site.btaTurkiye Pays Homage to Founder Ataturk on His 86th Death Anniversary

Eighty-five million Turkiye is paying homage to the founder of the Turkish Republic, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, on the 86th anniversary of his death.

Sirens sounded across the country on Sunday morning at exactly 9:05 am (8:05 am Bulgarian time). Turkish citizens observed a minute of silence, while vehicles, including public transport buses and even ambulances, stopped as Turkiye's anthem played.

On this day in 1938, at exactly 9:05 a.m., Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of the Turkish republic and its first president, died at the age of 57 in the Dolmabahce Palace on the banks of the Bosphorus.

Turkish flags and posters with Ataturk's image are hung on buildings (institutions and apartment blocks) throughout the Turkish capital. Flags are lowered at half-mast.

Huge numbers of citizens are flocking to Ataturk's mausoleum, Anitkabirq in the centre of the Turkish capital all day.

Many people are wearing black on this day.