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| Hello, and welcome to the Culture Class- Holidays in Turkey Series at TurkishClass101.com. In this series, we’re exploring the traditions behind Turkish holidays and observances. I’m Michael, and you're listening to Season 1, Lesson 11 - Commemoration of Ataturk Day. In Turkish, it’s called Atatürk'ü Anma Günü. |
| Every year, November 10 is the occasion on which Turks commemorate Atatürk’s life, success, reforms, and principles. He is the one who created a republic out of the corrupted Ottoman Empire. |
| In this lesson, you are going to learn about the moving memorial service that takes place on November 10 that is called Atatürk Memorial Day. You'll also learn about that day’s importance for Turkish people. |
| Now, before we go into more detail, we’ve got a question for you- |
| Can you name the six principles of Atatürk that have affected recent Turkish history? |
| If you don't already know, you’ll find out a bit later. Keep listening. |
| Mustafa Kemal Atatürk passed away on November 10, 1938. His flag-draped casket was placed on a catafalque for a moment, while residents of Istanbul mourned deeply. Following the funeral, during the construction of his mausoleum, Atatürk rested in a marble tomb in the Ethnography Museum of Ankara for fifteen years. After the completion of Ataturk’s mausoleum or Anıtkabir, his casket was transferred to his final resting place. |
| Every year on November 10, in Turkish 10 Kasım, for a minute in the morning sirens will sound throughout the country. All traffic stops, drivers and travellers get out of vehicles, and people in their offices also take a break and stand up in a sign of reverence. Life stops at this time and while the sirens wail, everybody in the country stands up as a gesture of respect, keeping one minute’s silence, or in Turkish bir dakika saygı duruşu. Following the sirens, in schools and government agencies people will sing the National Anthem. |
| Ataturk, or Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, was not only an extraordinary leader and revolutionary officer, who advocated peace, democracy, secularism, fundamental rights and freedoms; he was also an academic research enthusiast. Even though today he might be considered ultra-nationalistic by some, he has always been admired and respected internationally as a leader, for his long-sightedness, ideas, and military achievements. One of his most famous sayings summarizes his ideas: "Peace at home, peace in the world!", in Turkish Yurtta barış, cihanda barış! |
| Mustafa Kemal was granted his surname Ataturk, which is the combination of the two words ata meaning ancestor and Türk, which is Turk, by the parliament after the so-called Surname Law was passed in 1934. |
| Now it's time to answer our quiz question- |
| Can you name the six principles of Atatürk that have affected recent Turkish history? |
| These principles are: republicanism, populism, secularism, reformism, nationalism, and statism. |
| So listeners, how was this lesson? Did you learn anything interesting? |
| Who is a politician that has affected your country’s recent history and what is their most famous saying? |
| Leave us a comment letting us know at TurkishClass101.com. And we'll see you in the next lesson! |
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