Modern Turkey is celebrating its 100th anniversary as a republic. It was founded out of the remains of the Ottoman Empire after World War I.
On October 29, 1923, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk declared Turkey a republic and became the new country’s first president. Atatürk was a nationalist leader who separated religion from public life.
He introduced radical reforms and tried to make Turkey a western-style democracy with a new constitution. The country’s capital was moved from Istanbul to Ankara in central Anatolia. Atatürk introduced the Latin alphabet and gave women the right to vote.
Many Turkish citizens are celebrating the centennial of today’s Turkey. Tens of thousands have visited the Atatürk mausoleum and showed their respect to Turkey’s founding father. Portraits and flags are displayed everywhere in the country.
The government however has not organized grand celebrations out of respect for the thousands of people who died in an earthquake a few months ago and because of the ongoing conflict in Gaza.
Atatürk mausoleum in Ankara
Image: A.Savin, FAL, via Wikimedia Commons
