Erdogan hails Ataturk on death anniversary

AFP, ISTANBUL: President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday hailed the founder of modern Turkey Mustafa Kemal Ataturk on the 78th anniversary of his death but added the country’s influence should go well beyond the borders of the state he created.
Ataturk, who died on November 10, 1938, founded Turkey as a secular republic in 1923 out of the ruins of the Ottoman Empire and defeat in World War I.
He remains a hero for many modern Turks and, as is traditional, life across the country again came to a halt for two minutes from 9:05 am (0605 GMT) to mark his passing, with sirens wailing and traffic stopping on the Bosphorus bridge in Istanbul.
Thousands of people meanwhile thronged Ataturk’s Anitkabir mausoleum in Ankara—where he was laid to rest after dying in the imperial-era Dolmabahce Palace in Istanbul—to pay their respects.
Erdogan has been accused by critics of eroding Ataturk’s secular legacy with a creeping Islamisation and taking Turkey further from Europe.
But the president, who has overseen a relentless crackdown in the wake of the failed July 15 coup, heaped praise on Ataturk at a conference in Ankara commemorating him.

Erdogan hails Ataturk on death anniversary

AFP, ISTANBUL: President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday hailed the founder of modern Turkey Mustafa Kemal Ataturk on the 78th anniversary of his death but added the countrys influence should go well beyond the borders of the state he created. Ataturk, who died on November 10, 1938, founded Turkey as a secular republic in 1923 out of the ruins of the Ottoman Empire and defeat in World War I. He remains a hero for many modern Turks and, as is traditional, life across the country again came to a halt for two minutes from 9:05 am (0605 GMT) to mark his passing, with sirens wailing and traffic stopping on the Bosphorus bridge in Istanbul. Thousands of people meanwhile thronged Ataturks Anitkabir mausoleum in Ankarawhere he was laid to rest after dying in the imperial-era Dolmabahce Palace in Istanbulto pay their respects. Erdogan has been accused by critics of eroding Ataturks secular legacy with a creeping Islamisation and taking Turkey further from Europe. But the president, who has overseen a relentless crackdown in the wake of the failed July 15 coup, heaped praise on Ataturk at a conference in Ankara commemorating him.