President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan led the country’s state officials to Anıtkabir, the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk in Ankara, on Thursday morning for the first official ceremony marking the 103rd anniversary of the Republic, CNN Türk and Haberler.com reported.
The delegation walked up the Lion Road (Aslanlı Yol), the ceremonial avenue leading to the mausoleum, shortly after 11:00, according to CNN Türk’s live coverage. Erdoğan placed a wreath bearing the crescent and star on Atatürk’s tomb, after which a moment of silence was observed and the national anthem, the İstiklal Marşı, was sung.
Among those named in the reports were Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş and Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz. Cabinet members and party representatives also attended, the reports said.
Message in the Special Book
After the wreath-laying, Erdoğan and the delegation moved to the Misak-ı Milli Tower, where he wrote in the Anıtkabir Special Book (Özel Defter), the guest book signed by heads of state and officials on national days.
Addressing Atatürk, Erdoğan wrote that the nation was celebrating the 103rd anniversary of a Republic for which it had "paid great prices". He said he remembered with gratitude Atatürk, his comrades-in-arms and the country’s martyrs on a day that had set a new direction for Turkish history, according to the published text.
Erdoğan wrote that Türkiye was waging an intense struggle on several fronts to carry the Republic, the state and the nation towards a prosperous future. He recalled Atatürk’s speech to the Grand National Assembly of 1 March 1922, in which the founder described the national cause as "our life", and pledged to keep working with determination until the government’s "Türkiye Century" (Türkiye Yüzyılı) goal was achieved. He closed the message with the traditional wish that Atatürk’s soul rest in peace.
A day of national celebrations
Earlier in the morning, Erdoğan released a video address in which he said Türkiye was stronger today than yesterday.
Several roads in central Ankara were closed for the ceremonies, as set out in our guide to Ankara’s Republic Day road closures. In Istanbul, the Vatan Caddesi parade was postponed because of rain.
Sources
- YAŞASIN CUMHURİYET! Türkiye, 29 Ekim Cumhuriyet Bayramı’nı kutluyor (CNN Türk)
- Cumhuriyetimiz 103 yaşında! Cumhurbaşkanı Erdoğan ve devlet erkânı Anıtkabir’de (Haberler.com)
- Devlet erkanı 29 Ekim Cumhuriyet Bayramı’nda Anıtkabir’de (12punto)
- Cumhurbaşkanı Erdoğan ve devlet Erkanı Anıtkabir’de! (Bursa Hakimiyet)
Photo: Volki16 at Turkish Wikipedia / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
