Turkey Marks National Sovereignty and Children’s Day

Turkey celebrates the April 23rd National Sovereignty and Children’s Day on Saturday.

High-level state officials led by Turkish Parliament Speaker Mehmet Ali Sahin visited the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, founder of modern Republic of Turkey.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu, Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahceli, members of the Council of Ministers and a number of deputies accompanied Sahin.

After laying a wreath at Ataturk’s mausoleum, Sahin signed the special book, “today, we are marking the 91st anniversary of our parliament which carried out Turkish people’s national struggle and established the modern Republic of Turkey under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. Turkish parliament has been working to strengthen Turkey’s democracy since its foundation in 1920.”

The Grand National Assembly was inaugurated in Ankara and Mustafa Kemal Ataturk laid down the foundations of a new, independent, secular, and modern Republic of Turkey on April 23, 1920, during Turkish people’s War of Independence.

Ataturk also dedicated this day to the children of the country to emphasize that they were the future of the new nation. Since then, April 23rd National Sovereignty and Children’s Day is celebrated in Turkey as a national day. April 23 is the only children’s festival in the world. The importance of April 23 as a special day of children has also been recognized internationally and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) endorsed this important day as the International Children’s Day. Every year on this date, children from all around the world come together in Turkey to enjoy Children’s Day celebrations and festivities in a hope that these memories of friendly atmosphere will contribute to a future of enhanced brotherhood and peace among nations.

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