“Kizil Elma” in Turkish, meaning The Red Apple, was a concept of conquest for the Ottomans that was used as an objective naming for the cities or areas that were seen as a target for conquest. The idea originated from the continuous growth and expansion of the Ottoman Empire by means of slaughters, burning villages and killing the people, and the cities that were seen as red apple were Vienna, Rome, Paris, and many others.

The concept was introduced by a Serb Janissary soldier of the empire named Konstantin Mihailovic. This soldier talks about the Red Apple tale in his book “Memories of a Janissary” in a tale of Sultan Mehemed II who had heard that the Christians were about to invade the newly conquered European lands, Konstantin wrote that after the Sultan summoned his commanders they advised to start a war. However, the Sultan had a different idea which he presented to them with a puzzle, he brought a carpet, placed a red apple in the middle and asked them to catch the apple without stepping on the carpet, no one could solve it until he himself rolled the carpet, brought the apple and rolled it back without stepping on it. He then explained that attacking gradually and with patience is better than an immediate war in times of unsteadiness.

This concept is still available in modern Turkey and the term Red Apple was even mentioned by the current president Erdogan in 2018 during his operations against the opposing forces in Afrin.This Symbol is rooted in the Turkish military strategies and is mentioned alongside their series of combat Unmanned Arial Vehicles UAV.