Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the beautiful soul

My Mustafa Kemal,

As a woman of the republic, it is my debt to this homeland to know all the rights you have provided to us women, to protect them, and to tirelessly and persistently explain them to those who do not know.

This honorable debt is not only to you, who dedicated your life to saving the homeland; it is a debt of gratitude and loyalty to your comrades-in-arms, to all the women who knitted socks for the front within their means, carried ammunition, and sacrificed their children, to our young brides who took off their necklaces and bracelets to support the National Struggle, to everyone, man or woman, who pulled the trigger, to our little children who fearlessly defended the homeland, and to our people who gave up their animals, their own sustenance, and their lives, believing in Atatürk.

The republic you entrusted to us is the most precious legacy I can leave to my children, and every prayer I say for its continuation is my most sacred prayer.

As long as my life and breath allow, I will carry the flag of the Republic and strive to be an example to the generation that will come after us.

My Ata, my goal is to fulfill your advice, and it is my struggle to do what is worthy of myself, so I would like to read and remember once again, and never forget, the words you wrote in the lines below;

* The common duty that falls upon us all today is to protect national values, consciousness, and the Republic, to preserve the spirit that won Çanakkale and the War of Independence, and to pass this consciousness on to future generations. The Turkish Nation will walk hand in hand toward bright tomorrows with its language, culture, history, and respectable identity.

* You, the young children of the new Turkey! Even if you get tired, you will follow me... Those who decide to walk without resting never, ever get tired. The Turkish Youth will walk toward the goal, toward our high ideal, without stopping and without tiring.

For my body that I do not have to hide under black chadors or burqas, for my self that has not been imprisoned within four walls, for my ideas that I can shout freely,

for being able to live without being a servant to anyone,

for being able to stand on my own two feet,

for not being forced to marry off my daughter early or having her right to education taken away,

for giving me the right to vote and be elected years before the women of countries considered more civilized than us,

for being able to make my decisions with my own free will, I am grateful to you.

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk…

My beautiful soul…

To me, the youth of a Turkish young person is not in their age, but in their desire not to stray from your path. As long as we breathe, no matter our age, we are the youth to whom you entrusted the republic…

I will strive as long as I live to be a child worthy of you.

I do not know any other way.

I am proud not to know any other way.

It is to wear your advice, my most valuable jewel, as earrings made of the moon in one ear and a star in the other.

May our Republic see many more 100 years, may it be eternal.