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Mehmet Akif ACAR

Maiden's Tower and Battal Gazi

Translator: Mehmet Akif Acar (14 Yaşında)



Almost ten minutes were remaining for the program. I took a deep breath and looked at the final preparations, everything was looking alright. I am Çağla, I am the presenter of a weekend interview program. When I looked at the cameras, I understood that the time to start had come, and started recording after inviting my guest.

- Good morning, dear viewers. Clocks are showing 12:00 and of course, we are here as usual. Today my guest is Elif KAYA. As you know, I suppose everyone knows her, Elif KAYA is a writer who made her name known in our country. At the same time, as you know, she is my colleague. How are you, Ms. Elif?

- Thank you, actually, I am pretty excited because today our subject is a legend that I like very much.

- Yes, actually today our subject is a bit different dear viewers. Today, we will talk about the Maiden's Tower with Ms. Elif.

Elif KAYA sat straight and began to talk.

- Yes, normally Maiden's Tower has four legends. These are the daughter of the king, Battal Gazi, Leandros, and the love between Maiden's Tower and Galata Tower. The most known legend is the daughter of the king. But today we wanted to share a different legend: Battal Gazi. Because most of the people know the daughter of the king.

When Elif quietened I understood that I should talk and begin to tell the legend.

- This legend takes place during the Ottoman Empire. Battal Gazi came to conquer Istanbul, but he failed. Later on, he built a headquarters on a coast that was in front of the Maiden's tower and stayed there for seven years. Seven years... This is a very long time! But there was a reason. Battal Gazi fell in love with the daughter of Tekfur. However, Tekfur didn't approve of this love. But he was afraid of Battal Gazi. For this reason, he closed his daughter to Maiden's tower with her treasures. But this couldn't avoid Battal Gazi.

After making sounds that she approved, she took a sip from her water and continued to tell.

- Who could have held Battal Gazi? He would struggle until the end when has something on his mind. Battal Gazi returns to Üsküdar after the Damascus expedition and goes to Maiden's tower with a boat. He returns to Üsküdar by taking the daughter of Tekfur and her treasures. And he gets away by his horse. Moreover, did you know that there is a very well-known idiom about this?

- Aaaa really? Which idiom is that?

- Actually, the idiom that we daily use " It's no use closing the stable door after the horse has bolted" depends on this legend.

- Yes, dear viewers, today we have come to the end of another program. Maybe we will talk about other legends of the Maiden's Tower. How about it? Wishing you a happy weekend... See you later!

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