The monument was commissioned right after the consecutive crash of two monoplanes in Palestine, killing three of the four military aviators who were on an expedition flight from Istanbul to Alexandria in early 1914.

A multiple-leg flight of four air force monoplanes from Istanbul to Cairo and Alexandria in Egypt, it would cover a distance of nearly 2,500 km (1,600 mi).

[3] The first team's aircraft, a Blériot XI, crashed on February 27 on the flight leg from Damascus to Jerusalem by Al-Samra near the Sea of Galilee, killing pilot Navy Lieutenant (Ottoman Turkish: Bahriye Yüzbaşısı) Fethi Bey and his navigator, Artillery First Lieutenant (Ottoman Turkish: Topçu Mülazım-ı Ula) Sadık Bey.

The second team's aircraft, a Deperdussin B, crashed on March 11 into the Mediterranean Sea off Jaffa shortly after take-off.

[3] The government decided to build a monument in the empire's capital to the commemorate the first martyrs of the Ottoman military aviation.

[1] Designed by the renowned Turkish architect Vedat Tek, the conical columnar monument features a broken top made of white marble.