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The Turkish Republic has reached its 103rd anniversary, 103 years after the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM) proclaimed the republic on 29 October 1923, under the leadership of Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, following the liberation of Anatolia from occupation.

The decision was announced on the night of 28 October 1923 at a dinner at the Çankaya Mansion in Ankara and was adopted by parliament the next day, formally defining the system of government of the new Turkish state.

From Samsun to the founding of the state

The road to the republic took shape during the years of the National Struggle, which began when Mustafa Kemal Atatürk landed in Samsun on 19 May 1919. After the war of independence ended in victory, the nation's fight for independence was crowned with the establishment of a new state.

During the Erzurum Congress, Atatürk told Mazhar Müfit Kansu that the form of government to be established after victory would be a republic. He kept this view private for a time because of the conditions of the period.

The foundations of a new administration based on national sovereignty were laid with the opening of the TBMM on 23 April 1920. The Treaty of Lausanne, signed on 24 July 1923, brought international recognition of Turkey's independence, and Ankara was declared the capital on 13 October that year, an important step in the political and administrative organization of the new state.

After the victories won on the battlefield, however, the system of government of the new state still had to be clearly defined and the question of the head of state resolved. The resignation of the Council of Executive Ministers on 27 October 1923 and the political crisis that followed, as no new government could be formed, put a new arrangement of the state administration on the agenda.

A dinner at Çankaya that entered history

On 28 October 1923, Ankara stood on the verge of one of the most important decisions in Turkish political history. Mustafa Kemal Paşa invited his close working associates to dinner at the Çankaya Mansion that evening.

Around a table arranged by Latife Hanım gathered İsmet Paşa, Kazım Paşa, Fethi Bey, Kemalettin Sami Paşa, Halit Paşa, Fuat Bey and Ruşen Eşref Bey. Mustafa Kemal Paşa shared with them the decision to proclaim the republic, which had long been taking shape in his mind.

Atatürk described that evening years later in his speech, Nutuk. "At dinner I said, 'Tomorrow we will declare the republic,'" he recounted, adding that those present immediately agreed, the meal was abandoned and he drew up a short plan of action and assigned duties to his associates.

After the meal, Mustafa Kemal Paşa and İsmet Paşa drafted a bill amending several articles of the 1921 Constitution. The decision announced at the Çankaya Mansion thus became the constitutional amendment placed before parliament the following day.

Republic proclaimed at 20:30

Monday, 29 October 1923, saw the TBMM hold the historic debate that opened a new chapter in the nation's future. According to the French-language bulletins of the period held in the Anadolu Agency archive, the Assembly convened at 18:00.

The bill prepared by the Constitutional Commission and foreseeing the proclamation of the republic was placed on the agenda. During the debate, Yunus Nadi Bey spoke about the need to declare the republic, while other members of parliament expressed their views on the new form of government.

Following the deliberations, the 1921 Constitution was amended and the provision "The form of government of the State of Turkey is a republic" was adopted. At 20:30, the republic was proclaimed with the votes of all 158 members present in the session.

The decision was greeted in parliament with the words "Long live the republic" and with applause. The principle of national sovereignty, whose foundations were laid with the opening of the TBMM on 23 April 1920, thus found explicit expression in the form of government of the state.

Atatürk elected the first president

After the proclamation, the election for the presidency of the republic was held the same day. In a secret ballot, Gazi Mustafa Kemal Paşa received the votes of all 158 members of parliament and was elected the first president of the Republic of Turkey.

Addressing the Assembly for the first time with the title of president, Atatürk pointed to the determination the nation had shown in its struggle for independence and voiced his belief in the future of the new state. He closed his historic speech with the words: "The Turkish Republic will be happy, successful and victorious."

The proclamation of the republic resolved the question of the head of state and reorganized the way the government was formed. İsmet Paşa was tasked with forming the first government, and Fethi Bey was elected speaker of the TBMM.

From proclamation to national holiday

The proclamation of the republic was celebrated by citizens on the night of 29 October and the following day. A decree published on 26 October 1924 decided that the proclamation would be marked with a 101-gun salute and organized events.

A bill adopted on 19 April 1925 led to 29 October being celebrated as a national holiday from 1925 onwards, as the new Turkish state under Mustafa Kemal Atatürk turned toward modernization and democracy.

The words "Tomorrow we will declare the republic", spoken on the evening of 28 October 1923 at the Çankaya Mansion, remain one of the symbolic phrases of the historical process that led to the founding of the republic, 103 years on.

Key takeaways

• The TBMM proclaimed the republic on 29 October 1923 at 20:30, with the votes of all 158 members present.
• Mustafa Kemal Paşa announced the decision at a dinner at the Çankaya Mansion on the evening of 28 October 1923.
• Atatürk was elected the first president of the Republic of Turkey in a secret ballot that same day.
• 29 October has been celebrated as a national holiday since 1925, and the anniversary is marked with a 101-gun salute.