Turkey interested in fate of Bender fortress

Turkey is interested in the fate of the fortress in Bender, Turkish Ambassador to Moldova Ahmet Ferit Ulker said while visiting this architectural monument on March 9, Info-Prim Neo's correspondent in Tiraspol reports. Gheorghe Vilkov, of the Transnistrian interior ministry's public relations department, told the guests that there was a Turkish cemetery near the fortress long ago, but not much is known about it. He said the local authorities intend to place there the bust of Turkish Sultan Suleyman, who ordered building the fortress from stone. “Until now, I saw the fortress only in pictures and did not think it was so large. It is important to keep these cultural values for the successors so that they know their history,” said Ambassador Ahmet Ferit Ulker. The ambassador and his wife received a Turkish cannon ball found during archeological excavations as a present. Sources in the Turkish Embassy in Chisinau told Info-Prim Neo that one of the aims of the visit was to see the fortress at first hand and identify possibilities of cooperation in restoring it. The fortifications of Bender town were developed into a full fortress under the same name under the supervision of the Turkish architect Koji Mimar Sinan. The Ottomans used it to keep the pressure on Moldavia. In the 18th century, the fort's area was expanded and modernized by the prince of Moldavia Antioh Cantemir, who carried out these works under Ottoman supervision. During the second half of the 18th century, the fortress fell three times to the Russians during the Russian-Turkish wars (in 1770, 1789, and finally in 1806 without a fight). Now the fortress is controlled by the Transnistrian authorities, Info-Prim Neo reports. Last year, the fortress in Bender had been visited by more than 6,000 people, mainly foreigners.