30 August: The Epic of a Nation Reborn from Its Ashes
When the pages of history turned to August 1922, what was being fought on these lands was not merely a war, but a nation's struggle for its very existence. Where the great powers had said, “It is over, they can never rise again,” the Turkish nation was rising once more from its ashes with unshakeable will.
Under the command of Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the guns that thundered from Kocatepe on the morning of 26 August shattered not only the enemy's positions but also the chains of captivity meant for our necks. The Battle of Dumlupınar (Başkomutanlık Meydan Muharebesi) of 30 August is a struggle for independence without equal in the world — written with blood, wisdom, the bayonet and unshakeable faith.
The way the glorious Turkish army, upon receiving the order to attack, poured over the enemy like a flood was far more than military genius; it was love of homeland made flesh and bone. This victory belongs to the young soldiers who ran to the front with their mothers' prayers, to the brave mothers who carried ammunition on their ox-carts, and to the heroic Mehmetçik who marched to martyrdom under the motto “Liberty or Death.”
The land on which we tread freely today is the most sacred national heritage left to us by our forebears, who that day watered the trenches on the mountains and plains with their blood. This glorious resistance is the noblest, most tangible proof of how the shackles meant to bind the Turkish spirit of independence were shattered to dust.
In the light of this blessed victory that now spans more than a century, we still carry within us that immense spirit which engraved in golden letters the meaning of defending one's homeland. Foremost our eternal Commander-in-Chief Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and his comrades-in-arms, and all our blessed martyrs who gave their lives for the indivisible unity of the homeland, and the heroic members of our glorious army — we remember them with mercy, gratitude and respect.
May their souls rest in peace. Happy 30 August Victory Day to the great Turkish nation!