A number of Muslim cemeteries have been located in various locations around
Marsa since the 16th century. This cemetery was replaced in 1675 by another one near Spencer Hill (
Via della Croce), following the construction of the
Floriana Lines. The 17th-century cemetery had to be relocated in 1865 to make way for planned road works, The remains of a cemetery, together with the foundations of a mosque, and an even more earlier Roman period remains are located at Triq Dicembru 13, Marsa. A piece of land in the ''Ta' Sammat'' area of Marsa was chosen as the new location in 1871. The new cemetery was commissioned by the Ottoman sultan
Abdülaziz, and it was constructed between 1873 and 1874. Construction took over six months to complete. It was designed by the Maltese architect
Emanuele Luigi Galizia, who designed many other buildings in a range of contrasting styles, including the mixed-denomination
Ta' Braxia Cemetery and the Catholic
Addolorata Cemetery. The outcome and reception of the later was pertinent for the appointment of Galizia as the architect of the Turkish Military Cemetery. The design for the project was unique in Maltese architecture at that point. Galizia was awarded the
Order of the Medjidie by the Ottoman sultan for designing the Turkish cemetery, At the end of the 19th century the cemetery became a landmark by its own due to its picturesque architecture. 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. Due to the absence of a mosque at the time, the cemetery was generally used for Friday prayers until the construction of
a mosque in Paola. The small mosque at the cemetery was intended to be used for prayers during an occasional burial ceremony, but the building and the courtyard of the cemetery became frequently used as the only public prayer site for Muslims until the early 1970s. The place became too small eventually for the growing Muslim community. A
Jewish cemetery was built directly adjacent to the Turkish cemetery in 1879. It was designed by the English architect
Webster Paulson in a
neoclassical style. Lieutenant-Governor Sir
Harry Luke, perhaps unaware that
Turkic people are not Arabs, later stated that the area "is the only place in the world where Arabs and Jews lie peacefully together." The bodies of 23 Moroccan passengers recovered from the
SS Sardinia disaster in 1908 were buried at the Turkish Military Cemetery. During
World War I, some Turkish prisoners of war who died in Malta were buried inside the cemetery. The cemetery also contains the graves of some Muslim soldiers from Commonwealth countries (seven from World War I and four from
World War II) as well as fifteen French soldiers. The cemetery was evidently lacking maintenance with its decay observed in early 2002. 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. Deterioration occurred since the area is prone to flooding, due to pollution since the site is close to major roads, and due to natural factors such as lightning strikes which damaged some architectural details. Further damage has been caused by car accidents. A project to restore the cemetery began in 2015, being sponsored by the Turkish government. In July 2016 there was a planning application for a fuel station next to the cemetery and, if a favourable decision would have been taken, this may have been a possible ‘burial’ to the architecture of the cemetery itself. The application, presented by the company Cassar Fuel, was opposed by the Turkish government and several Maltese entities. 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. In November 2019 the applicant withdrew the proposed development.
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. Today the cemetery falls under the responsibility of the Turkish government, It is usually inaccessible to the public and people must first contact the Turkish embassy to arrange a visit. Prime Minister
Binali Yıldırım visited the cemetery in 2017.
Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan visited the cemetery in 2024. == Architecture ==