronze

medallion A medal or medallion is a small portable artistic object, a thin disc, normally of metal, carrying a design, usually on both sides. They typically have a commemorative purpose of some kind, and many are presented as awards. They may be in ...

is attached on each of the two opposite sides of the marble base on which the column stands. On one medallion are

inscribed An inscribed triangle of a circle In geometry, an inscribed planar shape or solid is one that is enclosed by and "fits snugly" inside another geometric shape or solid. To say that "figure F is inscribed in figure G" means precisely the same th ...

the names and the officer ranks of the victims. On the other are depicted a monoplane, the

Beyazıt Tower Beyazıt Tower, also named Seraskier Tower, from the name of the Serasker, Ottoman ministry of War, is an fire-watch tower located in the courtyard of Istanbul University's main campus (formerly Ottoman Ministry of War) on Beyazıt Square (known ...

and the landscape of Istanbul is the form of a

relief Relief is a sculpture, sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term ''wikt:relief, relief'' is from the Latin verb , to raise (). To create a sculpture in relief is to give ...

Commemoration day

The first commemoration at the monument was held on its opening day in 1916. However, until 1926 no celebration at all took place. Following the foundation of the

Turkish Aeronautical Association Turkish Aeronautical Association () is a non-profit organization with an aim of increasing public awareness and participation in aviation related activities and the national body governing air sports in Turkey. The association was founded with ...

() on February 16, 1925, by

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk Mustafa Kemal Atatürk ( 1881 – 10 November 1938) was a Turkish field marshal and revolutionary statesman who was the founding father of the Republic of Turkey, serving as its first President of Turkey, president from 1923 until Death an ...

, 27 January was accepted as the commemoration day for aviation martyrs in honor of pilot

Major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

() Mehmet Fazıl Bey and

Petty officer A petty officer (PO) is a non-commissioned officer in many navies. Often they may be superior to a seaman, and subordinate to more senior non-commissioned officers, such as chief petty officers. Petty officers are usually sailors that have ...

() Mehmet Emin Bey, who were killed on January 27, 1923, during a training flight. As part of the commemoration, all flights in Turkey's airspace were to cease for one hour at noon on that commemoration day. Celebrations for remembrance on January 27 lasted until 1935. As January is one of the coldest months in Turkey, commemorations could hardly be held. From 1935 the commemoration day was rescheduled for May 15, the day on which

Colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

() Fethi Bey, journalist

Hasan Tahsin Hasan Tahsin was the code name of Osman Nevres (1888 – 15 May 1919), a Turkish nationalist, patriot, and journalist of Dönmeh descent. Hailed as a Turkish war hero, his name has been given by the Turkish Armed Forces to the Information ...

and nine other people were killed in 1919 during the

Occupation of İzmir The city of Smyrna (modern-day İzmir) and surrounding areas were under Greek military occupation from 15 May 1919 until 9 September 1922. The Allied Powers authorized the occupation and creation of the Zone of Smyrna () during negotiations re ...

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

forces. In 2002, the commemoration day for the aviation martyrs was merged with the more general Martyrs' Memorial Day by finally changing its date to March 18, which marks the 1915 Battle of March 18 in the Dardanelles Campaign. Since then, aviation martyrs are commemorated together with all other victims who lost their lives in the service of the nation.

References

{{Public art in Istanbul Buildings and structures completed in 1916 Fatih Martyrs' monuments and memorials Military aviation in the Ottoman Empire Military history of the Ottoman Empire Monumental columns in Istanbul Outdoor sculptures in Istanbul History of the Turkish Air Force Turkish military memorials and cemeteries Vedat Tek buildings Military history of Istanbul

History

Design and construction

Commemoration day

See also

References