Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Our Republican Day, Oct.29













October 29, 1923 is a fateful date in Turkish history. On that date, Mustafa Kemal, the liberator of our country, proclaimed the Republic of Turkey. Today, we celebrate 85th anniversary of our republic.
A movie launched today with the name of "Mustafa", who is our big leader, Mustafa Kemal, Ataturk. I thought once again that how he was a big leader and how he had a big vision and power to realize all those things for us. He launched many reforms to give Turkish women equal rights and opportunities.
Ataturk greatly admired the support that the national liberation struggle received from women and praised their many contributions, he stated that " In Turkish society, women have not lagged behind men in science, scholarship, and culture, perhaps they have even gone further ahead." He gave women the same opportunities as men, including full political rights. Although Turkish women were given the right to vote in 1934, ahead of many other countries in Europe. I always remember him with great appreciation and I always remember his saying "Everything we see in the world is the creative work of women."







3 comments:

Cheryl said...

If I had an opportunity to meet anyone for lunch that I wanted, be they alive or dead, this great man would be on my list of people I wish I could spend time with. Congratulations on 85 years of womens rights and freedoms!

Patricia said...

Thank you for that history lesson. I knew nothing of this before. Congratulations on your holiday celebrating freedom and womens' rights.

Pat
www.patriciarose-apotpourri.blogspot.com

Kathy Raker said...

I too wasn't aware of your holiday to celebrate the day of liberation. It is wonderful that a man gave credit to women's creativeness and recognized their worth. Thanks for sharing Turkish history.