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ANKARA, TÜRKİYE — OCT. 29, 2026: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and state officials visited Anitkabir, the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of the Republic of Türkiye, in Ankara on Thursday, Oct. 29, to mark the 103rd anniversary of the founding of the Republic of Türkiye.
The ceremony began with a procession as Erdogan led participants along the Road of Lions.
The officials included Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmus, Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz, New Party Chairman Ozgur Ozel, Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) Chairman Devlet Bahceli, Republican People's Party (CHP) Chairman Kemal Kilicdaroglu, Good Party (IYI Party) Chairman Musavat Dervisoglu, military commanders, representatives of political parties, bureaucrats and other state officials.
Following the placement of a ceremonial wreath at the tomb of Ataturk, Erdogan and attending state leaders observed a moment of silence as the national anthem played.
On Oct. 29, 1923, Ataturk proclaimed the Republic of Türkiye, formally establishing a new political order founded on national sovereignty.
The Turkish Grand National Assembly elected him as the country's first president.
The republic emerged from the Turkish War of Independence, a struggle led by Ataturk and the national movement against foreign occupation and attempts to partition Anatolia after World War I.
The victory of the national movement paved the way for the establishment of an independent state in which political legitimacy rested with the nation rather than a hereditary ruler.
The proclamation of the republic was followed by a far-reaching program of reforms aimed at transforming Türkiye's political, legal, educational and social institutions.
Under Ataturk's leadership, the country modernized legal and educational systems, expanded public education, and adopted reforms intended to build a modern nation-state.
On this day, the Turkish nation commemorates the triumph of national independence, the principle that sovereignty belongs unconditionally to the nation, and the commitment to a republic whose institutions are grounded in reason and citizenship.