Turkey marks centennial anniversary of national anthem

[T-SaGe]

Turkey marks centennial anniversary of national anthem
National anthem along with nation have inspired all oppressed people in their struggle for freedom, says President Erdogan
Merve Gül Aydoğan Ağlarcı |12.03.2021

ANKARA
Turkey on Thursday marked the centennial anniversary of the Istiklal Marsi, or March of Independence, Turkey's national anthem.
An event to mark the anniversary and to commemorate Mehmet Akif Ersoy, the writer of the anthem's lyrics, was held at the Bestepe National Congress and Culture Center in the capital, Ankara.
Speaking at the event, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the country's national anthem along with the Turkish people have inspired all oppressed people in their struggle for freedom.
Saying that 2021 has been declared the Year of the National Anthem on the occasion of is 100th anniversary, Erdogan said such a declaration was adopted after a joint proposal from all five political parties in the Turkish parliament.
"It is a great achievement for our country that political parties with different views, political attitudes and stances take a common stance on such a national issue," he said.
Describing the national anthem as a "foundation" for the country's togetherness and fellowship, Erdogan said: "It is quite natural that there is conflict, discussion and competition both in politics and in daily life. Wherever there is more than one person, differences of opinion are inevitable. Essentially, these differences are our wealth as a nation."
"As the President of Turkey, I believe that we must turn 2021 as the Year of the National Anthem into a historic opportunity," he said while calling for the renewal of the "eternal and everlasting" fellowship through events to be organized on the occasion of this year.
Turkey’s parliament approved a motion announcing 2021 as the year of the Turkish national anthem.
The Turkish national anthem was written in 1921 during the War of Independence as Turkey battled occupation by foreign forces after World War I.
It was penned in order to encourage the fighting army and to motivate the struggling nation. It is also the official anthem of the Republic of Turkey, founded two years later in 1923.
The anthem, consisting of 41 lines and 12 quatrains, centers around timeless themes such as independence, war, civilization, faith, spirituality, courage, heroism and hope.

Turkey marks centennial anniversary of national anthem

National anthem along with nation have inspired all oppressed people in their struggle for freedom, says President Erdogan - Anadolu Agency

www.aa.com.tr

Poem of Turkish National Anthem

Korkma! Sönmez bu şafaklarda yüzen al sancak,
Sönmeden yurdumun üstünde tüten en son ocak.
O benim milletimin yıldızıdır, parlayacak;
O benimdir, o benim milletimindir ancak.

Fear not! The red banner that ripples in this dawn, shall not fade,
Before the last hearth that is ablaze within my homeland is extinguished.
It is the star of my people, which shall shine;
It is mine; it only belongs to my people.

*
Çatma, kurban olayım, çehreni ey nazlı hilal!
Kahraman ırkıma bir gül; ne bu şiddet, bu celal?
Sana olmaz dökülen kanlarımız sonra helal...
Hakkıdır, Hakk’a tapan milletimin istiklal.

Frown not, I beseech thou, oh thou coy crescent!2
Smile upon my heroic nation once!3 What is this violence, what is this rage for?4
Our blood which we shed for you shall not be worthy afterwards...
Freedom is the right of my God-worshipping5 people.

*
Ben ezelden beridir hür yaşadım, hür yaşarım,
Hangi çılgın bana zincir vuracakmış? Şaşarım.
Kükremiş sel gibiyim, bendimi çiğner, aşarım,
Yırtarım dağları, enginlere sığmam, taşarım.

I have lived free since the beginning, I live free,
What madman shall fetter me? I would be surprised.
I am like a roaring flood, I would trample my banks, I would exceed,
I shall tear mountains apart, exceed the Expanses6 and overflow.

*
Garbın afakını sarmışsa çelik zırhlı duvar,
Benim iman dolu göğsüm gibi serhaddim var.
Ulusun, korkma! Nasıl böyle bir imanı boğar,
“Medeniyet” dediğin tek dişi kalmış canavar?

If the steel armored wall surrounds the horizons of the west,
I have a borderline like my faithful chest.7
You are mighty, 8 , fear not! How can this faith be drowned,
By the single toothed beast you call "civilization"?9

*
Arkadaş! Yurduma alçakları uğratma sakın,
Siper et gövdeni, dursun bu hayâsızca akın.
Doğacaktır sana vadettiği günler Hakk’ın,
Kim bilir, belki yarın belki yarından da yakın.

Comrade! Do not ever let ignobles visit our homeland,
Shield your chest, this disgraceful offense shall be stopped.7
Shall arise the days promised to you by Allah,
Who knows, perhaps tomorrow, perhaps even sooner than the morrow.

