Turkey’s largest humanitarian organisation, the Turkish Red Crescent, or Kızılay, has been celebrating its 150th anniversary this year. Established on 11 June 1868, it has been a core part of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. Headquartered in the Turkish capital Ankara, Kızılay provides first aid, collects blood donations and provides assistance during […]
Sunday 11 November marks the centenary of the Armistice which brought an end to the hostilities of the First World War in which millions perished. The anniversary will be a chance to pay tribute to the fallen, with thousands of remembrance services taking place in the UK, France and around the world. An estimated 40 million […]
The 23rd of April has a special importance to multiple communities around the world. Those in or whose roots hail from Turkey will be celebrating today because it is National Sovereignty & Children’s Day. During their struggle for independence, the Turks, led by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, convened Parliament in Ankara on 23 April 1920. This […]
There were emotional scenes at a special commemoration event in the British capital on Thursday night. The Gallipoli Friendship Concert, held at one of London’s leading classical music venues, featured the international premiere of Can Atilla’s Gallipoli Symphony, the 57th Regiment – named after the soldiers sacrificed by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk in the first Gallipoli attack […]
On 20 May 1897, the Ottoman Empire and the Kingdom of Greece reached an armistice after a month-long war. The war was one of several conflicts between the Ottomans and an irredentist Greece. The Kingdom of Greece for its part had been established in 1832 when Russia, Britain, France and Bavaria brought the young […]
Today Turkey commemorated Mustafa Kemal’s landing at Samsun, on the Black Sea, on May 19, 1919, which marked the start of the Turkish War of Independence. The war lasted four years, during which time the Turks managed to expel numerous foreign powers that had invaded their territory, among them Britain, France, Italy, Greece, and Armenia. […]
The first ANZAC Day Parade in living memory to take place at Cambridge City Cemetery was held on Saturday April 22nd, led by a former Commander of the Royal Air Force. Over 200 people including City dignitaries and representatives of the Australian and New Zealand governments commemorated the deeds of over 300 Australian and […]
Children are the future of any nation and must therefore be cherished and nurtured. That was the view of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founding father of modern Turkey who founded Children’s Day back in 1927. It grew out of National Sovereignty Day, established on 23 April 1923, which commemorated the country’s move from Sultanate rule […]
Today 68 years ago, the Republic of Turkey became the first Muslim-majority country to formally recognise the state of Israel, which had been founded in 1948. This recognition, signed by Turkish President İsmet İnönü on 28 March 1949, led to the opening of the first Turkish diplomatic mission in Tel Aviv in 1950. This […]
Today, Turkey and its Diaspora pay tribute to the tens of thousands of men, women and children who willingly sacrificed their lives to defend their nation during the Battle of Çanakkale – or Gallipoli Campaign of 1915. When Ottoman Sultan Mehmed V entered into the First World War on the side of Germany, he […]
