Erdoğan-Davutoğlu poster breaks Guinness record
ISTANBUL - Anadolu Agency
AA photo
A giant poster showing Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu side by side has entered the Guinness Book of World Records.The 4,709 square meter poster, prepared by Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), was shown on May 30 when Erdoğan and Davutoğlu held a rally in Istanbul's Yenikapı Square to mark the 562nd anniversary of Istanbul's conquest by the Ottoman Empire.
The poster features photos of Erdoğan and Davutoğlu, captioned with the slogan “The people are enough for us”, referring to the Turkish nation.
To break the record officially, the poster was first opened May 29 in Yenikapı Square by nearly 100 people and Guinness authorities made the necessary measurements.
The Guinness Representative in Turkey, Referee Şeyda Subaşu Gemici told journalists that India held the Guinness Book of World Records for largest poster with a 3,361 square meter poster shown in 2014.
Gemici said that the Erdoğan-Davutoğlu poster in Turkey is 4,709 square meter large, and gave the record certificate to the head of AKP’s Istanbul Provincial Directorate of Publicity and Media, Omer Faruk Beşli and the New Turkey Digital Office Director, Gökhan Yücel.
Beşli said that the poster will be shown a “surprise” to the President Erdoğan and Prime Minister Davutoğlu on May 30.
Yücel said that thousands of photos taken from social media in Turkey and abroad were brought together to form the world’s largest poster.
On May 29, 1453, Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II conquered Istanbul, then called Constantinople, where the Byzantines had ruled the Eastern Roman Empire for more than 1,000 years.
The city has moved its annual celebration for the first time from the traditional Balat district to the seaside Yenikapı area.
Events were held on May 30, rather than the actual anniversary date of May 29, to encourage more participation.
The event comes one week before the country's 25th general election slated for June 7.