Bad weather forced several provinces to move Thursday’s Republic Day celebrations indoors or cancel evening events, as Türkiye marked the 103rd anniversary of the Republic under rain warnings in many regions.
Thrace celebrates in sports halls
In Thrace, the European part of Türkiye bordering Greece and Bulgaria, official ceremonies were held in sports halls instead of open-air squares because of the weather, Demirören News Agency (DHA) reported. According to DHA, this was the case in Edirne, Keşan, Tekirdağ, Çorlu and Kırklareli.
In Edirne, Governor Yunus Sezer first received congratulations at his office before the programme moved to the Mimar Sinan Sports Hall, where students who placed in drawing, poetry and composition contests received prizes, DHA said. In Tekirdağ and Kırklareli, the celebrations took place in each city’s Atatürk Sports Hall.
In Vize, a district of Kırklareli, the ceremony was moved to the municipality’s social facilities because of the weather, Anadolu Agency (AA) reported.
Mersin ceremony moved to culture centre
On the Mediterranean coast, Mersin’s official ceremony planned for Cumhuriyet Alanı (Republic Square) continued at the culture centre because of the downpour in the city, AA reported. ANKA News Agency said Mersin Metropolitan Municipality’s own Republic Day celebrations were cancelled because of the bad weather, and that municipal and MESKİ (the city’s water utility) teams were on alert in the field. Mersin has seen flooding since Wednesday, as covered in our report on floods in Erdemli and Silifke.
Kocaeli torch parade called off
In Kocaeli, east of Istanbul, the provincial governor’s office cancelled the evening torchlight procession (fener alayı) because of a yellow-code warning from the Turkish State Meteorological Service (MGM), İhlas News Agency (İHA) reported. The parade had been scheduled for 18:30 in İzmit, from the Atatürk Monument at Kültür Tepesi to Milli İrade Meydanı. According to İHA, bad weather was expected in the province from Thursday morning until Friday evening.
Earlier on Thursday, Istanbul’s Republic Day parade on Vatan Caddesi was also postponed because of rain, and Antalya moved its torch parade and concert to 30 October, as we reported on Wednesday. For the provinces under warnings, see our Republic Day weather warning report.
Sources
- Trakya’da Cumhuriyet Bayramı hava muhalefeti nedeniyle spor salonlarında kutlandı (DHA via Son Dakika)
- Vize’de 103. Cumhuriyet Bayramı hava muhalefeti nedeniyle tesislerde kutlandı (AA via Son Dakika)
- Adana, Mersin, Hatay ve Osmaniye’de Cumhuriyet’in 103. yıl dönümü kutlandı (AA via Son Dakika)
- Mersin Büyükşehir Başkan Vekili Genç, bayram etkinliklerinin iptalini duyurdu (ANKA via Son Dakika)
- Kocaeli Valiliği, 29 Ekim fener alayının sarı kod nedeniyle yapılmayacağını açıkladı (İHA via Son Dakika)
Photo: User:Vmenkov / CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
