NEW YORK - A celebration took place at New York`s Turkish House on Saturday for April 23rd, Turkey`s National Sovereignty and Children`s Day.
The celebration was co-sponsored by Turkish Women`s League of America and Ataturk School in New York.
Turkish Consul General in New York Mehmet Samsar, staff members of Turkey`s Consulate General in New York, teachers and students of Ataturk School as well as many New York residents attended the celebration.
-APRIL 23RD, NATIONAL SOVEREIGNTY AND CHILDREN`S DAY-
It was on April 23rd, 1920, during the War of Independence, that the Grand National Assembly met in Ankara and laid down the foundations of a new, independent, secular, and modern republic from the ashes of the Ottoman Empire. Following the defeat of the Allied invasion forces on September 9th, 1922 and the signing of the Treaty of Lausanne on July 24th, 1923, Ataturk started his task of establishing the institutions of the new state. Over the next eight years, Ataturk and his followers adopted sweeping reforms to create a modern Turkey, divorced from her Ottoman past.
The founder of the Republic of Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, dedicated April 23rd to the children of the country to emphasize that they are the future of the new nation. Every year on April 23rd, the children in Turkey celebrate this ``Sovereignty and Children`s Day`` as a national holiday.
(SOL-GC)