Prof. from Muğla Sıtkı Koçman University (MSKÜ). Dr. Adnan Çevik, in his evaluation of the activities carried out on the field determination of the Battle of Manzikert in 1071, stated that they wanted to show the war in real time and place, and said, "A museum was planned that will make you experience the war not with paintings, but as if you were in it, even from the smell of sweat to the moans of the soldiers, to the feeling of the wind licking your face."
Prof. attended the "Manzikert Battlefield in the Light of New Findings" conference held at the Pratik Hotel in Edremit district of Van. Dr. Adnan Çevik gave information about the activities carried out in determining the area of the 1071 Battle of Manzikert, which took place in the Malazgirt district of Muş. Stating that they started the project in 2020, Çevik stated that they were researching the trace of a day 955 years ago and said, "We are looking for the trace of a day 955 years ago. Where are we looking for it? How do we search? Do we get results? I will share these with you. Because our main goal is not only to determine the location of this victory scientifically, but also the second phase of the project, which we started this year. Just as the difference between what we read and heard when we went to Çanakkale and what we experienced is indescribable." "We want to experience the feeling in Malazgirt and keep it alive," he said.
Adnan Çevik, who stated that what happened in this geography bears the critical places of Turkish history, Seljuk history and the Turkification process of Anatolia, said, "The Battle of Manzikert is not a pitched battle. This is the first mistake. Second, there is no plain in Manzikert. This is the second mistake. Therefore, Manzikert is a plateau formed by the flows of the Süphan volcanic mountain for hundreds of thousands of years. There are plains in places, hills in places, volcanic rocks that you cannot even stand on." "It's a plateau full of brooms," he said.
Emphasizing that they want to show the war in real time and place, Çevik said, "Whether with VR glasses or with holograms under a sky dome. In fact, the museum for which the tender has been made will be such a museum. In other words, you will experience the war when you enter it. A museum has been planned that will make you experience the war not with paintings, but as if you were in it personally, even from the smell of sweat to the moans of the soldiers, to the feeling of the wind licking your face."
Stating that they are based on an area of 150 square kilometers, Çevik continued his speech as follows:
"We have determined an extremely wide area. Because let's take into account whatever local or foreigners have suggested so far regarding the location of the battle. We wanted to put forward our own opinion, which has matured with our own activity, but not ignore any opinion. Although we are talking about August 26, 1071, this activity is not only focused on this. Starting on August 22, and even on March 13, 1071, Roman Diogenes left Istanbul and went to Sivas via Eskişehir, Iznik, from Sivas. We are also working on the road line from Şebinkarahisar, Bayburt, Aşkale, Erzurum, Erzurum to Malazgirt. We are also working on these roads where Alparslan came from Aleppo to Urfa, Mosul, Selmas, Hoy, Erciş, Patnos, Malazgirt or Erciş, Adilcevaz, Sütey Plateau to Malazgirt. 22 August. While the Byzantine army was preparing to go to Ahlat on August 23, the first Seljuk troops closed the area on August 24. The conflict continued at night until the morning of August 25. On August 25, the Sultan arrived and made a peace offer. Finally, the final battle took place on Friday, August 26. Here we are. "We want to document this whole process."
Giving information about the findings they found during their activities in the field, Çevek said, "We have 14 different types and functions of archers. This is very valuable to us, because in the Byzantine army there are Vikings, Slavs, Russians, Armenians, Normans, Franks, Byzantium has its own native troops. There are Kipchaks, Pechenegs, Uz. There are also warrior Turks. Some of them went to Byzantium." "They come from natural lands, some of them are gathered for this war. Therefore, we are trying to understand the functions of all the archers you see here. What kind of archers are used for what? The archers used on knitted armor are different from those used on plate armor. The ones used by the infantry are different. Therefore, finding them will give us the coordinates of where they are located and the position of the troops."
Stating that they also found a ballista weapon during the excavations carried out this year, Çevik continued as follows:
"This year, a ballista weapon was found. It is very valuable for us. We carried out so many activities in the area where the Manzikert Victory Monument is located that we decided to do it again this year. There are 4 arrowheads up to 30 cm that we could not find when we did it before. These are exactly as we predicted, ballista arrowheads belonging to the siege area where Diogenes carried out to capture Manzikert on August 22. Of course, we are finding more Byzantine ones. As of last year, these are arrowheads up to 30 cm. "We are having a fruitful year, too. We found a silver zihgir, an archer's ring. It is decorated with very valuable stones, it must have belonged to a lord or commander. In addition, we found arrowheads and bronze coins. We have more than a thousand coins belonging to Diogenes." -VAN