*
Bastığın yerleri “toprak” diyerek geçme, tanı,
Düşün altındaki binlerce kefensiz yatanı.
Sen şehit oğlusun, incitme, yazıktır atanı,
Verme, dünyaları alsan da bu cennet vatanı.

View not the soil you tread on as mere earth - recognize it!
And think about the shroudless10 thousands who lie so nobly beneath you.
You're the glorious son of a martyr - take shame, grieve not your ancestors!
Unhand not, even when you're promised worlds, this heavenly homeland.

*
Kim bu cennet vatanın uğruna olmaz ki feda?
Şüheda fışkıracak, toprağı sıksan şüheda.
Canı, cananı, bütün varımı alsın da Hüda,
Etmesin tek vatanımdan beni dünyada cüda.

Who would not sacrifice their life for this paradise of a country?
Martyrs would burst forth should one simply squeeze the soil! Martyrs!
May God take my life, my loved ones, and all possessions from me if He will,
But let Him not deprive me of my one true homeland in the world.

*
Ruhumun senden İlahî, şudur ancak emeli:
Değmesin mabedimin göğsüne namahrem eli.
Bu ezanlar, ki şehadetleri dinin temeli,
Ebedî, yurdumun üstünde benim inlemeli.

Oh glorious God, the sole wish of my pain-stricken heart is that,
No heathen's hand should ever touch the bosom of my sacred Temples.
These adhans and their testimonies are the foundations of my religion,
And may their noble sound prevail thunderously across my eternal homeland.

*
O zaman vecdile bin secde eder, varsa taşım,
Her cerihamdan, İlahî, boşanıp kanlı yaşım,
Fışkırır ruhumücerret gibi yerden naaşım,
O zaman yükselerek arşa değer belki başım.

For only then, shall my fatigued tombstone, if there is one, prostrate11 a thousand times in ecstasy,
And tears of blood shall, oh Lord, spill out from my every wound,
And my lifeless body shall burst forth from the earth like an eternal spirit,
Perhaps only then, shall I peacefully ascend and at long last reach the heavens.12

*
Dalgalan sen de şafaklar gibi ey şanlı hilal!
Olsun artık dökülen kanlarımın hepsi helal.
Ebediyen sana yok, ırkıma yok izmihlal.
Hakkıdır, hür yaşamış bayrağımın hürriyet;
Hakkıdır, Hakk’a tapan milletimin istiklal.

So ripple and wave like the bright dawning sky, oh thou glorious crescent,
So that our every last drop of blood may finally be blessed and worthy!
Neither you nor my kin3 shall ever be extinguished!
For freedom is the absolute right of my ever-free flag;
For independence is the absolute right of my God-worshipping5 nation!

Spoiler: Footnotes

1 A white crescent and star superimposed on a crimson background comprise the Turkish flag. The poet here is referring to the crimson flag's star, and is declaring that it belongs to the hearts of those comprising the Turkish nation, who cherish it deeply, and refuse to be deprived of it (and thus, their freedom and liberty) by anyone.

2 A white crescent and star superimposed on a crimson background comprise the Turkish flag. The poet is invoking the curvilinear image of the crescent and comparing it to the furrowed eyebrows of a frowning face, thus anthropomorphising the flag by suggesting that its "sulky face" is an outward expression of its resentment of the invading foreign armies. The poet elaborates upon this imagery by suggesting that the flag is not only being surly, but also coy. Specifically, he depicts the flag (and the spirit of freedom which it embodies, under threat from invading nations against whom victory initially seems impossibly difficult to achieve, hence "coy") as a demure maiden with a face that is sulking in resentment of the invasion yet is nonetheless playing hard-to-get. That is, the "coy" flag is being "playful" about letting Turkish troops achieve ultimate victory and thus, freedom.

3 Although the word used here, "ırk", means "race" in contemporary Turkish, it had different associations in Ottoman Turkish. In Ottoman Turkish, it also carries the connotations of "generation", "offspring", and "family lineage"; in short, "kin".[8] Also note that the poet was of Albanian and Uzbek origin.[9] Thus, the correct translation is "Smile upon my heroic kinfolk", rather than "Smile upon my heroic race".

4 The poet elaborates upon his earlier anthropomorphization of the flag by suggesting that it contain its rage and resentment, and resume its noble and honorable self in order to validate the efforts of the Turkish patriots fighting to protect it.

5 There is a wordplay here that is difficult to replicate in English. The play is on the homophonic words "hak" (justice, right), and Hakk (God). This allows the line to be perceived in Turkish as both "my God-loving countrymen are deserving of freedom", and "my justice-loving countrymen are deserving of freedom".

