The Day Turkey Stood Still for her Father

Today, November the 10th. at exactly 9.05 am, everything and everybody stood still for two (2) minutes! Cars and other vehicles will stop in the streets, loud siren will be blasted and drivers come out of their cars and stood still at attention. Head bowed as if in remembrance and I could swear that I saw tears in some of the eyes around me! Those who remained in their standstill cars would blast their horn for the next two minutes or so. It is so systematic....so in sync and seems so natural and normal. 

I, of course...have been tipped off about the event and had waited right smack in the middle of the road, camera in my hand and waited. I wanted to see this phenomenal event and would not miss it for the world. At first, I thought I was wrongly informed as everything seemed  normal as compared to what i was told. But..true enough...at exactly 9.05am, there was a siren and miraculously......everything stopped and stood still. Drop dead...zilch! I truly believed that I was the only one moving about  as I took my shots.

 So..what is so special about today? Well...for the last 73 years, since 1938.....Turkey remembers and pay tribute to her Father of Modern Turkey, Kemal Ataturk. You see, 73 years ago, Kemal Ataturk breathed his last breath at exactly 9.05am in one of the rooms  in The Dolmabahce Palace, Istanbul. It was alleged that when he was drawing his last few breath, the Navy sailed passed the Palace as a final salute to their great Leader. Now, every year, at 9.05am on 10th November, Turkey will stand still for few minutes in loving remembrance of this Great Man, Leader, Father, Visionary ..... and all flags will be at half mast in his honour. 

Getting ready to lower the flag to half mast......and this is just a shopping centre !!

this man is getting ready ...even though the siren has not started, and so is the man in the background....getting out of his car..

Siren blaring and eveybody at a stand still.....paying homage and respect to their 'Father'......the horns are blaring, too !

Everything stopped.....!!!

Some still chosed to stand still even after the siren......note that they are all of various generations....young, kids and old alike...

the guy in white might be too young to know Ataturk....but from the look of it, he must truly love him,too.....

Whether at the Anıtkabir Mausoleum or on the Bosporus Bridge, people remembered the founder of the Republic of Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, on the 73rd anniversary of his death. 
(Text and Photo: Today's Zaman, Kürşat Bayhan, Nov. 10th. 2011)

a solitary half mast flag for Turkey's Father.....

a half mast flag and Ataturk's monument near my house...

I am not an authority or good enough to write about Kemal Ataturk but I hope someday, I'll gather enough strength and courage to write about this phenomenal man who brought Turkey to its greatest height and had shaped Turkey to be what it is today. Turkey has become a model and symbol of progressive and modern (Islamic) Nation and is a 'Big Brother' to turn to for many of the Arab and African Nations. Sure...the Ottoman empire was already powerful and successful but Kemal Ataturk brought Turkey up when it was on a brink of collapse due to the foreign occupancy at that time.

Kemal Ataturk  lost his father at a very young age and as such...took it upon himself to take care of his mother and sister. He was already playing a fatherly role at such tender age and continue to become the Father to the Nation not long after. He was a Visionary  and was able to steer Turkey into a Nation to be proud of at home and Internationally. He didn't just go to war but upon victory....set up the language (sometimes borrowing from other European languages), introduced the usage of surname...he even gave some surname to the people, change the writing from Arabic to Roman alphabet, even changed the way they dress up, the way they eat....and got rid of the Canon Law (Fatwa) and many many other changes and advancement. He also got rid of all the 'titles' and made everybody simply Bey (Mr.) or Hanim (Ms.) And...everything he did has got nothing to do with popularity drive or gimmicks. He was just building the character, integrity and self esteem of the Turkish people.

And he took the surname Ataturk...meaning....The Father. And that exactly...was what he was to them! If there is a leader who really loves his people...Kemal Ataturk is the man. Everything he did, he did it for Turkey. The BIG difference between Ataturk and other leaders of the world was....other leaders of the world were and are too busy building a Dynasty. While Ataturk was too busy building a Nation. Too busy was he...that he died without a wife (tho' he was married briefly but divorced and not because he was not good looking. He was very handsome !) , without an offspring and almost without an asset. He however, had several adopted children and one adopted daughter became a millitary pilot and the Sabiha Gokcen Airport was named after her. 

He was truly a GREAT man and i can't find the right word to describe to you just how much the people love him. I, too...love him. Go read the book ' Ataturk by Andrew Mango' and perhaps you will understand how I could fall in love with this man as did millions of other Turks. His was the only biography where I cried when the hero died.  But then again..this is not just a hero...this is KEMAL ATATURK!  

Mustafa Kemal Ataturk......Leader Extrordinaire....this image is found almost everywhere in Turkey

Always immaculately attired, Ataturk taught and insisted that his people must always be well-groomed and properly attired. You can see the effect of this as Turks (especially the ladies) are always well coiffured and attired, even when they were performing the Haj. the Truks are almost always smartly dressed...

don't you think that he looks like Clark Gable? ( Last three images are taken from Google Images.)

Perhaps now...you can understand why I saw tears in some of those eyes today. I know that I have this lump in my throat as I write this piece and as I remember this GREAT man who gave everything for his people and his selfless sacrifices. May God bless your soul always, Kemal Ataturk......Seni Cok Seviyorum !!!

" The centuries rarely produced a genius. 

   Look at this bad luck of ours that great genius of our era 

   was granted to the Turkish Nation. "  

    David Lloyd George , UK Prime Minister 1922

" This Nation has never lived without independence. 

   We cannot live and shall not live without it.

   Either independence or death. "  

   Mustafa Kemal Ataturk

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