The Conquest of Constantinople

Constantinople... The City of the Roman Emperor Constantine. It was captured on May 29, 1453, by the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II (Mehmed the Conqueror). The Ottoman Sultan had fulfilled a centuries-old longing of the East. Istanbul had been captured, and the Eastern Roman Empire had fallen. Thus, the Caesar of Rome had become Mehmed II.

The Ottoman Dynasty had assumed the legacy of the Roman Empire with honor and enthusiasm. Mehmed II himself had used the title "Caesar of the Lands of Rome."

The Ottomans used the Arabized version of Constantinople: Konstantiniyye. In fact, this name for the city had been in use since 337. The city, which had undergone constant transformation over hundreds of years, expanded around its walls, and was adorned with sophisticated architecture, had taken the name of Constantine, who had made the final touches. The same Constantine was the emperor who made the Eastern Roman Empire Christian. Constantine had deemed another name worthy of the city: Nova Roma (New Rome). Therefore, Constantine's true legacy is a Romanized city.

The name Byzantium, which is often associated with a negative connotation in the Islamic world, was an even older name for Istanbul. As a name originating from the Thracians, it was related to words like 'Byzas' and 'Byzantion.' It was neither Greek nor Latin. These names were used to designate the area directly across from Kadıköy.

Despite all this information, a connection has sometimes been drawn in conservative circles between the fabricated name "Islambol" and Istanbul, and at times, Istanbul has been deemed "infidel" and the name Konstantiniyye has been clung to, or all of these have been abandoned in favor of the name Dersaadet. However, the name Dersaadet was mostly used to refer to the center of Istanbul, specifically the Ottoman Throne and its official offices.

Against the insistence of Westerners on the name Constantinople, we insisted on the name Istanbul as an expression of our independence. It is clearly understood that this insistence by Westerners is not about the history of Istanbul, but rather about clinging to Christianity instead of claiming Roman history and showing a reaction against Islam. For they could have easily insisted on the name Byzantium, or Istanbul, or New Rome. Instead, they cast aside hundreds of years of history and insisted on the name of the Emperor who converted Byzantium to Christianity.

Yet, how beautifully the group The Four Lads described it for the 500th anniversary of the conquest of Istanbul:

''So, take me back to Constantinople

No, you can't go back to Constantinople

Been a long time gone, Constantinople

Why did Constantinople get the works?

That's nobody's business but the Turks''

(So take me back to Constantinople

No, we cannot return to Constantinople

Constantinople is in the past

Why did Constantinople change?

That is the Turks' business

It is no one else's place)

With the establishment of the Republic of Turkey, the city, which the people had long called "Istanbul," officially regained this name. Interestingly, this name is the only one for the city that is truly Greek in meaning. This name, which translates literally to "To the City" or "In the City" (Eis ten polin), has been pronounced as "Istabul" in Turkish. Because of this name, which was used to refer to the walled city of Istanbul, we call it "Istanbul" today.

We switched to Latin (Roman) letters, but we abandoned the Latin (Roman) name and adopted not the name used by the palace or the emperors, but the name used by the people, which is predominantly Greek. The Roman Empire truly fell. With the achievement of Turkey's independence and the establishment of the Republic, Istanbul once again belonged to the nation/people. On March 28, 1930, the name "Constantinople" was abandoned, and the city officially began to be called "Istanbul."

There is no longer a New Rome or a Constantinople... The winds blow where the emperor's throne once stood. The city, conquered by Mehmed II and saved from enemy occupation by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, lives on with the name its own people gave it.

Happy Conquest of Istanbul!