The first April 23 celebrations from the TBMM archives
Documents regarding the first nationwide celebrations of April 23 National Sovereignty and Children's Day, which was gifted to children by the founder of the Republic of Turkey, Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, are carefully preserved in the TBMM archives.
12punto
April 23 National Sovereignty and Children's Day and the 104th anniversary of the opening of the TBMM are being celebrated.
April 23 National Sovereignty and Children's Day, which was gifted to children by Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, began to be celebrated as a national holiday on April 23, 1921. Photographs regarding the first celebrations of April 23 across Turkey have resurfaced in the TBMM archives.
The Law on Declaring April 23 a National Holiday was adopted on April 23, 1921, one year after the opening of the First Grand National Assembly, and entered into force on May 2, 1921.
The first article of the two-article law states, "April 23, the day of the first opening of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, is a national holiday."; the second article states, "The Grand National Assembly is responsible for the execution of this law, which is valid from the date of its adoption."
April 23, which was decided to be celebrated as a national holiday in 1921, was celebrated as Children's Day for the first time in 1927 under the auspices of Atatürk. April 23, which Atatürk gifted to children, has been celebrated as a children's holiday for 97 years.
April 23 continued to be celebrated as "National Sovereignty Day" with the Law on National Holidays and General Vacations enacted on May 27, 1935.
With the amendment made on April 20, 1983, to the 1981 Law on National Holidays and General Vacations, the name of the April 23 National Sovereignty Day was changed to "National Sovereignty and Children's Day".
In this national holiday, which was moved to an international dimension in 1979 with the participation of 6 countries for the first time, children from many countries around the world began to come to Turkey. Turkey continues to be the first and only country in the world that gifts a holiday to its children and shares this holiday with the whole world.
April 23 National Sovereignty and Children's Day, which holds the most important place in the hearts of the Turkish nation as an unshakable expression of its independence, represents the united spirit of national unity by being celebrated every year with various events in the country and at missions abroad, in all institutions and schools.
THE FIRST APRIL 23 CEREMONIES
Photographs of the first April 23 National Sovereignty and Children's Day ceremonies across the country are carefully preserved in the TBMM archives.
Among the documents is a newspaper clipping of the news published in the Hakimiyet-i Milliye newspaper on April 24, 1927, about the first "Children's Day" celebration.
In the newspaper, which was printed with the headline "Children's Day Celebrated with Joy", it is stated that the first Children's Day celebration aroused excitement and interest.
In many photographs of the April 23 celebrations in the Assembly archives, the outfits of the little ones experiencing the excitement of participating in Children's Day for the first time and their holiday joy draw attention.