6 The original word used ("Enginler"), which can be somewhat approximated as "the Infinites" or "the Great Expanses", is a romanticized Turkish poetical word (with no direct English translation) that refers to anything perceived by humanity as a vast, boundless expanse: the heavens, the oceans, the horizon, the Universe, etc. The poet is thus expressing that his love for freedom and his vigor spent in its pursuit cannot be contained by anything known to humanity and would overflow even the largest "Infinites".

7 The verse here alludes to the well-funded military might of the invading foreign powers from various European nations, i.e. "the West", and compares it to the exhausted bodies and limited resources of the rag-tag team of patriots comprising the Turkish resistance army. Using "steel" as a rough synonym for "military strength", the poet asserts that the men and women who are fighting to defend the nation from invading powers must not be daunted by these countries' superior arms and technology, because it is his firm belief that the strength of spirit that comes from heartfelt optimism and faith are just as strong as any "walls of steel" the enemy might have around them.

8 There is a difficult-to-translate wordplay here on the word "ulusun", which can be broken down into a root, "ulu", and a suffix, "-sun". The verb form of the root "ulu", means "to howl, to cry out, to bellow", while the adjective form means "grand, sublime, noble". The suffix -sun serves to modify the adjective-form of this root to give it a second-person singular connotation, while it modifies the verb-form to give it a third person connotation. Thus, the phrase "ulu-sun" may be interpreted in two ways: "let it howl/bellow out!" (i.e. "let your mighty voice echo across the land!") or "you are noble, fellow patriot, as is your cause!". It is also possible to break down the word as "ulus" and suffix "un" which would mean "your nation/people". Out of these three, the most intuitive meaning of the word here is "you are mighty/grand/noble".

9 The term "civilization" is used here as a synonym for the civically and technologically-advanced (hence, "civilized") invading nations of various European countries. The imagery of the "single-fanged beast" is in reference to the severe battering delivered to these foreign armies by Turkish forces as part of their independence efforts. Specifically, the poet is creating an image whereby the patriotic men and women who are advancing the national resistance have knocked out all but one of the ferocious monster's (i.e. the invaders') teeth — hence the expression, "single-fanged". In essence, the poet is building upon his earlier message to the Nation about showing patience and endurance against seemingly-impossible odds. He states that the vast superiority of the invaders in terms of technology, equipment and manpower over the war-stricken, undermanned, and underfed Turkish forces (that were hastily assembled by patriotic civilians and ex-military officials following World War I) can not only be matched, but actually overcome and even defeated by the unassailable spirit of the Turkish people.
Thus, the poet is calling out to the Nation, saying, "While 'the lands of the West may be armed with walls of steel', i.e., while these European armies may have seemingly impenetrable/unbeatable modern technology and weaponry, do not be fooled/discouraged by their apparent superiority. Look at what we have accomplished so far with virtually non-existent arms and supplies! We are horribly fatigued, and at a disadvantage in every conceivable way, yet we still are able to succeed in our battle for liberty! This seemingly undefeatable 'monster' has had almost every one of its teeth knocked out (hence, 'single-fanged') by our victorious campaign! Our motivation, faith, and internal drive is what has and will continue to carry us through, and that is something that our enemies simply cannot match. All we need for ultimate victory is the ability to recognize our true 'innate strengths': a 'fiery faith' and the 'mighty chest (i.e. heart) of a believer'".

10 In Turkish, shroud-less is a metaphor used for martyrs, i.e. those who have sacrificed their lives for their country and their faith. In Islamic tradition, the dead, have to be ceremoniously washed and dressed in linen shrouds before burial in order to have a safe passage to Heaven. Martyrs' bodies are exempt from these requirements in Islam, thus the 'shroud-less'.

11 Prostration is the act of laying one's forehead on the ground as part of Muslim sacred ritual (see Namaz, As-Sajda or salat). The poet's image here is one where even the battle-fallen's gravestone is engaging in sacred ritual in honor of the fighters' sacrifice.

12 The image being painted here is that of a battle-fallen and pain-stricken patriot, who becomes ecstatic following the victorious end of the War of Independence. Despite not having a headstone at their final resting place, this is a person whose mind, body and soul have at long last found peace, and may thus finally ascend and reach the heavens, knowing that their homeland is safe and sound once and for all, and that all their suffering was worth it in the end.

 

[Titanium100]

Turkey has honestly the best military march in history and anthem.. the famous ottoman march is the national anthem. The ottoman's took advantage of romantism back in the day. It is like being high while on the battlefield the march song will get you high

 

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