Across Turkey, communities large and small are celebrating National Sovereignty and Children’s Day Monday, the public holiday that commemorates the founding of the national parliament of the newly declared Republic of Turkey in 1923 and marks the role of children in the country’s future.

Mustafa Kemal Ataturk was the one who started Children’s Day. Ataturk was loving children and he often saying that: “Children are a new beginning of tomorrow”. He even dedicated the day 23rd of April to the children which is today celebrated as Children’s Day as well as the date when the Republic of Turkey was founded.

This year once again hundreds of children are coming together to celebrate their fest with shows and activities in Ankara. Inspired by TRT, Turkish National Radio and Television Institution, schools and municipalities, too, are bringing together children from different countries in Turkey to celebrate the fest as a symbol of peace and inter-faith relations.

The school children start well in advance to prepare their costumes for the dances, dramas, marches and other performances which traditionally take place on April 23. The classrooms are also decorated for the festival. The pupils make different types of cut-paper displays, put out balloons in many colors, even write on the blackboard. Among the activities on this day, the children send their representatives to replace state officials and high ranking bureaucrats in their offices. The President, the Prime Minister, the Cabinet Ministers, provincial governors all turn over their positions to children’s representatives. These children, in turn, sign executive orders relating to educational and environmental policies. On this day, the children also replace the parliamentarians in the Grand National Assembly and hold a special session to discuss matters concerning children’s issues.

Importance of April 23 Children Day

The importance of April 23 as a special day of children has been recognized by the international community. UNICEF decided to recognize this important day as the International Children’s Day.

A nice surprise from Google

Google has designed a special logo for the day and this can be seen in google.com.tr. It is really a nice surprise…

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