As Erdoğan walked to greet Aliyev, the presidency's band played "Resurrection Anthem," the theme song of the show "Diriliş-Ertuğrul" (Resurrection-Ertuğrul), which is about the establishment of the Ottoman Empire. The song is a slightly altered version of "Dombra," a Turkish nationalist song that was used by Erdoğan in his campaign for the March 30, 2014, local elections.

Army soldiers stood on one side of the president while 16 soldiers dressed up in ceremonial clothes representing each of the 16 states established by Turkic people throughout history were standing on his other side.

The warriors in historic costume made their first appearance during an official welcome ceremony held for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas during his visit to Ankara on Jan. 12.

Abbas was greeted at Turkey's newly built and controversial presidential palace with what was regarded as an unusual official ceremony. The 16 soldiers wearing the ceremonial clothes of 16 Turkic states stood at the stairs of the palace. President Erdoğan walked down the stairs in between the soldiers and greeted Abbas.

Official pictures from the welcome ceremony on Monday showed Abbas and Erdoğan posing at the bottom of the staircase, with the 16 soldiers arrayed behind them in a range of historical costumes, complete with ornate helmets, swords and spears.

The pictures sparked a storm of reaction on social media. Users came up with their own Photoshopped images in which the soldiers were depicted as superheroes from movies such as the "Lord of the Rings” or popular shows like "Game of Thrones.”

Warriors from Turkic history, some in chainmail, others bearing spears, will be a regular feature of Erdoğan's welcome ceremonies for foreign leaders, sources at his office said, after their first outing drew ridicule from opponents.

Leading Kurdish politician Selahattin Demirtaş, who lost to Erdoğan in last year's presidential election, told local TV channel Haberturk that Erdoğan could have completed the picture by dressing up as "İbrahim the Mad," a 17th-century sultan.

Presidential sources said each soldier represented a period of Turkic history, from the Central Asian Hunnic Empire of 200 BC all the way through to the Ottoman Empire, which was dissolved in 1922.

In another controversial move, the government introduced a new draft bill enabling the government to design a new coat of arms that will represent the Turkish Republic. According to the new bill, the state's coat of arms, which was removed with the abolishment of the sultanate years ago, will be reintroduced. A new commission will be established in Parliament to determine what the new coat of arms of the Turkish Republic will be, the bill states.

 

(Today's Zaman)