29.10.2026 11:42
After the liberation of Anatolia from occupation, 103 years have passed since the Grand National Assembly of Turkey declared the Republic on October 29, 1923, under the leadership of the Great Leader Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.
After the National Struggle ended in victory, the night of October 28, 1923 became one of the turning points of history on the road to the Republic, which crowned the Turkish nation's struggle for independence with the founding of a new state.
This decision, voiced at a dinner at the Çankaya Mansion in Ankara and shaping Turkey's future, was adopted the next day by the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM), officially determining the form of government of the new Turkish state.
The road to the Republic took shape during the years of the National Struggle, which began when Mustafa Kemal Atatürk landed in Samsun on May 19, 1919.
During the Erzurum Congress, Atatürk told Mazhar Müfit Kansu that the form of government to be established after victory would be a republic. However, due to the conditions of the time, he did not disclose this idea for a while.
With the opening of the TBMM on April 23, 1920, the foundations of the new administration based on national sovereignty were laid.
After Turkey's independence was recognized internationally with the signing of the Lausanne Peace Treaty on July 24, 1923, the declaration of Ankara as the capital on October 13 was an important step in the political and administrative structuring of the new state.
However, after the victories won on the battlefields, the form of government of the newly established state needed to be clearly determined and the issue of the head of state needed to be resolved.
The political crisis that emerged on October 27, 1923, when the Council of Executive Ministers resigned and a new government could not be formed, brought a new arrangement in state administration onto the agenda.
AN EVENING THAT WENT DOWN IN HISTORY AT ÇANKAYA
When the calendars showed October 28, 1923, Ankara was preparing to witness one of the most important decisions in Turkish political history.
Mustafa Kemal Pasha invited his close colleagues to dinner at the Çankaya Mansion that evening.
At the table prepared by Latife Hanım, figures including İsmet Pasha, Kazım Pasha, Fethi Bey, Kemalettin Sami Pasha, Halit Pasha, Fuat Bey, and Ruşen Eşref Bey came together.
Mustafa Kemal Pasha shared with his friends that evening his decision to proclaim the Republic, which he had been shaping in his mind for a long time.
Years later, Atatürk recounted that historic evening in Nutuk with these words:
'Night had fallen... As I was leaving the Parliament building to go to Çankaya, I encountered Kemalettin Sami and Halit Pasha, who were waiting for me in the corridors. While Ali Fuat Pasha was leaving Ankara, I had read in that day's newspaper, under the headline 'A Farewell and a Welcome,' that they had arrived in Ankara. I had not yet met them. When I understood that they had been waiting there until late to speak with me, I informed them through the Minister of National Defense, Kazım Pasha, to come to dinner.
I told İsmet Pasha, Kazım Pasha, and Fethi Bey to come to Çankaya with me. When I arrived at Çankaya, I found there Rize Deputy Fuat and Afyonkarahisar Deputy Ruşen Eşref Bey, who had come to see me. I kept them for dinner too. During dinner, I said, 'Tomorrow we will proclaim the Republic.' The friends present immediately agreed with my idea. We stopped dinner. From that moment on, I set out a short program on how to proceed and assigned tasks to my friends.'
After dinner, Mustafa Kemal Pasha, together with İsmet Pasha, prepared the bill amending certain articles of the 1921 Constitution.
Thus, the decision announced at the Çankaya Mansion turned into the constitutional amendment that would be brought before the Assembly the next day.
THE REPUBLIC WAS PROCLAIMED AT 20:30
On Monday, October 29, 1923, the TBMM hosted historic deliberations that would open a new page in the future of the Turkish nation.
According to the French-language bulletins of the period in the Anadolu Agency archives, the Assembly convened at 18:00.
The proposal prepared by the Constitutional Commission and foreseeing the proclamation of the Republic was placed on the Assembly's agenda for discussion.
During the deliberations, Yunus Nadi Bey, taking the floor, made assessments regarding the necessity of proclaiming the Republic, while other deputies also expressed their views on the new form of government.
After the deliberations, the 1921 Constitution was amended and the provision 'The form of government of the Turkish State is a Republic.' was adopted.
When the clock showed 20:30, the Republic was proclaimed with the votes of all 158 deputies attending the session.
The historic decision taken in the Assembly was met with cries of 'Long live the Republic' and applause.
Thus, the understanding of national sovereignty, whose foundations were laid with the opening of the TBMM on April 23, 1920, also found clear expression in the form of government of the state.
THE REPUBLIC OF TURKEY WILL BE HAPPY, SUCCESSFUL, AND VICTORIOUS
Following the proclamation of the Republic, the presidential election was held the same day.
In the secret ballot, Gazi Mustafa Kemal Pasha, who received the votes of all 158 deputies, was elected the first president of the Republic of Turkey.
Atatürk, appearing for the first time before the Assembly rostrum with the title of President, drew attention to the determination shown by the Turkish nation in its struggle for independence and expressed his belief in the future of the new state.
Atatürk concluded his historic speech with the words 'The Republic of Turkey will be happy, successful, and victorious.'
With the proclamation of the Republic, the issue of the head of state was resolved, and the method of forming the government was reorganized. İsmet Pasha was tasked with forming the first government, and Fethi Bey was elected President of the TBMM.
The proclamation of the Republic was celebrated by citizens on the night of October 29 and the following day. With the decree published on October 26, 1924, it was decided that the proclamation of the Republic would be celebrated with a 101-gun salute and events to be organized.
With the bill adopted on April 19, 1925, as the new Turkish state, under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, turned its face toward modernization and democracy, October 29 began to be celebrated as a 'national holiday' from 1925 onward.
The words 'Tomorrow we will proclaim the Republic,' spoken at the Çankaya Mansion on the evening of October 28, 1923, continue to be one of the symbolic expressions of the historic process leading to the founding of the Republic, even after 103 years.