Today in Turkey they celebrate Republic Day

Today marks the 103rd anniversary of the proclamation of the Republic of Turkey. It was on October 29, 1923, that under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the Turkish people finally broke the chains that the imperialist powers had tried to impose on their freedom. At the cost of their own blood and lives, the citizens opened a glorious page in their history - the era of the Republic of Turkey.

The path to independence was thorny. Six years after the proclamation of the Second Constitutional Era, the Ottoman Empire was engulfed by World War I. The global conflict that began in 1914 drew in the world's most powerful nations. The Ottoman Empire was forced to enter into an alliance with Germany. After four years of bloodshed, the Ottoman Empire and its allies were defeated.

On October 30, 1918, the signing of the Armistice of Mudros effectively took the Ottoman Empire out of the war, but led to catastrophic consequences - the straits, railways, and ports came under the control of the victorious powers, and the country was effectively occupied. The territory was divided into occupation zones among Greece, France, and Italy. Furthermore, this agreement had extremely negative consequences for the young Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, founded on May 28, 1918, which had been receiving military assistance from the Ottoman Empire.

On August 10, 1920, during the Paris Peace Conference, the Istanbul government, France, Italy, Great Britain, and Japan signed the Treaty of Sèvres. This was not merely a document - it was a sentence to the eternal division of Ottoman lands. However, despite all the hardships, the people did not accept colonialism and did not surrender to the enemy.

Relying on the support of the people and drawing strength from their unity, Mustafa Kemal Pasha, together with his comrades, arrived in Samsun on May 19, 1919. Fateful decisions were made in Erzurum and Sivas. Mustafa Kemal's words, "There is only one power - the power of the nation. Only the strength of the people themselves will save the country," rang in everyone's ears, igniting the flame of hope in people's hearts.

April 23, 1920, became a turning point. Deputies from all corners of the country gathered in Ankara for a session of the Grand National Assembly. The Assembly elected Mustafa Kemal Pasha as its chairman. Under his leadership, the War of Independence began. The history of the world knows many wars of liberation, but the uniqueness of the Turkish struggle lay in the fact that it was conducted under the leadership of a parliament and ultimately led to the creation of the independent Republic of Turkey. This is a unique historical event, demonstrating the people's belief in democracy and serving as an example for other countries of the world.

After the signing of the Treaty of Lausanne on July 24, 1923, the path to creating a new state was open. On the evening of October 28, 1923, Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk invited his close friends to dinner at Çankaya and announced to them: "Tomorrow we will proclaim the Republic."

Thus, on October 29, 1923, after Atatürk's meeting with the deputies, the prepared proposal for a republic was presented to the Grand National Assembly of Turkey and adopted. Atatürk became the first president of the newly formed Republic of Turkey, holding this position until 1938.

Currently, the country is led by Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The Justice and Development Party, of which he is the chairman, first won the parliamentary elections in 2002, and has been the ruling party of Turkey since then.

Today, Turkey is a member of many international organizations, including NATO. Ankara plays an important role in strengthening integration among the Turkic states. This is particularly evident in the activities of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS).