site.btaTurkiye Remembers Ataturk by Sirens, Minute of Silence

At exactly 9:05 on Thursday morning, sirens sounded across Turkiye, people stood still in silence, vehicles stopped, ships in the Bosphorus blew their sirens. Thus, for a minute in silence, 85 million people in Turkiye paid tribute to the founder of the Republic and its first President, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, on the 84th anniversary of his death.

On this day in 1938, at 9.05 a.m., Ataturk died at the age of 57 in Dolmabahçe Palace on the banks of the Bosphorus.

84 years later, the commemorative ritual remains unchanged and is performed with the unfading adoration of millions for the great leader and statesman, who created a new republic from the ruins of the Ottoman Empire. 

In 2023, the Turkish Republic will celebrate its centenary.