Speech of Ambassador Mrs. Berin M. Tulun on the occasion of the

“23 April National Sovereignty and Children's Day”

(23 April 2019)

Dear Children, Distinguished Guests,

Today, April 23, is our National Sovereignty and Children's Day. During the years of Liberation War, 99 years ago, the Grand National Assembly of Turkey was inaugurated on 23 April 1920. Today is the day when the Turkish nation owns its sovereignty. Today is the day when the Turkish nation shows the will of liberation to the World.

I greet our Martyrs and Veterans with respect, mercy, and gratitude.

We, who believe that children is our future, presented the inauguration day of our Grand Assembly to children as “Children’s Day”. In Turkey, in every year, on April 23, officials let children sit their armchair as a sign of giving authority to the children. Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of our Republic, expresses this belief in the following words:

“Little ladies and little gentlemen! You are the rose, star and beacon of hope of the future. You are the ones to enlighten our country. Work hard bearing mind how important and precious you are. We expect a lot from all of you.

MUSTAFA KEMAL ATATÜRK”

In a sense, we also wanted to delight our children who were orphaned during our Liberation War on the day of the inauguration of our Grand Assembly.

This tradition was transformed into a festival by Turkish Radio Television-TRT 41 years ago. We think that children around the world suffer the most from the wars, so we want to make children happy and entertain.

On April 23, every year in Turkey, in a different city, a children's festival is organized by TRT. Children from all over the world perform dances that reflect the culture of their own country. This year, the 41st Children's Festival is held in Samsun, at the

100th anniversary of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk's arrival to Samsun, where he started our liberation struggle.
You are currently watching video of the Children's Festival held last year.

Later, you will watch the play of “Karagöz-Hacivat”, a branch of traditional Turkish theatre.

Karagözis the name of the shadow play, based on the fact that figures of human, animal or article, made of leather are played with the help of rods and reflected on the white screen with the light given from behind. This game has two main characters: Hacivat with Karagöz.

In this play, which has been developed according to our sense of humour and our values for centuries, the subjects are handled by putting forward funny elements; the double meanings, exaggerations, vocabulary games, and imitation of intonations are reflected as the main elements of humour. Hacivat, comes while saying semai, after reading the gazel, calls Karagöz; Conversations between Karagöz and Hacivat
and other figures/characters that come on stage make you laugh.

I hope our guest children laugh when they are watching. I would like to thank all of you for joining our 23rd April National Sovereignty and Children's Day.