PodcastTurkey marks May 19th Atatürk, Youth and Sports Day
Turkey celebrated May 19th Atatürk, Youth and Sports Day shortly after the country entered a gradual normalization period following the national COVID-19 lockdown that ended on May 17.
Turkish Youth and Sports Minister Mehmet Muharrem Kasapoğlu visited the resting place of the republic's founder Mustafa Kemal Atatürk on May 19, leaving a wreath and writing in the visitor's book to mark national Atatürk, Youth and Sports Day.
The day marks the 101st anniversary of the beginning of the Turkish War of Independence after Atatürk traveled from Allied-occupied Istanbul to Samsun on the Black Sea coast on May 19, 1919, to launch Turkey’s War of Liberation against occupying powers.
Main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu held an online meeting with 200 young citizens to mark the occasion.
Good (İYİ) Party leader Meral Akşener visited Anıtkabir, Atatürk's mausoleum, and met with other visitors to take selfies in front of the monument.