: ( Today Turkey commemorate Ataturk, countrys founding father. People across Turkey paused in their duties and stopped their cars in traffic Monday as they commemorated Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of the modern Republic of Turkey, who died 76 years ago. Daily life stopped for two minutes, beginning at 9:05 a.m., the time of Ataturks death. Sirens wailed throughout Turkey, and people observed two minutes of silence. Flags across the country are flying at half-mast. Mustafa Kemal -- who was given the title Ataturk, father of the Turks -- founded modern Turkey from the ashes of the Ottoman Empire, which collapsed after World War I. The republic was founded in 1923. Ataturk, the countrys first president, modernized Turkey, promoted secularism, changed to the western alphabet, and reoriented the country toward the West. He died on Nov. 10, 1938, at the age of 57, because of health problems.
Posted on: Mon, 10 Nov 2014 12:24:34 +0000
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