National Sovereignty Day sees colorful celebrations across nation

There were colorful ceremonies at every school and at stadiums in all of the provinces across the country to mark the day. Over 1,000 children from 41 countries around the world have come to a number of Turkish cities to participate in festivities for this year's April 23 Children's Day. During National Sovereignty and Children's Day, children are able to sit in the seats of government officials, police department heads, university rectors and mayors across Turkey and make a statement.

In the southern province of Antakya, a place where people with different religious beliefs peacefully coexist, a Christian child sat in the chair of Antakya Mayor Lütfü Savaş. Ali Sayar Primary School student Ossana Reneta Eftim asked the mayor to end the lack of urban planning in the city, restore Antakya’s historic houses and allocate special places for children in every neighborhood.

“I would like to extend my gratitude to all members of the police department, to whom we entrust our lives and properties, on behalf of all Turkish children,” said Selman Vanlıoğlu, a primary school student who sat in İstanbul Police Chief Hüseyin Çapkın’s chair yesterday.

Over 1,000 children from 41 countries around the world traveled to a number of Turkish cities to participate in yesterday’s colorful festivities celebrating this year’s April 23 Children’s Day.

Çapkın in response said children are the future of Turkey and that they will sit in these chairs in the future.

Melisa Gün, another primary school student, sat in the seat of İstanbul Mayor Kadir Topbaş yesterday. She expressed her wish to see a cleaner İstanbul. “The biggest problem in İstanbul and the district I live in is the inadequate number of garbage bins, which show that the environment is polluted. I want more garbage bins to be put in the streets,” she said.

Global search engine Google also welcomed Turkish users with a logo specially designed for National Sovereignty and Children’s Day yesterday.

Politicians and statesmen flocked to Anıtkabir, the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the Turkish Republic. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Parliament Speaker Mehmet Ali Şahin laid a wreath at Atatürk’s tomb along with leaders of other political parties, including main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal, Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli and co-chairperson of the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) Gülten Kışanak.

Şahin wrote the following in the Anıtkabir visitors’ book: “Dear Atatürk, the Turkish Parliament, which has been working with the aim of bringing Turkey to levels above those of advanced civilizations, a target you showed us, in accordance with your principles and ideals since the day it was founded, is determined to work with the same determination from now on as well.”

Many children from various provinces also visited Anıtkabir and decorated the mausoleum with flowers.

Unexpected snow prevents celebrations in Sarıkamış, Ardahan Celebrations to mark National Sovereignty and Children’s Day were hampered by snowfall in Ardahan province and in the Sarıkamış district in the eastern province of Kars yesterday. Although it is April, spring has not yet arrived in some parts of the country, mainly in eastern Turkey. In Ardahan, students who headed school early in the morning were surprised to see the streets covered with snow. The children said they were happy because it was their day yesterday, but were disappointed by the snow. Local Children’s Day celebrations, which were planned to be held at the city’s stadium, were transferred to the Kazım Karabekir Paşa Sports Hall. In Sarıkamış, the celebrations were postponed to a later date due to the snowfall. It started snowing early Friday morning, and snow blanketed the district in a short period of time. Sezgin Uyar, Abdulkadir Erzeneoğlu / Ardahan, Kars One dead in Tunceli as police tank rolls into crowd A woman died in the Hozat district of eastern Tunceli province yesterday when the brakes of a police tank failed and it rolled into a crowd celebrating National Sovereignty and Children’s Day. The vehicle entered Cumhuriyet Street where Children’s Day celebrations were being held after its brakes failed. The tank crushed Songül Göktürk and her husband, Mehmet, stopping when it ran into the wall of a building. Songül Göktürk died at the scene, and her husband was seriously injured. Mehmet Göktürk was hospitalized at Elazığ’s Fırat University Hospital. Three people fainted due to heat stroke during celebrations at Antakya Atatürk Stadium in the southern province of Hatay. The stadium’s manager, Ahmet Serin, collapsed first and was hospitalized at Antakya State Hospital. Following Serin, Hatay Provincial Education Director Senol Genç and Hatay Provincial Youth and Sport Directorate head Ali Rıza Tütüncüoğlu fainted. Genç and Tütüncüoğlu were treated by paramedics at the stadium. İstanbul Today’s Zaman

In a ceremony held at Ankara 19 Mayıs Stadium, Education Minister Nimet Çubukçu addressed thousands of children. “Read and study to improve yourself. We believe that you will take Turkey to the level of advanced civilizations as individuals equipped with basic humanitarian and ethical values, who are respectful to human rights and who are open to innovations,” Çubukçu said.

Children’s Day was celebrated in the KKTC as well. An event was held in Nicosia, attended by newly elected Turkish Cypriot President Derviş Eroğlu, his wife, Meral Eroğlu, former KKTC President Rauf Denktaş, Turkish Ambassador to the KKTC Şakir Fakılı, KKTC Parliament Speaker Hasan Bozer and Turkish Cypriot Foreign Minister Hüseyin Özgürgün.

In the afternoon, Parliament Speaker Şahin received congratulations on Parliament’s 90th anniversary. Prime Minister Erdoğan, Chief of General Staff Gen. İlker Başbuğ and force commanders, CHP leader Baykal, MHP leader Bahçeli, heads of Turkey’s three higher courts, members of Parliament’s Administration Council, higher level bureaucrats from the Office of the President and the Court of Accounts, head of the Higher Education Council (YÖK) Yusuf Ziya Özcan and representatives from other public agencies as well as from universities joined the daytime reception.

Parliament yesterday convened a special session in which party representatives delivered speeches about the meaning and significance of the day. President Abdullah Gül also came to Parliament to follow the session.