IN PICTURES: Turkey Celebrates 568th Anniversary Of İstanbul’s Conquest By Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II Al Fatih

The 568th anniversary of the Conquest of İstanbul, also known as the Fall of Constantinople, by the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed Al Fatih was observed with a visual feast in the Turkish metropolis.

A visual show was organized in the city to indicate the anniversary of the conquest of İstanbul that altered the direction of history.

Afterward, the celebrations proceeded with a virtual sky mapping extravaganza that was used for the first time at Hagia Sophia and Galata Tower, a symbol of the conquest.

The portrait of Sultan Mehmed Al Fatih on horseback, who captured İstanbul at the age of 21, was also starred in the display.

The Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, shared a message commemorating the 568th anniversary of the conquest of İstanbul.

“I salute the 568th anniversary of the Conquest of İstanbul, one of the most remarkable victories of our history,” he said on Twitter.

Tarihimizin en ihtişamlı zaferlerinden biri olan İstanbul'un Fethi'nin 568. yıl dönümünü tebrik ediyorum.

Peygamber Efendimizin övgüsüne mazhar olan, bu eşsiz şehri medeniyet mirasımıza katan Fatih Sultan Mehmet Han’ı ve şanlı ordusunu rahmetle, hürmetle yâd ediyorum. pic.twitter.com/Qcoc02KtM1

— Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (@RTErdogan) May 29, 2021

He narrated Prophet Muhammad ﷺ’s hadith concerning the conquest with a visual that stated: “İstanbul will definitely be conquered. What an excellent commander is the commander who conquers it, what an excellent army that army is.”

İstanbul’un Fethi’nin 568. yılı vesilesiyle Okçular Vakfı tarafından düzenlenen 9. Uluslararası Fetih Kupası’nda yarışan, geleneksel spor dallarımıza sahip çıkan gençlerimizin her birine teşekkürlerimi iletiyorum. pic.twitter.com/Gs2WaNrhmi

— Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (@RTErdogan) May 29, 2021

“I remember with mercy and respect Mehmed Al Fatih and his heroic army, who added this unique (historic) city to our heritage of civilization,” Erdoğan concluded.

On the 29th of May, 1453, Sultan Mehmed II conquered İstanbul, then named Constantinople, from where the Byzantines had governed the Eastern Roman Empire for more than a millennium.

The victory changed the city, once the heart of the Byzantine sphere, into the capital of the new Ottoman Empire.

Although the city had been attacked and besieged many times before, nobody had been able to conquer it.

So, Sultan Mehmed II knew completely that accomplishing the unimaginable required unconventional tactics and shrewdness.

The sultan gathered a huge army – said to include over 200,000 soldiers, yet a few historians say the number was less than half of this – and emerged before the city’s mighty walls with complete confidence and trust in Allah.

He encircled the city by both sea and land, followed by an astonishing move: the heaving of warships overland encompassing the city’s Galata area – then a small Genoese trader colony – on modern İstanbul’s European side.

The military campaign endured for more than 50 days, spearheaded by huge cannonball assaults pounding the walls to force a hole through which fighters could breach the city.

On the 29th of May, the city finally fell, gaining Mehmed II the well-deserved title of “conqueror.”

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