Alparslan’s silhouette drawn by tractor tilling to enter Guinness

ANKARA – Anadolu Agency

Turkey’s Agriculture and Forestry Ministry has applied to the Guinness World Records to register the silhouette of the Seljuk Sultan Alparslan drawn by a tractor tilling on a 121 decare of land in the Malazgirt district of the eastern province of Muş.

Malazgirt is the place where Alparslan won the Battle of Manzikert on Aug. 26, 1071, against the Byzantine Empire.

“The officials came and calculated the silhouette. We are waiting for their answer,” said İsmail Üzmez, director of Nature Conservation and National Parks, an affiliate of the ministry.

“The application process is going on,” noted Üzmez, adding the details of how the silhouette was made in four steps.

According to the director, an artist drew a sketch of the sultan at the beginning of the project. Then the coordinates on the 121 decares of the field were calculated.

“All the information collected was transferred into computer software that could direct the tractor. Then we got on the field,” said Üzmez.

The silhouette drawn by the tractor is 450 meters in length and 275 meters in width.

“Our 12 experts attended the project and finished it in a week,” informed the director.

Alparslan’s victory in the Battle of Manzikert has special importance in Turkish history as it allowed the Turkification of Anatolia and Turks’ entrance to Asia Minor.