Erdogan tries to rewrite history
Recep Tayyip Erdogan's recent decision to change the date commemorating the conquest of Istanbul from May 29 to May 30 seems to fall into a pattern of altering dates of public holidays to correspond with important political dates — in this case, the June 7 elections.
Scores of thick-mustached Istanbul municipality laborers dressed in historic Ottoman army uniforms, marching amid rush hour crowds in modern-day central Istanbul, some pulling replicas of 15th-century galleys by thick ropes, may not look out of place to certain eyes.
The re-enactment commemorates the May 29 holiday of the conquest of Istanbul.
