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Turkey: Tulips, the national flower of Turkey, depicted on an Iznik tile from the Rüstem Paşa Mosque, Istanbul, 1563

Turkey: Tulips, the national flower of Turkey, depicted on an Iznik tile from the Rüstem Paşa Mosque, Istanbul, 1563

The Rüstem Pasha Mosque was designed by Ottoman imperial architect Mimar Sinan for Grand Vizir Damat Rüstem Pasha (husband of one of the daughters of Suleiman the Magnificent, Princess Mihrimah). Rüstem Pasha died in July 1561 and the mosque was built after his death between 1561 and 1563.

Ä°znik ceramic ware, named after the town in western Anatolia where it was made, is a decorated ceramic that was produced from the last quarter of the 15th century until the end of the 17th century.

Although tulips are generally associated with the Netherlands, commercial cultivation of the flower began in the Ottoman Empire. The tulip, or lale (from Persian لاله, lâleh) as it is also called in Iran and Turkey, is a flower indigenous to a vast area encompassing arid parts of Africa, Asia, and Europe. The word tulip, which earlier appeared in English in forms such as tulipa or tulipant, entered the language by way of French tulipe and its obsolete form tulipan or by way of Modern Latin tulīpa, from Ottoman Turkish tülbend.

The tulip is the national flower of Turkey.

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