The Turkish Cemetery in Latvia is located in the city of Cesis, 90 kms from Riga. The cemetery and the monument cover an area of 3800 m2, belonging to the Cesis City Council.

Some of the Turkish soldiers captured by the Russian army during the 1877-1878 Ottoman Russian War, had been brought to the territories that today belong to Latvia. Due to wounds or diseases, unfortunately all of them lost their lives and some were buried in the Cemetery in Cesis.

The Cemetery took its current mausoleum form in 1937 upon the initiative of the Turkish Embassy in Tallin,accredited to Latvia. According to the records, 26 Turkish soldiers are buried here. The Cemetery consists of a symbolic marble stone with star and crescent for each grave as well as a monument with the names of those buried.

The inscription on the monument in the Cemetery reads, in Latvian and in Turkish (“26 Turkish soldiers who were captured in the battle of Plevna during Turkish–Russian War and died later in Cesis had been buried here. 1877 - 1937”):

“Seit Apglabati Turku-Krievu Kara Pie Plevnas

Gusta Kritusie un Cesis Mirusie 26 Turku Karaviri

1877-1937

Burada Türk-Rus Savaşında Plevne’de esir düşüp

Cesis’te ölen 26 Türk Eri Gömülüdür”

The Office of the Turkish Military Attaché in Warsaw (then accredited to Latvia) and the Latvian War Cemeteries Committee signed a Protocol on the maintenance and restoration of the Cemetery and further research on possible other cemeteries in 2004.

Upon the conclusion of the restoration work in 2004, the Cemeterywas inaugurated by H.E. Vecdi Gönül, Minister of National Defense of the Republic of Türkiye on 15 September 2005.

Every year since 2015, the Embassy organizes a commemoration ceremony on the 18th of March Martyrs' Day in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Latvia at the Turkish Cemetery in Cesis.

İlgili Dosyalar

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