22.05.2026 19:13
Images of Nene Hatun, the female hero of the Ottoman-Russian War, at the opening of the Aziziye Bastion have emerged. The shared archive footage shows the opening of the Aziziye Bastions on August 30, 1952, and Nene Hatun attending the ceremony.
During the 1877-1878 Ottoman-Russian War, known in history as the 93 War, the people of Erzurum achieved a historic victory at the Aziziye Bastion. On the morning of November 9, 1878, upon hearing that the Aziziye Bastion had been occupied by the Russians and that Turkish soldiers were in difficulty, the people of Erzurum rushed to help with axes, shovels, picks, sticks, pitchforks, and other tools. One of the heroes at the Aziziye Bastion, Nene Hatun, left her swaddled baby at home and went to aid the Turkish soldiers at the Aziziye Bastion with an axe, becoming a symbol of resistance against the Russians.
HER SON WAS MARTYRED ON THE EASTERN FRONT On the 71st anniversary of Nene Hatun's death, a memorial ceremony was organized in cooperation with the Erzurum Development Foundation (ERVAK), Erzurum High School, and Nene Hatun Girls' Anatolian High School. The ceremony at the Erzurum High School Cultural Center was attended by 27th-term Erzurum Deputy Naci Cinisli, ERVAK President Erdal Güzel, teachers, and students. Historian Akın Aktaş, who gave a conference titled 'Nene Hatun in the Light of Archive Documents', stated that Nene Hatun, born on July 1, 1854, in the village of Çeperli in the Pasinler district, had the surname Kırkgöz and had four sons and two daughters. Aktaş explained that Nene Hatun, who passed away at the age of 101 on May 22, 1955, had a son named Abdurrahman who was martyred on the Eastern Front in 1914, saying, 'There is information that two of Nene Hatun's children were martyred in Çanakkale. However, it has been determined that Abdurrahman, one of Nene Hatun's children, was martyred on the Eastern Front, not in the Battle of Çanakkale. Abdurrahman, who served in the 2nd Company of the 1st Battalion of the 84th Regiment of the 9th Corps, is Nene Hatun's martyred child. In Ottoman records, children are searched through their fathers. I researched all fronts. There is only one child named Abdurrahman who was martyred in the Pasinler district of Erzurum. The date of martyrdom is 1914.'
ARCHIVE FOOTAGE SHARED Historian Akın Aktaş also shared footage of Nene Hatun taken in 1952 during his conference. The footage shows Nene Hatun attending the ceremony held for the opening of the Aziziye Bastion on August 30, 1952. In the archive footage, where the Aziziye epic is symbolically reenacted, military and civil officials are seen kissing Nene Hatun's hand.
Aktaş, who stated that he began researching Nene Hatun, one of the three most well-known women in Turkish history, in 2019, noted that the footage is in TRT's archives. Aktaş, who recorded that Nene Hatun became known to the public as a result of her heroism at the Aziziye Bastions in Erzurum on November 8-9, 1878, said, 'After the proclamation of the Republic, Nene Hatun's life, researched by journalists and researchers, began to be published in many newspapers. The first state official to support Nene Hatun was General Nurettin Baransel. She was chosen as the Grandmother of the Third Army, and many of her problems, especially economic ones, were solved. A house was gifted to her. Subsequently, a pension was granted from the Service to the Homeland Order.'
TURKEY'S FIRST SELECTED MOTHER OF THE YEAR Historian Aktaş, stating that Nene Hatun was selected as Turkey's first Mother of the Year on May 5, 1955, said, 'She was chosen as the first Mother of the Year in Turkey on May 5, 1955. This heroic Turkish woman, whose name has been the subject of many books and films, died of pneumonia on May 22, 1955, at the age of 101. An official funeral ceremony was held. After the funeral prayer at Lala Pasha Mosque, she was buried at the Aziziye Bastions.'
At the end of the conference, folk poet Fuat Çerkezoğlu read a poem he wrote for Nene Hatun. The ceremony concluded with Erzurum High School Principal Ömer Coşkun and Nene Hatun Girls' Anatolian High School Principal Mustafa Taşer presenting a plaque to historian Akın Aktaş.