The 145th anniversary of the Defense of Aziziye, in which the people of Erzurum, especially Nene Hatun, wrote a heroic epic during the Ottoman - Russian War, was celebrated with a ceremony. Atatürk University Rector Prof. Dr. Ömer Çomaklı also attended it.

Aziziye Epic, which has become a tradition with the intense participation of Erzurum residents and students in recent years, continues to be celebrated with many activities. In the event organized by Erzurum Governorship and Erzurum Metropolitan Municipality, prayers were said and flags were waved.

Rector Prof. Dr. Ömer Çomaklı, civil, administrative, bureaucratic, judiciary and military officials of the city and many students and citizens attended the 145th anniversary program of the heroic epic written by the people in the Aziziye Bastion, which was built on Top Mountain in 1872 by Sultan Abdulaziz to keep the Erzurum-Kars highway under control in order to prevent the Russian threat under the direction of Phosphor Mustafa Pasha.

The programs started with the Salah from the Ayazpaşa Mosque and the Making of the Historical Call, followed by a moment of silence and the National Anthem, then followed by the Flag poem and Reading of  Sultan Abdülhamit II's edict.  The vocalization of Abdülhamit's letter of thanks to the people of Erzurum continued with the representation of Nene Hatun, the recitation of the Holy Quran and the reading of prayers. The program, in which emotional moments were experienced with the visit to the Nenehatun's grave and the release of carnations, ended with the performance of the Metropolitan Municipality military band.

"Aziziye is the Epic of Heroes Who Say 'Homeland First'"

About the meaning of the day, Rector Prof. Dr. Ömer Çomaklı said that people of all ages, men and women, defended their homeland on the battlefield to prevent the city from falling into the hands of the enemy, and as a result, the advance of the enemy was prevented. Rector Çomaklı emphasized that prayers are made to commemorate the ancestors in this place where the heroic epic was written, adding: “We care about such events and organize similar programs as a university in order to witness the epic written by the heroine Nene Hatuns, who left her baby in swaddling saying homeland first, and we will never forget what happened. We should not forget that we can only successfully build our future by knowing our past well. Aziziye Epic is also of great importance to us. I commemorate with mercy and gratitude all my martyrs who helped us live freely today by writing a heroic epic."

CORPORATE COMMUNICATION DIRECTORATE – 09.11.2022