10.11.2025 11:14
It has been 87 years since the eternal departure of our Great Leader Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, who revived a nation with extinguished hopes through the fire of the National Struggle and ensured that Anatolia became the homeland, leading to the establishment of the Republic of Turkey, which turns 102 today. We commemorate our Atatürk with respect, gratitude, and longing...
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk was born in 1881 in Thessaloniki. Following his mother Zübeyde Hanım's wish, Mustafa Kemal began his primary education at Hafız Mehmet Efendi's neighborhood school, and later completed primary school at Şemsi Efendi School upon his father Ali Rıza Efendi's request.
Mustafa Kemal, who left the Selanik Mülkiye Rüştiyesi for middle school education of his own accord, continued his education at the Selanik Military Rüştiyesi and later graduated second from the Manastır Military High School. Alongside his military education, Atatürk continued his foreign language training, taking French lessons during the summers he returned to Thessaloniki.
Later, he came to Istanbul and completed the War Academy, which he entered in 1899, in 1902 with the rank of lieutenant, and graduated from the War Academy in 1905 with the rank of staff captain.
In 1905, Mustafa Kemal was assigned to the 5th Army in Damascus for his staff training, and due to his outstanding services in the Syrian region, he was awarded the Mecidi Medal of the Fifth Rank. In 1907, he was assigned to the 3rd Army Headquarters in the city of Manastır in Central Macedonia and was appointed to the staff branch in Thessaloniki.
While serving in Manastır and Thessaloniki, Mustafa Kemal participated in the Action Army that suppressed the March 31 Incident in Istanbul in 1909. He was also assigned to the operation organized in 1910 to suppress the rebellion in Albania. Following Italy's military intervention in Tripolitania in 1911, he was sent to Tobruk, where he successfully commanded Turkish forces in Tobruk and Derna and won the Battle of Tobruk against the Italians.
Appointed as the Commander of Derna on March 6, 1912, Mustafa Kemal participated in the Balkan War with the troops in Gelibolu and Bolayır when it began in October 1912 and played a significant role in the recapture of Dimetoka and Edirne.
"THERE IS NO GREATER DUTY THAN THE DEFENSE OF THE HOMELAND"
In 1913, Mustafa Kemal was appointed as the military attaché in Sofia after the Balkan War.
When World War I broke out during his tenure as military attaché, Mustafa Kemal applied to the Ministry of War to serve at the front.
As a result, in 1915, he was appointed to the command of the 19th Division to be formed in Tekirdağ, under the command of Esat Pasha's 3rd Corps.
The enemy forces that landed on the Gallipoli Peninsula and advanced to Conkbayırı retreated under the attack of the 19th Division forces commanded by Atatürk. Mustafa Kemal Pasha encouraged the Turkish soldiers, who had run out of ammunition, by saying, "If you have no ammunition, you have your bayonets."
During the attack on Conkbayırı, a piece of shrapnel hit his chest and broke the watch in his pocket, saving him from certain death. Mustafa Kemal Pasha not only determined the fate of the Northern Region Battles of the Gallipoli Peninsula but also the fate of the Dardanelles, the Dardanelles Front, and Istanbul, thus gaining fame as the "Hero of Anafartalar" in the Gallipoli Campaign.
After Gallipoli, Mustafa Kemal was appointed as the commander of the 16th Corps on the Eastern Front, where he halted Russian attacks in 1916 and recaptured Bitlis and Muş from the enemy, earning a promotion to general on this front.
HE MOVED TO SAMSUN WITH THE OCCUPATION OF THE COUNTRY
In July 1917, Mustafa Kemal Pasha was appointed as the commander of the 7th Army in Palestine and Syria, but after a while, he was assigned to the 2nd Army Command. However, he refused the assignment and remained in Istanbul under the orders of the General Headquarters. That same year, he went to Germany with Crown Prince Vahdettin and conducted inspections at the German General Headquarters and on the German war fronts.
Reassigned to the Syrian front in 1918, Mustafa Kemal served as the commander of the 7th Army and informed Istanbul that the main aim of the British was to occupy İskenderun and besiege the 7th Army, which was retreating north.
After the British took İskenderun on November 9, 1918, without facing resistance, Mustafa Kemal Pasha criticized the concessions made to the British in his telegram communications with the government center. He explained that "if this continues, the country will be subjected to all kinds of intrigue and invasion." Mustafa Kemal Pasha was informed that the Yıldırım Army Group Command and the 7th Army had been dissolved.
