Monument of Liberty, Istanbul

Monument of Liberty, Istanbul

Hürriyet Anıtı (Abide-i Hürriyet)

31 March Incident in 1909

The Monument of Liberty (

.

It is situated on Hürriyet-i Ebediye Tepesi (Eternal Liberty Hill), the highest point (130 m (430 ft) above sea level) in Şişli, Istanbul, and lies within a park flanked by three major highways between Şişli and Çağlayan.^[1] Pathways radiate out from the monument like a five-angled star surrounded by a circle symbolising the star and crescent of the Turkish flag.

History

In the late 19th century conservatives in the

as result of pressure from growing progressive forces.

An uprising that began on April 13, 1909 (March 31, 1325

.

The Abide-i Hürriyet monument was inaugurated in 1911 on the second anniversary of the 31 March Incident. Later, the graves of four notable Ottoman officials, including Mahmud Șevked Pasha, were moved into the surrounding park. Seen today as a symbol of modernity, democracy, and secularism in Turkey,^[2] the monument now serves as a venue for some official ceremonies and public gatherings.

Design

The monument was the work of the renowned Ottoman architect Muzaffer Bey, who won an architectural contest. to design it. Constructed between 1909 and 1911 in the form of a cannon firing into the sky, it stands on a marble base in the shape of an equilateral triangle. On each side are carved the names of the soldiers buried there. The monument bears the tughra of Mehmed V Reşad who was sultan when it was erected.

Burials

Mehmed Talat Pasha

The 74 soldiers killed in action during the

were initially buried in the monument amid state ceremony on July 23, 1911.

Remains of four high-ranking officials of the Ottoman Empire were later buried here too:

• Arabia
  .
• Grand Vizier
  , who was assassinated in 1913.
• Grand Vizier, who was assassinated by Soghomon Tehlirian in 1921 and whose remains were brought here from Berlin, Germany, in 1943. He was the architect of the Armenian genocide.^[3]
• First World War, who was killed in action in Russian Turkestan and whose remains were brought here from Ab-i Derya, today Tajikistan, in 1996^[4]

Meeting point

The monument serves as a meeting point for democracy and civil rights demonstrations in Istanbul. For many years Labour Day demonstrations organised by trade unions were celebrated here following the Taksim Square massacre in 1977.

The second mass rally of the Republic Protests against the presidential election took place here on April 29, 2007.^{[citation needed]}

Logo of Şişli district

An outline of the monument is contained in the logo of Şişli Municipality used by the district mayor.^[5]

References