Adoption of the National Anthem

In 1920 the Ministry of Education of the Ankara government announced a competition for a national anthem and received more than 700 poems. The poet Mehmet Akif Ersoy at first refused to take part because of the cash prize; persuaded by friends, he wrote his poem "To Our Heroic Army" at the Taceddin Lodge in Ankara.

On 12 March 1921 the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye adopted the poem as the İstiklal Marşı (Independence March); the deputies listened to it standing. Mehmet Akif donated the 500-lira prize to a charity that taught poor women and children a trade. The anthem has ten stanzas, of which the first two are sung; its music, by Osman Zeki Üngör, was adopted in 1930.

Day of remembrance

Since 2007, 12 March has been marked in Türkiye as the Day of the Adoption of the İstiklal Marşı and of Remembrance of Mehmet Akif Ersoy. Schools and public institutions sing the anthem together and hold events about the poet's life and work.