President Erdoğan: Mint Amire Complex has become a structure that will set an example for the world

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan spoke at the Opening Ceremony of Topkapı Palace Darphane-i Amire Museums. Highlights from President Erdoğan's speech are as follows:

"As the Turkish nation, we have an inheritance that is rare in the world with its history, culture, architecture, depth of art and literature. It is certain that this inheritance did not come into being at that moment or by chance. The emergence of this accumulation, the articulation of the works here, is the result of a lofty ideal that is rooted in both centuries and continents. Each part of this Treasure is a separate wisdom, a high intuition, In the words of the late Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar, we cannot achieve our completeness without knowing them.

Look, even the Topkapi Palace we are currently in is a masterpiece in itself and in every aspect. Likewise, the four corners of our heartland, which we are building and reviving step by step, are, so to speak, an open-air museum. I would especially like to emphasize this. These works are of course important and valuable. They are the treasures of our cultural heritage. But the main thing is to preserve this knowledge we have with a high level of consciousness, to enrich it even more, and to fully transfer it to the next generations.

I say these especially for this reason; Yıldız Palace, one of our most distinguished cultural assets, was once operated as a casino and casino in this country. We have witnessed the same disrespect in many places, from our places of worship to different institutions. Our rare handwritten works were sold to foreigners as scrap paper. We have experienced painful days when our historical mosques were used as grain warehouses and, unfortunately, were even turned into barns in some places. As a product of a policy that our late teacher Mehmet Doğan called the betrayal of westernization in order to tear our nation away from its spiritual roots, we have been subjected to a policy of disidentification that seeks westernization only in the wardrobe, seeks it in denying its history and culture, and seeks it in alienation from its national and spiritual values. We know very well that there are those who still long for the old days and come to terms with the history and cultural codes of the nation by making rejection their legacy. We have not given a chance to the representatives of this mentality for 24 years. Hopefully, we will not give this opportunity again from now on.

Our new mint museums, which we will open today, are a sign of this care and sensitivity, the responsibility we bear towards our ancestors and history. With the restoration we carried out in the Darphane-i Amire Complex, we organized 7 buildings and 46 halls, spread over an area of ​​17 thousand square meters, as 5 different museums. A total of 10,500 works in the inventory of Topkapı Palace will be available to visitors in these museums starting today. Topkapı Palace will hold an exceptional place among the world's museums with 10,500 works that will come to light in the mint museums, in addition to the 7,500 works exhibited in other parts of the palace.

The Map Museum will feature approximately 200 maps spanning all corners of the Ottoman geography. On the upper floor of the same building, in addition to the library containing printed books and magazines, the National Palaces Research Center, where more than 800 thousand written and visual resources, especially Yıldız albums, are brought together in a digital environment, will serve researchers and academicians.

In the Calligraphy Works Museum, an enormous collection of masterpieces of our calligraphy art such as Ahmet Karahisari, Şeyh Hamdullah, Hafız Osman, Mehmet Tahir Efendi and Sami Efendi will form the core of this museum. More than 2 thousand calligraphies, which were previously kept in the warehouse, will be presented to visitors for the first time in 12 halls.

Production tools and approximately 500 pieces of industrial vehicles reflecting the function and historical structure of the Imperial Mint will be exhibited at the Mint and Industrial Tools Museum. Two buildings of our Mint were furnished as Esliha-i Hümayun Museum. More than 2,500 pieces of military equipment such as arrows, swords, spears, shields, armor and helmets belonging to different periods starting from the 7th century to the 20th century will be located in these buildings. In this museum, where Sultan Fatih's sword and armored shirt as well as the weapons of our other sultans will be exhibited, the development and transformation of our military technology will also be highlighted. The first weapons museum established in the Ottoman Empire is also located in this courtyard. A meaningful reference will be made to the historical continuity in the field of weapon technologies with the Esliha-i Humayun Museum right next to this building.

Source: TRT Haber Açık RSS (Gündem) (Open Press / Translated Full Text)