Atatürk’s father’s house reconstructed

ZUPA, Macedonia - Anatolia News Agency

The restoration project for the house is being conducted by a collaborative team of Macedonian and Turkish experts.

The Macedonian house of Turkish Republican founder Mustafa Kemal Atatürk’s father, Ali Rıza Efendi, will be reconstructed like its original and become a museum. 
The house, in which Ali Rıza Efendi was born and grew up, is located in the Kodzadzik village of Zupa province. 
The house will be reconstructed as part of an initiative of the Turkish Culture and Tourism Ministry and the Turkish International Cooperation and Development Agency (TİKA). The project is expected to cost 650,000 euros, and the house will be opened as a museum in 2013. 
TİKA Skopje coordinator Ebubelir Çelik said a new house would be constructed on the foundation of the Ali Rıza Efendi’s house while a museum would be raised next to it. 
“Both houses will be decorated with antique objects. We expect that the project will make a great contribution to the development of the village,” he said. 

Villagers are excited 

The project has created excitement among the locals of Kodzadzik, which has a population of 350 people. Villagers think that thanks to the reconstruction, the village will become home to new people and draw tourists, allowing it to return to its former lively days under the Ottomans.
Sabahattin Sezai, a primary school teacher in the village, is one who is hopeful about the future of the village thanks to the project. Noting that the fate of the village should change, he said, “This village where the father of Turkey’s founder was born and grew up should be very important for the Turkish world.” 
The restoration project for the house is being conducted by a collaborative team of Macedonian and Turkish experts. As part of the project, the unique architecture of the Ottoman houses in the region has been examined in detail.