A study lasting approximately one year by personnel from the General Directorate of Mapping recorded 172 Turkish military cemeteries and monuments across 48 countries outside Türkiye.
The project was prepared under the title "Map of Turkish Military Cemeteries and Monuments Abroad." The map was produced under the coordination of Lieutenant Colonel Fatih Kalle, head of the Printing Branch at the General Directorate of Mapping, with the work of graphic designer Özgün Tükle, Senior Master Sergeant Özgür Köstekli and other personnel from the institution.
During the preparation of the map, data collection was carried out with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency. The historical accuracy of the information collected was checked with support from the Atatürk Supreme Council for Culture, Language and History, the National Defense University, and the Directorate of Archives and Military History.
The map is planned to be updated in the future
Lieutenant Colonel Kalle said there are also military cemeteries that are not officially known, are located in villages or on battlefields, or whose locations have not yet been identified. He said some of these cemeteries may therefore not appear on the current map.
Kalle said the memoirs of İhsan Latif Pasha, one of the commanders of Sarıkamış, refer to soldiers who were killed and buried in Manchuria, China. He said the map could be updated over time as new sites are identified and additional military cemeteries are added.
In addition to military cemeteries, the map also includes historical figures representing major leaders and commanders whose soldiers were killed under their command. Detailed work was carried out so that all figures, from uniforms to military vehicles, would reflect the conditions of the period.
Military cemeteries and historical vehicles are shown on the map
Efforts were made to depict the military cemeteries on the map with drawings corresponding to their real-world shapes. Images of Turkish soldiers on the front lines in regions such as Yemen and India were also depicted on the map.
Images of Ottoman-era ships were prepared using Professor İdris Bostan’s work titled "Oared and Sailing Ottoman Ships." For ships whose images showed only the hulls, common depictions of the sails used during the period were used as a reference.
The aircraft used by soldiers killed at Brookwood in England are shown on the map with their actual tail numbers. The map also includes diplomats, military personnel, security officers and civilian staff who were killed while serving at foreign missions.
Pioneering Ottoman cavalrymen were featured in a visual collage as symbols of courage and fearlessness. The railway within the borders of the Russian Federation, known today as the Trans-Siberian Railway, was also added to the map to represent the presence of soldiers along the line during World War I.
Images of the ships were also included on the map for soldiers who were killed while serving aboard the Refah freighter and the TCG Kocatepe in the Mediterranean but whose graves have no tombstones.
