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ANKARA, Turkey — Turkey’s authorities marked the one hundredth anniversary of the creation of the fashionable, secular republic from the ruins of the Ottoman Empire on Sunday with a firework and drone present in Istanbul in addition to a procession of 100 hundred navy ships however little else in the way in which of pageantry.
The quite muted celebration of the centennial, which included no gala reception, got here months after a devastating earthquake that killed 50,000 individuals and coincided with the Israeli-Hamas warfare that has roiled the Center East.
The low-key celebrations brought about dismay amongst many in Turkey who consider Erdogan’s authorities, which finds its roots in Turkey’s Islamic motion, is making an attempt to undermine the legacy of the secular republic’s founding father, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.
Erdogan on Sunday noticed the standard protocol of laying a wreath at Ataturk’s mausoleum within the capital and shook palms with a procession of ambassadors and high-level officers providing their congratulations earlier than touring to Istanbul to look at the navy ships’ procession.
The Turkish chief later delivered a speech at 19:23 p.m. in honor of the yr the republic was proclaimed. He expressed his gratitude to Ataturk and others who helped create the republic but additionally highlighted his personal achievements throughout his 20-year rule.
Late within the night, he posted a press release on X, the platform previously often known as Twitter, declaring Monday a faculty vacation in honor of the centennial.
Earlier this yr, Erdogan invited a slew of overseas leaders to have fun his reelection for a 3rd time period as president however has been criticized for not internet hosting a reception to mark the republic’s main milestone. State broadcaster TRT introduced it was canceling particular centennial packages because of the warfare in Gaza.
Many in Turkey held their very own personal celebrations, joined processions holding torchlights and waving Turkish flags, or took half in occasions organized by opposition-run municipalities.
In Istanbul, tens of hundreds celebrated the anniversary at a live performance organized by town’s well-liked mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu. Within the capital, Ankara, tens of hundreds of others flocked to Ataturk’s mausoleum, many dressed within the flag’s purple and white colours.
Many mentioned the official lineup of occasions didn’t do the centennial justice.
’’The federal government did its greatest to make these celebrations forgotten and to trivialize them,” mentioned Gul Erbil, a 66-year-old retired movie director who mentioned she would toast the centennial at a restaurant with mates. “The unhappy factor is … it’s (their) republic too. It’s one thing that gave (them) freedom, too.”
Meral Aksener, the chief of the center-right opposition IYI Celebration, accused the federal government of not lacking the chance to make sure the “one hundredth yr (celebration) falls flat.”
“There are those that nonetheless have an issue with our republic 100 years later,” Aksener mentioned. She and others consider a mass pro-Palestinian rally on Saturday throughout which Erdogan escalated his criticism of Israel’s army actions in Gaza was specifically organized to overshadow the centennial celebration.
However Ahmet Hakan, columnist for the pro-government Hurriyet newspaper, says the scaled-back celebration grew to become “inevitable” because of Israel’s actions in Gaza, which have triggered a wave of protests significantly in Muslim-majority nations, in response to Hamas’ assault on Israel on Oct. 7.
A World Conflict I hero who went on to guide a warfare of independence in opposition to occupying forces, Ataturk proclaimed the Turkish Republic on Oct. 29, 1923. He launched into a collection of radical reforms aimed toward turning the bulk Muslim nation right into a secular, Western-style democracy. He abolished the caliphate, changed the Arabic script with the Latin alphabet and gave girls the suitable to vote.
Ataturk continues to be held in excessive regard within the nation the place his portraits cling on partitions of colleges, places of work and houses. Site visitors involves a standstill as hundreds observe a minute of silence on the anniversary of his loss of life. His signature is tattooed on arms.
However not all sections of society had been on board with Ataturk’s reforms. Erdogan and his spiritual assist base take delight in Turkey’s Ottoman and Islamic previous. Erdogan pays homage to Ataturk’s army achievements as an officer of the Ottoman Empire, however not often praises his republican period.
The Turkish chief speaks of ushering in a brand new period he has dubbed “The Century of Turkey,” with a brand new structure that may uphold conservative household values and would haven’t any room for what he has known as “deviant” LGBTQ+ rights.
“At present, our Republic completes its first century and sails into its second century, which we name ‘the Century of Turkey,'” Erdogan mentioned in his speech, including that his authorities’s intention for the upcoming interval was to introduce a “structure that befits the centenary of our republic.”
“Erdogan needs to see Turkey turn into (a rustic) that embraces Erdogan’s values, that’s socially conservative, not essentially a part of the West and in addition, I might say, has a major function for Islam from schooling to public coverage,” mentioned Soner Cagaptay, an professional on Turkey on the Washington Institute and writer of books on Erdogan.
Critics say the Turkish chief has already moved Turkey additional away from Ataturk’s imaginative and prescient.
Official features at this time typically start with prayers. The Directorate of Non secular Affairs has been given a big funds that dwarfs most different ministries. The variety of spiritual faculties has elevated consistent with Erdogan’s said purpose of making a “pious technology.”
In 2020, Erdogan transformed the previous Byzantine-era church Hagia Sophia — which was was a mosque with the Ottoman conquest of Istanbul — again right into a functioning mosque. Ataturk had remodeled the construction right into a museum in a nod to its Christian and Muslim legacy.
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Robert Badendieck contributed from Istanbul.
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