Ministry shares original signatures of Atatürk

ANKARA

The Defense Ministry has unveiled six signatures of modern Türkiye founder Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, highlighting their divergence from the widely recognized autograph ubiquitous in various mediums.

In a statement on June 13, the ministry’s military archives unit disseminated images of Atatürk's signatures, inscribed on diverse documents from different periods, illuminating his usage of varied autographs.

This multiplicity in signatures is fundamentally attributed to the nation’s transition from the Arabic script to the Latin alphabet in 1928 and the formal adoption of the surname "Atatürk" following a law in 1934.

Atatürk's signature, prevalent in circulation, is renowned for being one of the most extensively used autographs globally, prominently displayed on car windows, badges, pennants, posters, numerous souvenirs and even as tattoos on bodies.

The ministry noted that the release of these signatures was in response to requests from some citizens.

The shared collection encompasses signatures from pivotal moments as a commander in the Gallipoli Campaign in 1915, as the head of a committee at the beginning of the Turkish War of Independence in 1919, as well as autographs postdating two major battles of the war. They also included his first signature using the Turkish alphabet after the 1928 script reform, which preceded his adoption of the surname "Atatürk.”