Republic Day (Turkish:Cumhuriyet Bayramı) is a public holiday in Turkey commemorating the proclamation of the Republic of Turkey, on 29 October 1923. The annual celebrations start at 1:00 pm on 28 October and continue for 35 hours.
Background
The holiday commemorates the events of 29 October
1923, when Mustafa Kemal Atatürk declared that Turkey was
henceforth a republic. Turkey had de facto been a republic
since 23 April 1920, the date of the establishment of the Grand National
Assembly of Turkey (Türkiye Büyük Millet Meclisi), but the official
confirmation of this fact came three-and-a-half years later. On 29 October
1923, the status of the nation as a republic was declared and its official name
was proclaimed to be Türkiye Cumhuriyeti ("the Republic of
Turkey"). After that, a vote was held in the Grand National Assembly, and
Atatürk was elected as the first President of the Republic of Turkey, keeping
his position until his death.
