The Final Synthesis

On November 17, 1922, after the Turkish Nationalists (led by Atatürk) abolished the Sultanate, Mehmed VI the last Sultan realized his life was in danger.

He was forced to leave Istanbul on a British warship, the HMS Malaya. As the ship sailed through the Bosphorus, past the silhouette of Hagia Sophia, he was leaving his homeland forever. He died in exile in Italy four years later. He was buried in the cemetery of the Sulaymaniyya Complex in Damascus, Syria, on July 3, 1926.

The Sulaymaniyya Complex was commissioned by the Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, the great grandson of Mehmet II. Construction of the complex took place between 1554 and 1559 CE, and it was designed by the renowned master architect Mimar Sinan.