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We perepared a poster

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One of the shows

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23 April National Sovereignty and Children's Day

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23 April National Sovereignty and Children's Day

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Solemn ceremonies and children’s festivals take place throughout Turkey on National Sovereignty and Children’s Day, held on April 23 each year. Children take seats in the Turkish Parliament and symbolically govern the country for one day.

What Do People Do?

Many people in Turkey commemorate the first gathering of the Grand National Assembly (the Turkish Parliament), which took place on April 23, 1920, by attending local ceremonies or laying wreaths at monuments of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of the Turkish Republic. The biggest ceremony takes place at the Ataturk Mausoleum in Ankara.

Because Ataturk dedicated the Turkish Republic to children, Turkish schoolchildren take seats in the Parliament for the day and symbolically govern the country. They elect a president who then addresses the country on national television. Children’s festivals take place throughout the country. The state-run Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT) brings children, aged eight to 14, from different countries around the world to Turkey. These children stay with Turkish families for a week and participate in children’s festivals, which culminate is a gala-performance on April 23.

Public Life

National Sovereignty and Children’s Day is an official holiday in Turkey. Government offices, schools and most businesses are closed on this day. Public transport routes may vary in the event of street performances.

-Sema Manisalı

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I didn't hear about Canakkale Victory, but I understand that was an important evenment not only for turkish history , but either for world history in the context of I world War. Thank you for the information, Sema.

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10th November Atatürk's Death Anniversary

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10th November Atatürk's Death Anniversary

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We prepared a poster.

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Today is a special day in Turkey.

18 March is known in Turkey as Canakkale Victory and Martyr’s Day. It’s an important day, and this year it is the 103st anniversary of Turkey’s defeat of Allied battleships who tried to take control of the Dardanelles, shelling Turkish forts along both the Asian and European shores of the Dardanelles in Canakkale.

This day was a critical turning point in the nation building process of the Republic of Turkey and every year we stop to remember the incredible fearlessness and commitment of those soldiers who fought for Turkey’s freedom.

18 March is a solemn day.

There is a memorial, built into the side of a hill above the Kilitbahir (Lock of the Sea) fort which guards the Dardanelles.  We call this the “Dur Yolcu” memorial. Dur Yolcu is a large figure of a Turkish soldier carrying a rifle, and with his other hand he is pointing out to an inscription which is the first few lines of a famous poem by Necmettin Halil Onan:

Dur Yolcu!
Bilmeden gelip bastığın bu toprak,
bir devrin battığı yerdir

In English, this translates to:
Traveller halt!
The soil you tread on unawares,
Once witnessed the end of an era.

For most Turkish people, just hearing these few lines are enough to invoke the sentiment of the full poem, which honours the 86,000 soldiers who gave their lives and the 164,000 who were wounded, defending  Turkish shores in the Galllipoli Campaign.

And so today, on the 18 March, we stop, and we remember, with the deepest respect, the courage shown by these men back in 1915, and their sacrifice for Turkey as a nation.

-Özlem Hazar