| Date 2007 | May 19 |
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| Date 2008 | May 18 |
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| Significance | The Commemoration of Atatürk, Youth and Sports Day memorializes the start of the Turkish War of Independence. May 19, 1919 is the day Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, then Mustafa Kemal, who would become independent Turkey's first president, landed on the main peninsula of Turkey to begin leadership of the liberation effort. In early 1920, Kemal convened the first Turkish Grand National Assembly in Ankara, and by 1922 all of Anatolia was freed from foreign rule. The independent Republic of Turkey was declared a year later. During the course of his term as president, Atatürk himself proclaimed May 19 as "Youth and Sports Day." In the aftermath of Atatürk monumental legacy the day serves to honor the country's founder. |
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