Today is a public holiday: Commemoration of Atatürk and National Youth & Sport Day or Atatürk’ü Anma ve Gençlik ve Spor Bayramı.
The people of Turkey are no strangers to a national holiday and proud display of the Turkish flag (Türk Bayrağı) and today is no different.
What Is ‘Commemoration Of Atatürk And Youth & Sport Day?’
This Turkish national holiday commemorates the beginning of the Turkish War of Independence.
This is when Mustafa Kemal Atatürk arrived in Samsun on May 19th, 1919 to rally his troops against the plans of the Allies to carve up the remains of the Ottoman Empire between themselves.
The occupying forces obviously hadn’t banked on the will and determination of Atatürk’s troops.
And the rest is history, as they say.
May 19th is also accepted as Atatürk’s birthday.
His exact birth date isn’t known but he said that he felt May 19th to be his birthday. His year of birth was 1881.
Today is also dedicated to the Turkish youth and sports at the wish of Atatürk.
Atatürk’s Image & Flags
On 23rd April National Sovereignty & Children’s Day, we said that Turkish flags are always a give away that it’s a national holiday.
Today, our neighbours are displaying their Turkish flag, adorned with a picture of Atatürk, from their window.
They never fail and should we ever be unaware as to the date, if their flag is on display, our memory is soon kicked back into action.
Today, we could well be seeing a similar paramotor flying between Fethiye and Çalış Beach as part of the commemorations.
It’s Fethiye’s favourite way of making people aware of any special days such as Commemoration of Atatürk Youth & Sports Day.
At Beşkaza Meydanı, there will be commemorations at the statue of Atatürk. And, as for our Turkish friends, their profile photos on Facebook are images of Atatürk or the Turkish flag.
Because it is a festival to commemorate the youth, some towns and cities hold special events such as live music concerts and beach parties.
The image of Atatürk, above, is from a past concert in Fethiye when Hadise performed.
And for 2022, Fethiye played host to famous Turkish band, Manga. 2023 will see a free concert performed by Gripin.
A huge turnout in 2022 as you can see from these photos on the page of Fethiye mayor, Alim Karaca.
19 Mayis Atatürk’ü Anma ve Gençlik Spor Bayramı Kutlu Olsun!
- Read more about how 19th May Commemoration of Atatürk And Youth & Sport Day affected our visit to the mausoleum of Atatürk, Anıtkabir, in Turkey’s capital, Ankara.
Natalie
Friday 20th of May 2011
We had the children playing in the bands. They do a good job and played well.
Belinda @zomppa
Thursday 19th of May 2011
I love all these celebrations - any reason to get out and party!