Atatürk photos on display in Istanbul

Istanbul Research Institute will commemorate Republic of Turkey founder Mustafa Kemal Atatürk with a special photography exhibition Nov. 10 to 24.

After 73 years of his passing, Atatürk is saluted with this exhibition titled “1283 Atatürk in Photographs” from the Suna and İnan Kıraç Foundation Collection, which includes 32 photographs. The exhibit will explore the various stages of Atatürk’s life.

Curated by Ekrem Işın, the name of the exhibition is based upon Atatürk’s Harbiye Military School number 1283. Each year Harbiye Military School students come together for the memorial ceremony; as the roster is called out, upon hearing the number 1283 all the students reply in one striking and powerful voice “He’s present!”

In the exhibition catalogue, Işın wrote about Atatürk: “He emerged from the olden times of fire, betrayal, and decadence. His personality had been hammered by reality on the anvil of life. He was thus never bent out of shape; He knew to stand upright and say ‘No!’ His honor was the honor of these lands. He remembered the forgotten, lent a hand to the fallen. ‘The Turkish people are hardworking, the Turkish people are intelligent,’ are His own words. There is not a single leader in the history of Anatolia that attains the reality behind these words with their ideas and actions. He named His country and committed His endeavors to the integrity of this nation. We cherish His memory with utmost respect…”