Pasha wanted this helplessness to be completely eliminated and, leaving the command of his troops to 2nd Army Commander Nihat Pasha, departed for Istanbul by train from Adana that same evening.
In Istanbul, Mustafa Kemal Pasha stayed from November 13, 1918, to May 16, 1919, discussing the general situation of the country with his close friends. He embarked on a journey to Samsun that would change the fate of his country and initiated the struggle for independence. He left Istanbul under the guise of the Inspector General's duty, keeping his aim of liberating the country from enemy occupation secret.
On May 19, 1919, Mustafa Kemal arrived in Samsun via the Black Sea and published the Amasya Circular on June 22, 1919. He informed the Turkish nation that "the integrity of the homeland and the independence of the nation are in danger, and a congress will be held in Sivas with determination and resolution to save the homeland."
He also resigned from the position given by the Ottoman Government and military service, and presided over the congresses held in Erzurum on July 23, 1919, and in Sivas on September 4, 1919.
With the decisions made at these congresses, stating that "the nation will defend its homeland against enemy occupation, a temporary government will be established for this purpose, and a national assembly will be convened, and that mandates and protectorates will not be accepted," the foundations of the Grand National Assembly were laid.
The Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM) began its historic duty in Ankara on April 23, 1920, under the leadership of Atatürk. Mustafa Kemal Atatürk was elected as the President of the Assembly and the Government.
HE FOUNDED ANADOLU AGENCY, WITNESS TO THE NATIONAL STRUGGLE AND WAR OF INDEPENDENCE
Seventeen days before the TBMM opened, on April 6, 1920, Anadolu Agency (AA) was established by the order of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.
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Founded with the aim of "making the voice of the National Struggle heard around the world," AA announced the first laws enacted by the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM) and witnessed every stage of the National Struggle and the War of Independence.
Despite the establishment of a national government with the opening of the TBMM, the Treaty of Sèvres was signed between the Ottoman Government and the Allied Powers on August 10, 1920.
"THE TREATY OF SÈVRES DOES NOT EXIST FOR US"
Atatürk emphasized in a statement to a reporter from the United Telegraph newspaper that they did not recognize the Treaty of Sèvres, stating, "The Treaty of Sèvres, which is aimed at destroying our political, judicial, economic, and financial independence and ultimately denying and abolishing our right to live, does not exist for us." It was announced to the world that the Treaty of Sèvres, signed between the Ottoman Government and the Allied Powers, was not accepted.
"NO PART OF THE HOMELAND CAN BE ABANDONED UNLESS IT IS SOAKED WITH THE BLOOD OF ITS CITIZENS"
The advance of Greek forces, which occupied İzmir with the help of the Allied Powers, was halted by the First and Second Battles of İnönü in 1921. The Battle of Sakarya began with the Greek army's renewed attack on August 23, 1921. Atatürk gave his historic order to the troops, saying, "There is no line of defense; there is a homeland defense line. That line is the entire homeland. No part of the homeland can be abandoned unless it is soaked with the blood of its citizens."
"MARSHAL" RANK AND "GHAZI" TITLE
The Turkish army, led by Commander-in-Chief Mustafa Kemal Pasha, defeated the Greek army and concluded the Battle of Sakarya with victory. In the 22-day battle, the Greek army suffered heavy losses. Due to this victory, the TBMM awarded Mustafa Kemal Atatürk the rank of "Marshal" and the title of "Ghazi."
Following the Sakarya Victory, the Kars Agreement was signed with the Caucasian Republics on October 13, 1921, and the Ankara Agreement, which delineated the borders of present-day Turkey except for Hatay, was signed with the French on October 20, 1921.
Under Atatürk's command, the Turkish army launched a counter-offensive on August 26, 1922, to liberate the homeland from enemy occupation, initiating the Great Offensive.
In the Dumlupınar (Commander-in-Chief) Battle on August 30, 1922, led by Mustafa Kemal Pasha, the Turkish army defeated the Greek army. The Turkish army, pursuing the fleeing enemy forces, entered İzmir on September 9, 1922.
After the great military victories that liberated Anatolia from enemy invasion, the Mudanya Armistice Agreement was signed on October 11, 1922, and the Allied Powers withdrew from the Turkish territories they occupied.
The War of Independence went down in history as a war in which the fate of the country changed, the Turkish nation challenged the world, and epic tales of heroism were written.
