The Edirnekapı Martyr's Cemetery (), one of the largest burial grounds 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, 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 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 Gallipoli campaign of World War I, graves of the

Turkish Armed Forces The Turkish Armed Forces (TAF; , TSK) are the armed forces, military forces of the Turkey, Republic of Turkey. The TAF consist of the Turkish Army, Land Forces, the Turkish Navy, Naval Forces and the Turkish Air Force, Air Forces. The Chief of ...

military personnel and law enforcement officials, firefighters,

Turkish Airlines Turkish Airlines (Turkish language, Turkish: ''Türk Hava Yolları''), or legally Türk Hava Yolları Anonim Ortaklığı, is the flag carrier of Turkey. , it operates scheduled services to 352 destinations (including cargo) in Europe, Asia, Oce ...

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 The Fall of Constantinople, also known as the Conquest of Constantinople, was the capture of Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire by the Ottoman Empire. The city was captured on 29 May 1453 as part of the culmination of a 55-da ...

in 1453, where the last

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

emperor Constantine XI established his command and the Ottoman sultan

Mehmed II Mehmed II (; , ; 30 March 14323 May 1481), commonly known as Mehmed the Conqueror (; ), was twice the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from August 1444 to September 1446 and then later from February 1451 to May 1481. In Mehmed II's first reign, ...

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 (; ), historically known as Orestias, Adrianople, is a city in Turkey, in the northwestern part of the Edirne Province, province of Edirne in Eastern Thrace. Situated from the Greek and from the Bulgarian borders, Edirne was the second c ...

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 the Russo-Ottoman wars (), began in 1568 and continued intermittently until 1918. They consisted of twelve conflicts in total, making them one of the longest series of wars in the history of Europe. All but four of ...

and the

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, 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 () is the main branch of the Turkish Armed Forces responsible for Army, land-based military operations. The army was formed on November 8, 1920, after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. Significant campaigns since the ...

Navy A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the military branch, branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral z ...

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 army aviati ...

, personnel of the police force, firefighters and

have all separate sections in the cemetery.

Notable burials

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

Mehmet Cemaleddin Efendi Şeyhülislâm Halidefendizâde Mehmet Cemaleddin Efendi (1848–1917) (İsmail Hâmi Danişmend, ''Osmanlı Devlet Erkânı'', Türkiye Yayınevi, İstanbul, 1971, p. 158. ) was an Ottoman Empire, Ottoman judge who served as ''List of Sheikh-u ...

(1848–1917), Ottoman judge and Sheyhulisam * Yunus Nadi Abalıoğlu (1878–1945), journalist * Yusuf Akçura (1876–1935), Pan-Turkist activist * Oğuz Atay (1934–1977), author *

Mehmet Akif Ersoy Mehmet Akif Ersoy (20 December 1873 – 27 December 1936) was a Turkish poet, writer, academic, politician, and the author of the Turkish National Anthem. Widely regarded as one of the premiere literary minds of his time, Ersoy is noted for h ...

(1873–1936), poet * Burhan Kuzu (1955–2020), academic and politician * Süleyman Nazif (1870–1927), poet * Recep Peker (1889–1950), prime minister * Ruhi Sarıalp (1924–2001), Olympic medalist

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

athlete *

Leyla Saz Leyla Saz, also called Leyla Hanımefendi (1850–1936), was an Ottoman and later 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 t ...

(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. He was active during the Weimar period and is known for his theoretical works as well as his building designs. Early l ...

(1880–1938), German architect (the only non-Muslim) * Vedat Tek (1873–1942), architect * Ahmed Tevfik Pasha (1845–1936), last

Grand Vizier Grand vizier (; ; ) was the title of the effective head of government of many sovereign states in the Islamic world. It was first held by officials in the later Abbasid Caliphate. It was then held in the Ottoman Empire, the Mughal Empire, the Soko ...

of the Ottoman Empire *

Cengiz Topel Cengiz Topel (September 2, 1934 – August 8, 1964) was a fighter pilot and captain of the Turkish Air Force. Topel was killed in the Battle of Tillyria, becoming the first war casualty of the Turkish Air Force in Cyprus. His name was posthumo ...

(1934–1964), fighter pilot *

Suat Hayri Ürgüplü Ali Suat Hayri Ürgüplü (13 August 1903 – 26 December 1981) was a Turkish politician who served a brief term as Prime Minister of Turkey in 1965. He was also the last Prime Minister to be born outside the territory of present-day Turkey, be ...

(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