Commemoration of Atatürk, Youth and Sports Day
|Commemoration of Atatürk, Youth and Sports Day|
Flag parade of girls at the Youth And Sports Day in 1939
|Official name||19 Mayıs Atatürk'ü Anma, Gençlik ve Spor Bayramı|
|Also called||Youth and Sports Day|
|Significance||Mustafa Kemal's landing at Samsun on May 19, 1919, which is regarded as the beginning of the Turkish War of Independence|
|Next time||19 May 2015|
19 May the Commemoration of Atatürk, Youth and Sports Day (Atatürk'ü Anma, Gençlik ve spor Bayramı), is an annual Turkish national holiday celebrated on May 19 to commemorate Mustafa Kemal's landing at Samsun on May 19, 1919, which is regarded as the beginning of the Turkish War of Independence in the official historiography.
The first "Gymnastics Festival" (İdman Bayramı) was held at the sport meadow of Kadıköy İttihad Sports (Union Club until 1915) by Erkek Muallim Mektebi (Teachers' College for Boys) with personal enterprise of Selim Sirri Bey (Tarcan), who was the Inspector of the Ministry of Education of the Ottoman Empire at the time. According to some sources, it was held on May 12, 1916, as to Faik Reşit Unat, in May 1916, as to Selim Sırrı Tarcan himself, in April 29, 1916. Selim Sirri Bey had brought a score of the Swedish folk music titled Tre trallande jäntor ("Three carolling girls") and collected by Felix Körling. This folk music became "Dağ Başını Duman Almış" marşı with Turkish lyrics written by Ali Ulvi Bey (Elöve) in 1917 and sung in this festival for the first time.
Mustafa Kemal's landing in Samsun
Fahrî Yâver-i Hazret-i Şehriyâri[dn 1] Mirliva Mustafa Kemal Pasha was assigned as the inspector of the Ninth Army Troops Inspectorate on April 30, 1919 and left Istanbul with his staff aboard steamer SS Bandırma for Samsun. After landing in Samsun on May 19, Mustafa Kemal and his staff left there on May 24 for transferring their headquarters to the village of Karageçmiş in Havza district. According to Hamza Eroğlu, they sang "Dağ Başını Duman Almış" when they were marching from Samsun to Havza, according to Şevket Süreyya Aydemir, they sang this marching song also after leaving Havza to go to Amasya.
Atatürk's later years
On May 19, 1936, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk made a conversation with his close friends Şükrü Kaya, Ruşen Eşref Ünaydın, Kılıç Ali, Salih Bozok, Mehmet Seydan and Nuri Conker at the Dolmabahçe Palace in Istanbul. Atatürk asked them "Do you know what today is?" They replied, "the third day of the occupation of Izmir", "Ankara meeting", "Ismet Pasha telegraphed from Lausanne", "Golden Horn Conference", "Turco-British negotiations over Iraq", "Progressive Republican Party was banned" ... even Atatürk's close friends couldn't remember Mustafa Kemal's landing in Samsun.
Atatürk then said "It is a day about the liberation of our country." Still, his friends couldn't identify the correct event. Some time later, Şükrü Kaya said "Was this the day when you left Istanbul?", and Atatürk replied "You came closer... It was the day that we landed in Samsun." Atatürk went on to say "This day will be a festival that we'll celebrate." Next year, "May 19" was celebrated with Şükrü Kaya's arrangement.
With the Law No. 3466 dated June 20, 1938, "May 19" was officialized as the Festival of Youth and Sports. The march "Dağ Başını Duman Almış" was announced as the Gençlik ve Spor Bayramı Marşı (March of the Festival of Youth and Sports, popularly known as the Gençlik Marşı).
Youths sing the national anthem, recite poems, make parades and sports and realise cultural activities like performing folk dances and play epic drama to commemorate Atatürk and his companions' beginning of the national struggle in 1919 that would lead to the establishment of the Republic of Turkey, in 1923.
Atatürk was born in 1881. But his birth date is not known. In one of his speeches, he declared that he considers his birthday as May 19, in clear reference to the beginning of the national struggle in 1919.
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- May 19 the Commemoration of Atatürk, Youth and Sports Day in the official website of the Presidency of the Republic of Turkey.
- Mustafa Ergün, İkinci Meşrûtiyet Devrinde Eğitim Hareketleri: (1908-1914), Ocak Yayınları, 1996, ISBN 978-975-422-090-2, p. 154. (Turkish)
- Nâlân Bilge, Türkiye'de Beden Eğitimi Öğretmeninin Yetiştirilmesi, Kültür Bakanlığı, 1989, ISBN 978-975-17-0491-7, p. 44. (Turkish)
- Etem Üngör, Türk Marşları, Türk Kültürünü Araştırma Enstitüsü, 1965, p. 54. (Turkish)
- Seyit Kemal Karaalioğlu, Resimli Türk Edebiyatçılar Sözlüğü, İnkılâp ve Aka, 1982, p. 128. (Turkish)
- Kudret Emiroğlu, Gündelik Hayatımızın Tarihi, Dost Kitabevi, 2001, ISBN 978-975-8457-66-3, p. 498. (Turkish)
- Andrew Mango, Atatürk, John Murray, 1999, ISBN 978-0-7195-6592-2, p. 214.
- Hamza Eroğlu, Türk Devrimi Tarihi, Türk Devrim Kurumu, 1974, p. 87. (Turkish)
- Şevket Süreyya Aydemir, Tek Adam: Mustafa Kemalʾin Hayatı, Cilt 1, Remzi Kitapevi, 1967, p. 40. (Turkish)
- Mustafa Armağan, "19 Mayıs'ın bilinmeyen tarihi" (Unknown history of "May 19"), Yeni Şafak, May 19, 1999. (Turkish)
- Sadi Borak, Bilinmiyen yönleriyle Atatürk, Kitapçılık Ticaret Limited Şirketi Yayınları, 1966,[page needed]
- Resmi Tatil Günleri in the official website of K.K.T.C. Başbakanlık Personel Dairesi Müdürlüğü. (Turkish)
- "Turkey celebrates May 19th Youth & Sports Day", World Bulletin Tuesday, 19 May 2009 10:16
- Turgay Tuna, “Dağ Başını Duman Almış”lı Günlerden Cumhuriyetimizin 81. Yıldönümündeki Genç Kızlarımıza..., Kimlik, Sayı: 8, October 2004. (Turkish)
- 19 mayıs: Ata'nın 'Doğum günüm' dediği tarih..., Ortadoğu, May 19, 2010. (Turkish)