Corporal Hasan from Türkiye’s Igdir province was part of the Ottoman army’s heavy machine gun team and guarded Jerusalem for 65 years until his death in 1982. The corporal was one of 53 deployed troops entrusted with safeguarding the Al Aqsa Mosque in order to preserve “the honour of Islam” and the “glory of the Ottomans.”

The World War I veteran belonged to the 20th Corps, 36th Battalion, 8th Squadron and never wavered from his promise to his lieutenant to protect Al Aqsa Mosque.

He was one of the rearguard soldiers stationed in Jerusalem — Al Quds in Arabic — by the Ottoman army to prevent pillage and to maintain order and safety.

According to tradition, the victor of a war never treats rearguard troops as war captives in a captured city. So when British troops entered Jerusalem and wanted a small force to stay in the city to avoid a potentially negative public reaction, Corporal Hasan remained.

No Turk had heard of Corporal Hasan until 1972, when Turkish journalist Ilhan Bardakci visited Jerusalem and met with him when the soldier was 90 years old.

The sole remaining guardian told Bardakci: “Only I am left here. Just me, a Corporal Hasan in the grand Quds.”