The mausoleum of Ataturk in Ankara is site to an important ceremony, and pictures of Ataturk are found in many store windows. The parades take place in all major cities, and there are often air shows and jets that leave colour trails of red and white to match the colours of the Turkish flag. The main festivities involve military parades, profuse display of Turkey’s flag, and gatherings at various monuments to Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, founder of the modern republic.
In 1935, however, it became a national holiday and began to be kept by all Turks throughout the whole country. Originally, the Battle of Dumlupinar was observed as Victory Day only in cities of western Turkey, such as Izmir, and in Ankara. However, for the most part, the Greeks fought alone on the Western Front, the Armenians alone on the Eastern Front, and the French (in Syria) alone on the Southern Front. To make matters worse, Allied forces occupied Turkey in 1919, including Greek, Armenian, French, British, and Italian troops. After the Ottoman Empire joined the Axis powers during World War I, however, they ended up losing all but the Turkish homeland. The war itself officially ended on October 29th, 1923, when Turkey was declared a republic and the modern secular state was established.įor over six centuries, Turkey was ruled by the sultans of the Ottoman Empire, who controlled a vast region stretching from Egypt to Russia and from Austria-hungary to Persia.
The battle was fought at Dumlupinar against Greek forces in western Turkey between August 26th and 30th. It is the commemoration of the Turkish victory in the final battle of the 1919 to 1923 Turkish War of Independence.
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