Featured photo by Şefik Akkurt
Thursday 27 February marked 111 years since the death of Captain Tayyareci Fethi Bey, one of the first pilots in Turkish aviation history, who gave his name to Fethiye.
Tayyareci Fethi Bey was born in Istanbul in 1891. He graduated from the Naval Academy and became an officer in the Navy. On July 3, 1912 he was sent to Bristol Airplane School for piloting training from where he transferred to the air class and served as a pilot in the Western and Eastern Army. He was awarded the ‘silver medal of merit’ for his successes in the Balkan War in 1913.
In 1914, he was promoted to the rank of captain and became the second team officer of the aircraft company. At the beginning of 1914, he was among the first in the team that would go to Egypt.
On February 8, 1914, he and his comrade Sadık Bey started the Istanbul-Cairo flight with the Blériot XI/B plane named ‘Muavenet-i Milliye’.
On February 27, 1914, they crashed near Şimiriye subdistrict of Taberiye district of Damascus and were among the first losses in Turkish aviation history. His grave, along with Sadık Bey’s, is in the Tomb of Saladin in Damascus.
He received the title of the air force’s first aviation martyr (‘şehit’ means ‘martyr’ a phrase used for fallen military personnel). The town was previously known as Telmessos and Meğri and in 1934 the town’s name was changed to Fethiye in honour of Şehit Fethi Bey.
Every year on the anniversary of his death, a commemoration ceremony is held by his statue in Şehit Fethi Bey Parkı, the focal point of the park, very fitting for Tayyareci Fethi Bey whom the town of Fethiye is named after.
The ceremony included an exhibition flight by Solo Türk, a single-aircraft aerobatic demonstration team of the Turkish Air Force’s 132nd Squadron based at the Konya Air Base.
In Photos: Fethiye commemorates the 111th anniversary of the death of Captain Tayyareci Fethi Bey
Photos by Fethiye Belediyesi
Solo Türk pilots visited the municipality as part of their participation in the events commemorating the 111th anniversary of the death of Captain Aviator Fethi Bey.
The following photos are a mixture of those taken during the rehearsal flight on Wednesday, 26 February, and the commemoration service on Thursday, 27 February.
Photos and video by Şefik Akkurt
Photos by Hamdi Yaman
Photos by Natalia Alpatova
