Türkiye marks Teachers’ Day

ANKARA

Türkiye on Nov. 24 celebrated national Teachers’ Day, which marks the day when the title of “Head Teacher” was given to Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the modern Turkish Republic.

Many ceremonies and events were held throughout the country on the occasion of Teachers’ Day, which has been celebrated in Türkiye since 1981.

Organized under the coordination of the Education Ministry, Teachers’ Day was celebrated with various programs and events aiming to increase morale and motivation among teaching professionals.

Education Minister Mahmut Özer and teachers representing all 81 provinces of Türkiye visited Anıtkabir, Atatürk’s mausoleum in the capital Ankara.

“As I always said, a society is not only as strong as the education system but also as strong as its teachers. We have a strong educational team with 1,200,000 teachers,” Özer stated.

“In this context, we mobilize all our resources to support our teachers in every way and to raise their reputation in society,” Özer said.

Özer and teachers also attended the opening ceremony of the “Teacher Memorial Forest” created by the ministry in Ankara’s Keçiören district and the “Martyr Teachers Monument,” which was built to keep alive the memory of 190 teachers who were killed during their duties.

Özer also attended the dinner given in honor of martyr teachers.

Teachers visited the historical and cultural sites of the city and attended the concert of the “1923 Children’s Choir in the 99th Year of the Republic” at the Presidential Symphony Orchestra Concert Hall.

After the program in Ankara, teachers will be hosted in Istanbul where historical, cultural and artistic events will be organized.

“We wanted to host our teachers not only in Ankara but also in Istanbul this year. We wanted our teachers to see the historical richness of Istanbul, which has been the center of culture, art, history and architecture for centuries and is almost an open-air museum, and to breathe its magical atmosphere,” Özer stated.

Another group of teachers was hosted by Parliament Speaker Mustafa Şentop at the parliament.

As part of the events, various artworks with the theme “Being a Teacher” were exhibited in the Kızılay district, while painting and poetry competitions regarding the same theme were held. The winners of the competitions were awarded various prizes.