Remembering Mustafa Kemal Atatürk

The founder of modern Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, was remembered on the 76th anniversary of his death with a school ceremony.

The students at Hornsey Atatürk School marked the occasion with a memorial programme that was led by Dr Orhan Çekiç, Atatürk studies lecturer at Maltepe University.

hornsey1.jpg Dr Orhan Çekiç, Atatürk studies lecturer at Maltepe University

Speaking at the event, Dr Çekiç said Atatürk influenced the world with his peaceful philosophy as a soldier. He said the Treaty of Saadabad, which Turkey signed with Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan, and the Balkan Pact, a similar deal that included Greece, Romania and Yugoslavia, where crucial deals concocted by Atatürk that deterred Hitler from war.

Dr Çekiç used examples to support his claim that Hitler was forced to wait until Atatürk’s death before starting the Second World War.

He also pointed to UNESCO’s decision to declare 1981 to be the “Year of Atatürk” as an example of the Turkish leader’s influence: it was not because they could not find any other leader, Dr Çekiç said, but because they could find no leader like him.

Students from Hornsey Atatürk School contributed to the event by reading poems and through folk dancing.