President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan attended the ceremony, held at Anıtkabir (Atatürk’s Mausoleum) on the occasion of the 103rd anniversary of the proclamation of the Republic.
Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye Numan Kurtulmuş, Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz, Chairman of the New Party Özgür Özel, Chairman of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) Devlet Bahçeli, Chairman of the Republican People’s Party (CHP) Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, Chairman of the Good (IYI) Party Müsavat Dervişoğlu, members of the Presidential Cabinet, presidents of high courts, Chief of General Staff Gen. Selçuk Bayraktaroğlu, force commanders, representatives of political parties and other high-ranking state officials were also present at the ceremony.
After President Erdoğan laid a wreath at the mausoleum, the attendees observed a moment of silence and sang the Independence March.
Afterwards, President Erdoğan proceeded to the Misâk-ı Millî Tower where he wrote in the Book of Honor the following:
“August Atatürk,
Today, we are celebrating the 103rd anniversary of the proclamation of our Republic, for which we paid heavy prices. I remember with gratitude Your Excellency, your comrades-in-arms and our gallant martyrs on this important day, which charted a new course for our history. We exert intensive efforts in different fronts to take the Republic of Türkiye to a prosperous and victorious future together with its state and the nation.
We will continue to determinedly work until we achieve our goal of the Century of Türkiye, our national cause, in light of Your Excellency’s following remarks during your address at the Grand National Assembly on March 1, 1922, when the Republic had yet to be proclaimed: ‘No instrument, no power can deter us from pursuing our national cause. Our national cause is our life.’ May you rest in peace!”
