Türkiye marked the 570th anniversary of the conquest of Istanbul on Monday, hailing it as the momentous start of a new era. Istanbul, a cosmopolitan city, was besieged 28 times throughout history before its conquest in 1453 by Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II. In recognition of his victory, the 21-year-old ruler was thereafter known as Mehmed the Conqueror.
In a prophecy about Istanbul's conquest by a Muslim ruler, the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said: "Konstantiniye will surely be conquered; what a good commander is the conqueror, what a good soldier is the conqueror.”
A morning prayer was held in Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque with the participation of Ali Erbaş, the head of Türkiye's top religious body Diyanet, Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu and Istanbul Governor Ali Yerlikaya.
PATH TO CONQUEST
On the night of April 21-22, 1453, 67 small- and medium-sized ships were moved to the Golden Horn – the primary inlet of the Turkish Straits – by soldiers and transport animals through the bed of the Kabataş Stream, which poured into the Tophane Port. The first walls of the city were built in 657 B.C. Roman Emperor Septimius Severus (193-211) demolished these walls during one of the city's invasions and built a wall that ended near Hagia Sophia, including the Sarayburnu and later Sultan Ahmet Square.
During the reign of Constantinus (306-337), the city – from the Marmara coast to the Golden Horn – was surrounded by city walls for the third time. All preparations for the conquest of Istanbul were carried out in Edirne, just west of Istanbul. Mehmed II set off from Edirne. Mehmed II entered the city on the afternoon of the first day of the conquest. He went to Hagia Sophia – now a mosque – and prayed there, saying: "My throne is Istanbul from now on.”
Istanbul was conquered after a siege that lasted for 54 days with intervals. The conquest ended the 1,058-year-old Byzantine Empire, brought the Middle Ages to a close, and made Istanbul the proud new capital of the Ottoman Empire.