Turkish History

Each year, the Memphis in May International Festival develops this Curriculum Guide for use by elementary, middle and high school teachers as a teaching tool to explore the history, culture, geography, politics and lifestyle of the festival’s annual honored country. Developing a comprehensive guide with practical and useful lesson plans, activities and worksheets that also addresses critical SPI teaching standards takes many hours of research and the involvement of many people. Memphis in May thanks those who have helped to make the 2007 - 2008 travels throughout the exciting country of Turkey a reality through the development of this guide. read more

May 19, 1919 marks the beginning of the Turkish War of National Liberation, a turning point in Turkey's history. On this day, a young Ottoman general, Mustafa Kemal, arrived in Samsun. The man, who would later be known to the world as Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, stepped ashore on this small Black Sea Coast town to embark on a journey, which would ultimately create the Republic of Turkey and a new nation.  read more

The foundation of the Republic of Turkey was laid on April 23, 1920 with the inauguration of the Turkish Grand National Assembly (TGNA) in Ankara. It was the first step toward a new state in Anatolia whose roots were laid by the Turkish National War of Liberation led by Mustafa Kemal, later to be given the name Atatürk – father of Turks. The Turkish national liberation struggle began on May 19, 1919 and culminated in the liberation of Anatolia from foreign occupation, the international recognition of modern Turkey’s borders by the Treaty of Lausanne, and the founding of the Republic of Turkey on October 29, 1923. read more

The Treaty of Lausanne was signed on July 24, 1923. This international treaty recognized the boundaries of the newly established modern state of Turkey. read more

Turkish Mortality and Migration
Original texts on the expulsion and deaths of the Turks and other Muslims of the Middle East, the Balkans, and the Caucasus. read more