Remembering Ataturk

November 10th was the national day of remembrance of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, Turkey’s great national hero. He died at 9:05 a.m. on this day in 1938, so everyone stops for a minute of (supposed) silence at that time. We went out on the main street in our district to see what would happen, and sure enough, all traffic stopped and pedestrians stood still for a minute. At 9:05 we heard a siren in the distance, and everyone stood still. Unfortunately, we were by a large number of stopped cars, and some of the drivers observed the minute by sounding their horns for that period. It was deafening. We were impressed that the minute really was observed by everyone in our sight. There was a major ceremony at his huge mausoleum and in other locations, and we saw flowers by his statues. Many buildings featured huge banners with his pictures, many stories in height.

Ataturk is revered by the Turks—and with good reason. His name means, roughly, “father of the Turks.” He was the first president of the Republic, but he also brought sweeping changes to the country, among them changing the alphabet and numbering system to coincide with those of Europe. He changed and westernized the language, calendar, dress, education and social institutions of the country. Before Ataturk, no one used last names, and women had little legal or social standing. He truly was a remarkable man. He faced Turkey toward the West.

Each schoolroom and office has at least one picture of Ataturk, and there are myriad statues of him in every city in the country. We counted four pictures of him in our own apartment, from "thank you" gifts we had received! We visited a school yesterday and saw the “shrine” above in the playground. The slabs in the foreground read “We are following you,” and “We miss you.” "How happy I am to say I am a Turk" is inscribed under the bust of Ataturk and is one of the most common quotes inscribed on his statues.

The school we visited yesterday, by the way, educates only children who have been cured of leukemia and are being monitored. Their immune systems are often weakened, so special care is taken to provide a healthful environment. LDS Charities outfitted a science lab for the school. A special ceremony was held yesterday, where we cut a ribbon in the doorway leading into the classroom. Since it is an elementary school, the scissors were very dull and blunt!