Istanbul is frame of Turkey, says President Erdoğan

ISTANBUL - Anadolu Agency

AA photo

Istanbul is the frame of Turkey, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on May 28 at an anniversary event for the 564th year of the conquest of Istanbul by the Ottomans. 

“Istanbul is the frame of Turkey. All of Turkey’s 80 provinces have human and physical connections with Istanbul. In this sense, to speak about Istanbul means to speak about Turkey. To serve Istanbul means to serve Turkey,” Erdoğan said.  

“Now it is a fact that while Ankara is the capital of Turkey, İzmir is the capital of the Aegean, and cities like Antalya and Muğla are tourism brands, Istanbul is the showcase of our country. The more beautiful this showcase is, the more glamorous it becomes, the more profitable Turkey becomes,” he added.    
  
“When I speak about Istanbul I am actually talking about Turkey. If people come for business or visit, Istanbul is the first contact for those who come to our country,” he said.      

“I hope that in the coming period we will endeavor to take important steps toward important projects. We will do all of this together with you,” Erdoğan added.      

“We will quickly complete the efforts that will prevent terrorist organizations, especially FETÖ [Fethullahist Terror Organization], Daesh [Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant - ISIL] and the PKK [outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party], from extending the damages they did to this city,” he added.      

Also speaking at the event, Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım said different communities in the Ottoman Empire had coexisted for many years.      

“All elements of the Ottoman Empire that have lived in friendship on this territory live in the same peacefulness today in the Turkish Republic. As it was seen in history, those who want to ruin this peaceful climate will face regret,” he said.      

On May 29, 1453, Sultan Mehmed II conquered Istanbul, then called Constantinople, from where the Byzantines had ruled the Eastern Roman Empire for more than 1,000 years.

The conquest transformed the city, once the heart of the Byzantine realm, into the capital of the new Ottoman Empire.