Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday congratulated his citizens on the 571st anniversary of the conquest of Constantinople (currently Istanbul).
He said in a message he published: “I congratulate the 571st anniversary of the conquest of Istanbul, and in order to understand the spirit of conquest, we must know how this blessed victory was achieved.”
He added: “After the conquest, Istanbul, with the tolerant and just rule of the great statesman Sultan Muhammed Al Fatih, became a center where different beliefs and cultures lived together.”
He stated, “The faith, determination and perseverance of Sultan Muhammed Al Fatih and his heroic soldiers when they conquered Istanbul inspire us today to achieve the goal of Turkey’s century.”
The “Century of Turkey” is a vision announced by President Erdogan in late 2022, which includes the programs and goals of the Turkish Republic in its second centenary.
On May 29, 1453, Sultan Muhammed Al Fatih conquered the city of Istanbul, the capital of the Byzantine Empire at that time, an event that historians consider the beginning of a modern era.
