City of independence

After several months away, it's been wonderful to find ourselves back on Turkish soil—and just in time for the nation's annual Day of Remembrance for Atatürk and Celebration of Youth and Sports. If May 19 in Turkey is like France's July 14th Bastille Day or America's July 4th Independence Day, then Samsun on the Black Sea coast is Turkey's Paris or Philadelphia. The local state university Ondokuzmayıs University, or May 19 University, is even named for the day. It was here on May 19th, 1919 that the decorated World War I general of the Ottoman Empire, Mustafa Kemal, launched the Turkish War for Independence. His efforts to assert Turkish self-determination and to establish the Republic of Turkey led to his becoming the nation's first president. Even today, Turks esteem Mustafa Kemal—or Atatürk, an honorific title conferred on him meaning "Father of the Turks"—to an extent that would cause America's George Washington to take note.

Each year festivities in the city of Samsun reach fever pitch on May 19th. Fighter jets put on a aerial stunt spectacle. Dozens of parades make their way through the streets. School children recite poems in memory of their nation's first leader. Thousands of celebrants even participate in carrying a 1919 meter Turkish flag through the streets of the city. If you plan to come to the city to observe the festivities, make sure to prepare travel arrangements in advance as the city's population swells with celebrants drawn from across the country and around the world.

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, founder and first president of the Turkish Republic

Fighter jets soar over downtown Samsun

A 1919 meter flag is paraded through the streets of Samsun

Flags adorn apartment flats on Istiklal (Independence) Street