Japanese Sakura trees, which symbolize love, passion, and renewal in Japanese culture and Japanese-Turkish friendship, have started to bloom in a park in Istanbul's Ataşehir district. These cherry trees were planted in Nezahat Gökyiğit Botanical Garden on Ertuğrul Island and its surroundings on October 23, 2005, in memory of the martyrs of the Ertuğrul Fırkateyn disaster. The Japanese Sakura Foundation has planted a total of 527 trees, one for each martyr.
According to Salih Sercan Kanoğlu, the deputy director of Nezahat Gökyiğit Botanical Garden, there are various types of sakura trees in the garden made up of 12 islands on a total surface area of 460,000 square meters. He explained that these trees do not require a lot of water, and special care should be taken with pruning, as they only produce flowers and not fruits.
Furthermore, Kanoğlu noted that the Nezahat Gökyiğit Botanical Garden was built to support research work on drought-related theories. The garden has a collection of seven types of soil, and the plants that grow in different types of soil were brought from Lake Tuz. Türkiye has 10,000 plant varieties, with 30% of them under threat for various reasons. Therefore, expanding the number of botanical gardens is essential for preserving endemic species.
