President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has marked the 952nd anniversary of the historic Battle of Manzikert, also known as Malazgirt in Turkish, during a ceremony honoring the pivotal victory for the Turks in Anatolia.
"We hereby declare once again our determination and commitment to safeguard this land, entrusted to us by Sultan Alparslan and every valiant soldier in his ranks, even to the last drop of our blood," Erdoğan affirmed during a commemorative program in the eastern province of Muş's Malazgirt district on Aug. 26.
The battle, which occurred on Aug. 26, 1071, saw Seljuk Turks, led by Sultan Alparslan, defeat Byzantine forces, granting them control over the region.
"Manzikert is not just an ordinary war or victory. It was not Manzikert that brought us to Anatolia, our roots here run deep. It opened the doors of our political sovereignty in Anatolia," Erdoğan stated.
"The victory achieved here first dealt the heaviest-ever blow to the Crusades by enabling the foundation of the Anatolian Seljuk state and then conduced to the conquest of the Balkans and Istanbul through the victorious endeavors of the Ottomans, who raised the flag with the same conviction."
Erdoğan laid out the following keynotes in his speech during the anniversary ceremony:
Malazgirt is more than just a victory; it is the beginning of a movement of construction and revival that gave birth to a homeland and civilization. To make a land a homeland, it requires spirit, culture, consciousness, and faith. Along with all these, the soil of those lands must be mixed with blood, kneaded with faith, and watered with sweat. As a nation, this is how we made Anatolia our homeland after Malazgirt. We wove these lands with love, wisdom, and knowledge. We filled every place we conquered with mosques and libraries. We declared to the whole world that Anatolia is the eternal and everlasting homeland of the Turks. The most critical step leading to the conquest of Istanbul was taken at Malazgirt. The Malazgirt Victory was also a strategic turning point that paved the way for the conquest of Jerusalem. It must be emphasized that Malazgirt is a victory for all Muslims, along with the Turks.
In Alparslan's army, Kurds, Arabs, and Muslims from other nations who embraced Islam fought shoulder to shoulder against the enemy, and their blessed blood mixed with one another on these lands. The powerful alliance formed under Sultan Alparslan's banner gifted us the glorious victory that we have been celebrating for 953 years. To see the legacy left to us by Sultan Alparslan as only the conquest of Anatolia is to fail to understand it fully. The great ruler entrusted us with a blessed cause along with Anatolia. Our cause is to spread the word of God wherever the sun rises and sets. Our cause is to be a beacon of hope for the oppressed, to be a remedy for bleeding wounds, and to be a light for generations and eras. Our cause is to always stand by the truth in the eternal struggle between right and wrong. Our cause is to make the land a homeland and to honor the homeland.
Look, times change, centuries change, but the spirit does not change. Even if generations change, the blood remains the same. The character remains the same. The spirit, consciousness, and character of those who rode into battle at Malazgirt wearing their white shrouds and praying, 'O God, raise the banners of Islam and do not forsake the Mujahideen who do not withhold their lives from you,' are still alive today. What does the poet say? 'Every member of my nation is a soldier of Alparslan. Our thousand-year march is a red apple campaign. Our faith shakes the earth. Let our call to prayer, our state, and our homeland be witnesses; they are the legacy of Malazgirt.' Yes, our march is towards the Century of Türkiye. Inshallah, we will walk this path with the guidance of the Malazgirt Victory. We will protect the legacy of Sultan Alparslan, carry the spirit of Malazgirt until our last breath, and hand it over with honor and glory to the new generations who will take the flag from us. As we do this, we will never forget this truth: those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. History is not meant to be memorized but to be learned from, to add new bricks to our civilization, and to embark on new victories.
I want to emphasize this: The Malazgirt Victory is the fruit of faith, belief, unity, and togetherness. As a nation, we can only overcome difficulties if we stand together. We can only repel the attacks on our homeland if we are united. We can only shatter the darkness of disbelief if we are one heart. As 85 million people, without differentiating between Turkish, Kurdish, Arab, Sunni, or Alevi, we will gather under the shadow of our beloved crescent. We will achieve the goals on the horizon line stretching from 1071 to the Türkiye of 2071 by standing united, by being strong, and by fighting against those who want to disrupt our brotherhood. We have not allowed and will not allow those who try to separate us through our differences and those who sow discord among us to succeed. I pray that our love and brotherhood will endure forever. I remember our ancestors who made these lands a homeland with mercy and gratitude on the 953rd anniversary of the Malazgirt Victory. Now, I address you with Yahya Kemal: 'This storm that breaks loose is the Turkish Army, O Lord. This is the army that dies for Your cause, O Lord. So that Your name, upheld by the call to prayer, may rise, grant victory. For this is the last army of Islam.'"