THE INDEPENDENCE DOCUMENT OF TURKEY, THE TREATY OF LAUSANNE, WAS SIGNED
The Treaty of Lausanne was signed on July 24, 1923, between the Turkish delegation led by İsmet İnönü and England, France, Italy, Japan, Greece, Romania, and Yugoslavia.
The Great Leader evaluated the Treaty of Lausanne, stating, "This treaty is a document that expresses the collapse of a great conspiracy that has been prepared against the Turkish nation for centuries and was thought to be completed with the Treaty of Sèvres."
THE FIRST PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF TURKEY
Atatürk studied the republic established by revolution in France, democracy, and forms of government but foresaw that the same could not be applied in Turkey.
Knowing the political, sociological, and economic structure of the country very well, he understood that democracy would only be internalized by all segments of society through the Republic.
Falih Rıfkı Atay, a close friend of Atatürk and a master journalist and writer, outlined the process leading to the Republic and Mustafa Kemal's views in his work titled "Çankaya" with the following sentences:
"The necessity to resolve the extraordinary situations in the regime arose. Because the form of government in Turkey had not yet been determined. It was necessary to clearly define the new form of government in the Constitution. Because there were still supporters of the sultanate and caliphate."
Atatürk kept the idea of the Republic secret, thinking it would be met with opposition until the Republic was declared, but he worked to ensure the new form of government was quickly accepted, stating in his speech, "We were trying to organize the administration without mentioning the Republic, in a way that was always moving towards the Republic within the framework of the principles of national sovereignty."
The Republic was declared by the TBMM on October 29, 1923, and Mustafa Kemal Atatürk was elected as the President. The Great Leader Atatürk, who was elected President four times in a row until his death in 1938, became the longest-serving President.
An assassination attempt against President Mustafa Kemal Atatürk was thwarted on June 14, 1926, and the ringleaders were arrested in İzmir. The Great Leader stated in a statement to the Anadolu Agency regarding the assassination attempt, "There is no doubt that the vile attempt was directed not only at my person but also at our sacred Republic and the high principles on which it is based. My humble body will surely one day become soil, but the Republic of Turkey will remain eternal."
On November 24, 1934, the surname "Atatürk" was granted to Ghazi Mustafa Kemal by Law No. 2587, and the use of this surname by others was prohibited.
HIS INITIATIVES IN ECONOMY, FOREIGN POLICY, AND AGRICULTURE
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk initiated the Five-Year Industrial Plan in 1933 to alleviate the effects of the 1929 World Economic Crisis and accelerate the country's development. During the same period, significant steps were taken in foreign policy. Joining the League of Nations, signing the Balkan Pact, the Montreux Convention, and the Sadabad Pact, among others, contributed to Turkey emerging as an influential actor in its region and the world.
Valuing agriculture and farmers, Atatürk conducted planned and serious work on farms for 13 years starting in 1925, establishing farms on unsuitable lands for crops to make these lands suitable for agriculture.
"HATAY IS MY PERSONAL ISSUE"
Atatürk made intense efforts for the inclusion of Hatay, which he referred to as "my personal issue," into the motherland, and this goal was achieved after his death in 1939.
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk worked tirelessly for the independence of his nation and homeland throughout his 57 years of life and emerged victorious from every struggle he entered.
Maintaining his respect with his military and political genius, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk passed away at the age of 57 on November 10, 1938, at Dolmabahçe Palace at 9:00 AM.
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He closed his eyes to life at the age of 57.
Atatürk's death was met with great sorrow not only in Turkey but all over the world.
ATA'S FUNERAL JOURNEY TO ANITKABIR
Atatürk's body was placed on a catafalque in the ceremony hall of Dolmabahçe Palace on November 16. On November 19, the funeral was sent off to Ankara by the Yavuz Battleship, accompanied by a large crowd, and then in the evening of the same day, it was sent off by the train he used for his travels across the country.
On November 20 in Ankara, the funeral, which was welcomed by state officials and foreign dignitaries, was placed on a catafalque in front of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. Atatürk's body, which was placed in a temporary grave at the Ankara Ethnography Museum with a grand funeral ceremony on November 21, 1938, remained there until it was moved to its eternal resting place, Anıtkabir, on November 10, 1953.
Atatürk, who said, "My mortal body will surely turn to dust one day, but the Republic of Turkey will stand forever," continues to live in the hearts of the Turkish nation at Anıtkabir, which is the heart of Turkey and his eternal resting place.
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