The Turkish force in Transylvania, having restored order, is regarded by the populace as an army of liberation from Habsburg tyranny.

Led by Fazil Ahmed Pasa and enlarged by Wallachian and Transylvanian Christians offended by the Habsburg Counter-reformation, it overruns the Hungarian-Transylvanian areas in 1663, capturing Buda and, in a surprise attack in September, overwhelming the fortress of Érsekùjvar (Nové Zámky, or Neuhäusel, in present Slovakia) in a victory second only to Mezo-Kersztes in the Austro-Turkish war of 1591-1606.

The Turks had failed to conquer it six times before.

It is made the center of a Turkish eyalet in present-day southern Slovakia—with the subordinate sanjaks of Litra, Leve, Novigrad, Holok, Bukabak and Şefradi (probably Šahy).

The Slovak saying "Strong as a Turk in front of Nové Zámky", which means working with determination and stability, reflects the memory of the determination of the Turks to conquer the fortress.