Republic Day of Türkiye

On 29 October 1923 the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye proclaimed that the country's form of government was a republic. That same day Mustafa Kemal Atatürk was unanimously elected the first President of the Republic of Türkiye; a few days earlier Ankara had been declared the capital.

The Republic's first years brought sweeping reforms in education, law, the alphabet, dress and the calendar, and women gained the right to vote and stand for office. At the tenth anniversary in 1933 Atatürk closed his famous speech with the words "How happy is the one who says, I am a Turk!"

The greatest holiday

29 October is Türkiye's greatest national holiday. There is a ceremony at Anıtkabir and an official reception in Ankara, while towns hold parades, torchlight processions and fireworks and homes and streets are decked with flags. The Republic's centenary was celebrated with great festivity in 2023.