Today is April 23…
The 104th anniversary of the opening of the Turkish Grand National Assembly, as well as the National Sovereignty and Children’s Day on April 23, which was given to children by the great leader Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.
On April 23, 1920, the parliament representing the will of the Turkish people, the First Great National Assembly, opened, and the Turkish people declared their independence. In the heart of the Turkish nation, April 23, the National Independence and Children’s Day, is an unshakable expression of independence, which is celebrated every year throughout the country and at foreign embassies.
The Great National Assembly met. Anatolia was exhausted by the wars.
With the opening of the Parliament under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the people took steps towards self-determination. Henceforth, sovereignty belonged unconditionally to the nation.
And April 23 has been celebrated for more than a century.
From the beginning, Atatürk wanted to achieve liberation through the Parliament and the national will. In every step, he strove to achieve a will that represented the nation. And he said, “The whole world must know that there is no longer one power at the head of this nation. There is only one power, and that is national sovereignty.”
With these words, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk explained that the fate of the nation must be determined by the nation itself and that there is only one position, and this position is the heart and conscience of the nation.
The Parliament was opened in Ankara on April 23, 1920, after the Friday prayer with the prayers of the nation.
On the first day, the parliament met with 115 representatives. The opening speech was given by the oldest member, Deputy Sinop Şerif Bey.
Gazi Mustafa Kemál was unanimously elected as the new president of the parliament. The foundations of a new state were laid in Ankara.
Despite all the difficulties, the national will prevailed in the struggle for independence.
April 23 started to be celebrated as a national holiday in 1921.
The great leader Atatürk gave this holiday to the children on April 23, 1929.
Atatürk dedicated April 23 to children not only because of his love for them.
Gazi Mustafa Kemal considered children as the basis of national sovereignty.
Caring for orphaned children was one of the most important priorities of the founders of the republic.
The fact that the holiday was dedicated to children meant humanity’s responsibility towards them.
April 23 was the name of the desire for peace for children around the world.
Atatürk’s gift to children received a lot of attention and recognition from the world. It went down in history as an exemplary decision for the rights and future of children.
