Today in History – 23/24 May

The Sultanahmet Meeting

The Greek invasion of İzmir on May 15th was met with protests across Turkey. The largest demonstrations held until then took place at Sultanahmet Square.

Organized on May 23, 1919 through the contribution of more than fifty associations, the Sultanahmet Meeting witnessed the gathering of unprecedented crowds in the city. With slogans on banners that read, “The Turk is free and cannot be enslaved,” “Muslims do not die, nor can they be killed,” Turkish flags were covered with black nets at the meeting to protest the invasion. The dais in front of the Sultanahmet Mosque was also covered with black fabric. The speech Halide Edip (Adıvar) delivered from this dais had a profound effect on the demonstrators:

My brothers and sisters, my children!

Our seven hundred year-old illustrious history in Heaven is watching the disaster of Ottoman history from the minarets today. The spirits of our ancestors who have held victory processions at this historic square are watching over us. I am the unfortunate daughter of an undefeatable Muslim history that has ridden its horse to the other end of the world. I am the mother of the ill-fated yet eternally heroic Turkish nation. The heart of the Turk, whose arms have been cut off today, has not lost its former courage and strength. I swear to you that I will not let down the flag and history of the Ottomans.