All across the country, daily life and traffic stop each year at 9:05 a.m., when Atatürk passed away 71 years ago, as sirens wail and people observe two minutes of silence out of respect. Flags across the country are flown at half-staff.President Abdullah Gül and pillars of the Turkish state delivered messages yesterday stressing the founding father’s vision.
“One of his most important successes was the establishment of the republic, dynamic and open to innovation. Turkey today continues its progress in a way that its founders envisioned,” Gül stated. “Our country is becoming a place of attraction worldwide. I am fully confident that with its economy, democracy and military, Turkey will continue to increase its weight in the international arena.”
Parliament Speaker Mehmet Ali Şahin and Chief of General Staff Gen. İlker Başbuğ also delivered messages yesterday to remind the nation of Atatürk’s achievements.
Born in 1881 in Thessaloniki, Atatürk was an army officer, a revolutionary statesman and the founder of the Republic of Turkey as well as its first president. He became known as an extremely capable military officer during World War I. Following the defeat of the Ottoman Empire, he led the Turkish national movement in the Turkish War of Independence. Having established a provisional government in Ankara, he defeated forces sent by the Allies. His successful military campaigns led to the liberation of the country and to the establishment of Turkey.
During his presidency, Atatürk embarked upon a program of political, economic and cultural reforms. An admirer of the Age of Enlightenment, he sought to transform the former Ottoman Empire into a modern, democratic and secular nation-state. The principles of Atatürk’s reforms, upon which modern Turkey was established, are referred to as Kemalism.
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