Issued to mark the 900th anniversary of the Battle of Malazgirt, where Seljuk Sultan Alp Arslan defeated the Byzantine Emperor Romanos IV Diogenes in August 1071 — a victory that opened Anatolia to Turkish settlement and permanently altered the demographic and political makeup of the peninsula. The battle itself lasted a single afternoon.
The Turkish government used the 1971 centennial heavily for national purposes, and this coin was part of a broader commemorative program that same year. The .830 silver alloy was standard for Turkish commemoratives of the period, chosen for cost rather than purity.
Issued to mark the 900th anniversary of the Battle of Malazgirt, where Seljuk Sultan Alp Arslan defeated the Byzantine Emperor Romanos IV Diogenes in August 1071 — a victory that opened Anatolia to Turkish settlement and permanently altered the demographic and political makeup of the peninsula. The battle itself lasted a single afternoon.
The Turkish government used the 1971 centennial heavily for national purposes, and this coin was part of a broader commemorative program that same year. The .830 silver alloy was standard for Turkish commemoratives of the period, chosen for cost rather than purity.