The cemetery was designed by the Maltese architect Emanuele Luigi Galizia, and it is built in an exotic orientalist style.

[7][8] The 17th-century cemetery had to be relocated in 1865 to make way for planned road works,[9] with one tombstone dating to 1817 being conserved at the National Museum of Archaeology in Valletta.

[21] On the turn of the 20th century it became an obligation to acquire a permission from the Health Department for each burial within the cemetery for sanitary purposes.

The plans are available in Turkish archives in Istanbul which hold the words “Progetto di una moschea – Cimitero Musulmano“ (Project for a mosque – Muslim Cemetery).

"[27] The bodies of 23 Moroccan passengers recovered from the SS Sardinia disaster in 1908 were buried at the Turkish Military Cemetery.

[32] It further fell into a state of disrepair after a new Muslim cemetery was opened near the Mariam Al-Batool Mosque in Paola in 2006.

[37][38] The application, presented by the company Cassar Fuel, was opposed by the Turkish government and several Maltese entities.

[39] Another development application on the same site was submitted to the planning authority in August 2019 for an industrial garage, which received opposition by the Marsa Local Council and the Turkish government representatives.

[43] Fondazzjoni Wirt Artna has suggested to completely clear the nearby derelict building and instead of new commercial activity the area may be renovated into a landscaped open space, how it initially was meant to be.

[31] Turkish Minister for Agriculture, Food and Livestock Mehmet Mehdi Eker visited the cemetery in 2012.

[47] The Turkish Military Cemetery is designed in a flamboyant, eclectic and exotic style related to the Orientalist and Romantic movements.

"[12] The cemetery is built out of Maltese limestone, and some of the stonework contains intricately carved geometric designs.

[51] People buried in the cemetery originate from different countries, including Turkey, Algeria, Egypt, French Polynesia, Libya, India, Indonesia, Morocco, Myanmar and Somalia.

[1] While the Ottoman Sultan was a Muslim, his consulate who managed the realisation of the project was a Jew (Naum Duhanî Efendi), and the architect a Roman Catholic.

(Meaning: As the sun will set and the stars will fall, tombs sealed by death will be disturbed and from this bed of dust awakened from sleep they will emerge radiant the children of the faith and of prayer.