Atatürk commemorated in his renovated room

ISTANBUL

Citizens visited the newly renovated room of Dolmabahçe Palace, where Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of modern Türkiye, died, on Nov. 10, his death anniversary.

Renovation works were started by the National Palaces Presidency in Room 71 in August.

Atatürk’s bedroom set, table clock and oil painting named “Four Seasons” had been protected by transparent covering material. The coverings were removed, and the room was made ready for the Nov. 10 ceremony.

The ceiling skirts and wall surfaces of the room were photographed to assess the extent of the damage and surface cleaning was started on the architectural decorations.

Gökşen Canıyılmaz, the head of the Restoration Department of the National Palaces Presidency, provided information regarding the restoration process of the room.

“First, the work we are doing is dry cleaning work. We do this by cleaning the surfaces from dirt with the help of a vacuum restoration broom and brush.”

In addition to the cleaning process, the restoration team also worked on the cracks and peeling paint that emerged on the ceiling and the wall over time.

The team filled the cracks with an injection system and applied putty on walls with peeling paint, Canıyılmaz noted, adding that after waiting for the putty to dry for a day, they cleaned the wall from dust with sanding work.

“In previous years, the team carried out works on parquet, door wings, and window joinery. The target for this year was to work on architectural surfaces that require fine workmanship,” according to Canıyılmaz.

Ferry connects Atatürk birthplace

Meanwhile, the occupancy rate of the ferry service launched between the western province of İzmir and Thesseloniki reached 70 percent for the Nov. 8 expedition, the last before the commemoration.

Citizens from İzmir went to Greece to commemorate Atatürk in the house where he was born, according to officials.

Despite the growing tensions between the two countries, the ports were connected by ferry as of Oct. 12.

The maiden voyage was set from Thessaloniki to İzmir with “Smyrna di Levante,” a vessel that is 160 meters in length and 23 meters in width and is owned by the Greek-based shipping company, Levante Ferries.

The ferry, with a capacity of 300 vehicles and 948 passengers, departed from the Greek port on Oct. 10 at 5 p.m. and docked at İzmir port on Oct. 11 at 8 a.m.

A total of 119 passengers, five vehicles, two lorries and a motorcycle were on the ferry.

Atatürk was born in 1881 in Thessaloniki, then part of the Ottoman Empire. His military education started in 1893 when he was enrolled in a military school in the Greek city.

He made his mark in the military in 1915 when he led forces to repel the allied invasion in Çanakkale, known in the West as the Dardanelles.

Following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire after World War I, Atatürk led the Turkish War of Independence, which defeated European powers. When he became president, Atatürk transformed the former empire into a modern and secular country.