Atatürk Remembrance Day

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, founder of the Republic of Türkiye, died at 09:05 on 10 November 1938 in Dolmabahçe Palace in Istanbul. The whole country went into deep mourning; his body was brought to Ankara and temporarily laid to rest in the Ethnography Museum.

Between 1944 and 1953 the architects Emin Onat and Orhan Arda built Anıtkabir on Ankara's Rasattepe hill, and on 10 November 1953 Atatürk's remains were moved there in a grand ceremony. Today millions of people visit Anıtkabir every year.

09:05

Every year at 09:05 on 10 November life stops across Türkiye: sirens sound and people and traffic stand still for a minute of silence in memory of Atatürk. A state ceremony is held at Anıtkabir, and 10–16 November is observed as Atatürk Week.