A nationwide celebration was organized on Friday to mark the 952nd anniversary of the battle in eastern Türkiye that “opened the door to Anatolia” for the Turks. The celebrations have been underway in Malazgirt and Ahlat, two small towns in Muş that played a key role in the defeat of the Byzantine forces by the Seljuks.
The Battle of Manzikert (Malazgirt), was the first major victory of the Seljuk Sultanate against the Byzantine Empire that dominated most of Türkiye.
In Malazgirt National Park, a vast venue where dozens of yurts (traditional tents) were set up, the celebratory events hosted large crowds from around Türkiye who watched concerts by Ottoman military mehter bands and archery shows.
Muş Governor Avni Çakır, in his speech before the events said, “Our ancestors spread across Anatolia, even toward the Bosporus, but had been unable to make these territories a safe place for our nation. Sultan Alparslan’s victory turned Anatolia into a safe homeland.”
Stating that the events will leave a powerful legacy for future generations, Çakır said that they have held these celebrations with increasing enthusiasm in recent years under the Presidency of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Noting that they will convey a message of unity and solidarity to the whole world from Malazgirt on the 100th anniversary of the Republic of Türkiye this year, Çakır said, "Every necessary preparation has been put in place to welcome our president with other state officials on Saturday to address the nation at the ceremony."
The Justice and Development Party (AK Party) Muş deputy Mehmet Emin Şimşek said the entire Islamic world was praying for the victory of Alparslan when his army confronted the Byzantine army in Malazgirt. “Sultan Alparslan prayed to Allah to grant him victory and donned a white cloth that would be his shroud if he died in the battle, and opened the doors of this land to the nation 952 years ago."
Citizens showed interest in activities where the Erzurum Metropolitan Municipality Mehter Band and folk dance groups from different provinces participated
Visiting the stands where traditional games are played, and local products are promoted, citizens participated in archery.
On Aug. 26, 1071, Byzantine Emperor Romanos IV Diogenes' army took on the Seljuk army of mostly mounted archers, led by Sultan Alparslan, suffering a huge defeat. Romanos was taken captive, before being released by Alparslan. According to the agreement between the two leaders, a few border posts were handed over to the Seljuks. The deal allowed Sultan Alparslan to turn his full attention to the Fatimids ruling over Egypt. However, the emperor was soon toppled, tortured and killed by rivals, before the empire was consumed by a destructive civil war. The agreement between the two leaders was not ratified by the new emperor, who rejected its terms. The civil war allowed nomadic Turkmen tribes following in the footsteps of the Seljuk army to flood and take over most of Anatolia, apart from a few outposts on the coast. Alparslan did not live long after the battle, dying at the hands of an assassin a year later.
The conquest of Anatolia also directly resulted in the Orthodox Christian Byzantine Empire seeking help from the Catholic Vatican. Pope Urban II used Byzantine Emperor Alexios I Komnenos's request for military aid to declare, at the Council of Clermont in 1095, a general mobilization of Western Christendom against the Turks who had occupied Anatolia and much of the Middle East. The resulting mass invasion is called the Crusades.
The Battle of Manzikert is seen by the Turks as the beginning of the transformation of Anatolia as the land of the Turks.
The end of August is observed as Victory Week, which marks two key historical victories by Turkic forces: The Battle of Manzikert, and the Great Offensive of Aug. 26, 1922, the biggest military operation of the Turkish War of Independence that saw the invading Greek army soundly defeated. The 96th Victory Day on Aug. 30 commemorates Türkiye's victory in the Battle of Dumlupınar, in the Aegean province of Kütahya, as part of the Great Offensive.
