The Turkish national holiday Commemoration of Ataturk, Youth and Sports Day is dedicated to the youth of Turkey. It also marks the landing of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk at Samsun on May 19, 1919. The landing at Samsun is known to be the dawn of the Turkish War of Independence that would give birth to the Republic of Turkey, making Mustafa Kemal Ataturk the founding father of the country.
The Landing at Samsun
Following the defeat in the First World War, the Ottoman Empire is now in a crippling state. The Entente powers ruled Istanbul while Anatolia was occupied by the remnants of the Ottoman troops, Greeks, British warships, Turkish brigands, and Italian forces. To end the conflict came Ottoman general Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. With his carefully selected troops, Mustafa departed Istanbul for Samsun and set his foot in the city on May 19, 1919. Later, he initiated the War of Independence.
Mustafa Kemal Ataturk on Turkish Lira Banknotes
At present, structures built in honor of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk can be seen throughout the country, including an International Airport, a Bridge, a Stadium, and the a Dam named after him. He also appears on all Turkish lira banknotes, except for the 1940-1951 series. Those feature second president Ismet Inonu who took over after his death in November 1938.
The obverse and the watermark of this Turkish 1 New Lira banknote reflect Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. The reverse features the Ataturk Dam in Sanliurfa.
Ataturk’s memorial tomb which is the Anitkabir located in Ankara is also on the back of the 5 Million lira banknote from 1997. His face also appears on the obverse and on the watermark area.
On this 100,000 Lira banknote, you can see the equestrian statue of Ataturk in Samsun on the obverse side. Along with his portrait while the reverse is an illustration of Mustafa receiving flowers from young students.
