🗽 Independence 🚩 Flag ⚔ Battle / War 🕊 Freedom 🏺 Ancestors / Heritage | Fierce
Key Facts
1.The anthem has 10 full stanzas totaling 40 lines, but only the first two stanzas are performed at official events; most Turkish citizens have never heard or read the remaining eight.
2.Composer Zeki Ungor's original melody was replaced in 1930 by a new arrangement by Osman Zeki Ungor (no relation), and the current orchestration has remained the standard ever since.
3.Turkish law requires everyone to stand at attention during the anthem, and it is a misdemeanor to parody or disrespect the 'Istiklal Marsi,' with penalties including fines.
Lyrics
Only the first two stanzas of the 10-stanza poem are officially sung
Korkma, sönmez bu şalaklarda yüzen al sancak;
Sönmeden yurdumun üstünde tüten en son ocak.
O benim milletimin yıldızıdır, parlayacak;
O benimdir, o benim milletimindir ancak.
Çatma, kurban olayım, çehreni ey nazlı hilal!
Kahraman ırkıma bir gül! Ne bu şiddet, bu celal?
Sana olmaz dökülen kanlarımız sonra helal...
Hakkıdır, Hakk’a tapan, milletimin istiklal!
Korkma, sönmez bu şalaklarda yüzen al sancak;
Sönmeden yurdumun üstünde tüten en son ocak.
O benim milletimin yıldızıdır, parlayacak;
O benimdir, o benim milletimindir ancak.
Çatma, kurban olayım, çehreni ey nazlı hilal!
Kahraman ırkıma bir gül! Ne bu şiddet, bu celal?
Sana olmaz dökülen kanlarımız sonra helal...
Hakkıdır, Hakk’a tapan, milletimin istiklal!
Ben ezelden beridir hür yaşadım, hür yaşarım.
Hangi çılgın bana zincir vuracakmış? şaşarım!
Kükremis sel gibiyim, bendimi çiğner, aşarım.
Yırtırım dağları, enginlere sığmam, taşarım.
Garbın afakını sarmışsa çelik zırhlı duvar,
Benim iman dolu göğsüm gibi serhaddim var.
Ulusun, korkma! Nasıl böyle bir imanı boğar,
"Medeniyet!" dediğin tek dişi kalmış canavar?
Arkadaş! Yurduma alçakları uğratma, sakın.
Siper et gövdeni, dursun bu hayâsızca akın.
Doğacaktır sana va’dettiği günler Hakk’ın...
Kim bilir, belki yarın, belki yarından da yakın.
Bastığın yerleri "toprak!" diyerek geçme, tanı!
Düşün altındaki binlerce kefĕnsiz yatanı.
Sen şehit oğlusun, incitme, yazıktır, atanı:
Verme, dünyaları alsan da, bu cennet vatanı.
Kim bu cennet vatanın uğruna olmaz ki feda?
Şüheda fışkıracak toprağı sıksan, şüheda!
Canı, cananı, bütün varımı alsın da Huda,
Etmesin tek vatanımdan beni dünyada cuda.
Ruhumun senden, ilâhî, şudur ancak emeli:
Değmesin mabed-i istiklalimin göğsüne el.
Bu ezanlar -ki şehadetleri dinin temeli-
Ebedi yurdumun üstünde benim inlemeli.
O zaman vecd ile bin secde eder -varsa- taşım,
Her cerîhamı ilâhî, açar eder başım,
O zaman rühumu füyuzla doğar güneşim,
O zaman yükselerek arşa değer belki başım.
Dalgalan sen de şafaklar gibi ey şanlı hilal!
Olsun artık dökülen kanlarımın hepsi helal.
Ebediyen sana yok, ırkıma yok izmihlal:
Hakkıdır, hür yaşamış, bayrağımın hürriyeti;
Hakkıdır, Hakk’a tapan milletimin istiklal!
Fear not! The crimson banner that proudly waves in these dawns shall not fade,
Before the last hearth that is still burning in my homeland is extinguished.
That is the star of my people, and it shall shine;
It is mine; it belongs only to my nation.
Frown not, I beseech you, O graceful crescent!
Smile upon my heroic race! Why this fury, why this rage?
Our blood which we shed for you shall not be blessed otherwise;
For independence is the right of my God-worshipping nation!
Fear not! The crimson banner that proudly waves in these dawns shall not fade,
Before the last hearth that is still burning in my homeland is extinguished.
That is the star of my people, and it shall shine;
It is mine; it belongs only to my nation.
Frown not, I beseech you, O graceful crescent!
Smile upon my heroic race! Why this fury, why this rage?
Our blood which we shed for you shall not be blessed otherwise;
For independence is the right of my God-worshipping nation!
I have been free since the beginning, I am free and shall remain so.
What madman would try to chain me? I would be astounded!
I am like a roaring flood; I trample my banks and exceed them.
I tear apart mountains, I overflow plains, I cannot be contained.
Though the West's horizons may be armoured with walls of steel,
I have a frontier guarded by my faith-filled chest.
Howl on! Fear not! How can such a faith be drowned
By that single-fanged monster they call "civilisation"?
Comrade! Never let the scoundrels invade my homeland.
Make your body a shield and stop this shameless assault.
For soon shall dawn the days that God has promised;
Who knows, perhaps tomorrow, perhaps even sooner.
Do not dismiss the ground you tread on as mere "soil" and pass by.
Think of the thousands who lie shroudless beneath it.
You are the son of martyrs; do not wound your father, shame on you.
Do not surrender this paradise homeland, even for all the worlds.
Who would not sacrifice their life for this heavenly land?
Martyrs would spring forth if you squeezed the soil, martyrs!
Let God take my life, my beloved, all that I possess,
But never separate me from my homeland in this world.
My soul's one desire from You, O Lord, is this alone:
Let no foreign hand touch the bosom of my sacred temple of independence.
These calls to prayer, whose testimonies are the foundations of faith,
Must echo eternally above my homeland.
Then my tombstone, if I have one, shall prostrate a thousand times in ecstasy;
Every wound of mine, O Lord, shall weep blood aplenty.
Then my spirit shall rise with grace as my sun dawns,
Then perhaps my head shall reach the very heavens.
Wave on, like the dawns, O glorious crescent!
Let all the blood we have shed now be blessed.
There shall be no end, ever, for you or for my race;
It is our right: freedom is the right of my flag that has lived free;
It is our right: independence is the right of my God-worshipping nation!
Translations are non-official and intended to convey meaning, not replace originals
Show full poemShow official version
Analysis
Editorial
Written during the Turkish War of Independence in 1921, the anthem was adopted before the Republic was even proclaimed. Poet Mehmet Akif Ersoy wrote it to boost morale during the darkest days of the independence struggle against occupying forces.