¿Qué se celebra en Turquía cada 23 de Abril? / 23th of April in Turkey

Es para los turcos el Día Nacional de la Soberanía y el Día de los Niños. Nuestra compañera Güllü nos explica que el 23 de abril de 1920 se celebró en el Parlamento de Ankara la independencia de la nación turca, después de suprimir el sultanato. Atatürk pensó que como los niños constituían la esperanza de la creación de un nuevo país, se debería bautizar este día como “el día de los niños”.
En el discurso que pronunció aquella mañana dijo: “ Cada uno de vosotros es una estrella, un rayo de luz , una rosa del futuro...¡ Esperamos grandes cosas de vosotros!”

El primer año que se celebró fue en 1929. Aquel 23 de abril los niños de Ankara hicieron un desfile que terminó en la Plaza Taksim acompañados de la banda de la Marina además de otras celebraciones en el Teatro Tepebafi.
Las Naciones Unidas declararon el año 1979 como el Año Internacional de los Niños del Mundo. Con ese motivo, el 23 de abril de aquel año se celebró en Turquía un festival en el que participaron 5 países. Desde entonces se celebra cada año y para que nos hagamos idea de la importancia que tiene el año pasado participaron 65 países. En la historia de este festival ya han participado 20.000 niños de 100 nacionalidades diferentes junto a los niños turcos.
Adjuntamos en inglés una carta de Gullu en la que explica la importancia histórica de este día y lo que representa para ella, que en resumen es una sensación de inocencia y pureza que, como Atatürk dijo aquel 23 de abril de 1920, hace tener esperanza en un mundo feliz y mejor que está por llegar.

April 23, 1920 was a very important date for Turkey. On that day the Turkish Parliament was founded, with the goal of Turkey becoming a sovereign state ruled democratically by the people for the people. Earlier, it was the sultan who ruled the country, regardless of the people's wishes. Before April 23, 1920, Turkish people were not able to vote or be represented in the government. Now Turkey is a democratic state, and if the people voted for a party with a majority of their votes, then this political party can act in accordance with the will of the people.Today is Children's Day. This day is organized to foster feelings of fraternity, love and friendship among children from different countries and also to contribute to a world in which they can live in peace.
Personally, April 23 is not just important to me because it is the anniversary of the young Turkish Republic's Parliament. To me, April 23 is really something that refreshes my memories and my soul.
I strongly recommend that you visit a school today. Please go to an elementary school close to you and see the atmosphere. If the school is in a rich neighborhood, the type of costumes will be flashier. If it is a village school, maybe there will be no such flashy costumes, but I bet that you will also enjoy the performance of the kids there. The school children work hard preparing their costumes for the dances, dramas, marches and other performances that traditionally take place on April 23. The classrooms are also dressed up for the festival. The pupils make different types of paper cutouts, put up balloons in many colors and even decorate the blackboard (Nowadays it is white in many schools, but I am from those old days when we used to write with chalk on the blackboard. One day our teacher brought some chalk in different colors and we were really surprised to see that chalk was also available in different colors.) There are no lessons, but there are flowers and pictures, along with big banners that read "Happy April 23." If you have no means to go to a school, you can simply turn on the TV and watch the celebrations.
The Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT) embarked on a project aimed at embracing all the children of the world when the year 1979 was declared as World Children's year by United Nations and it has been celebrated among countries since then. The first celebration of the TRT International April 23 Children's Festival was performed in Turkey on April 23, 1979, with the participation of five other countries; the USSR, Iraq, Italy, Romania and Bulgaria. Now, the celebration of the TRT International April 23 Children's Festival is performed with the participation of about 50 countries. The international celebrations are performed in Ankara and in some other major cities, such as Ýzmir, Ýstanbul and Antalya, while the national celebrations are held all over Turkey.
April 23 gives me hope and the feeling that innocence and pureness is still somewhere out there. So, please take my word: It is worth seeing.
Have a nice April 23.