Atatürk Society of America – ASA’s Commemoration of Atatürk event was held in Washington, D.C. on Sunday, November 6th., at the George Washington University (GWU) with the contribution of the Turkish Student Union.
The ceremony was attended by The Turkish Ambassador Hasan Murat Mercan and the Turkish Military Attaché Brigadier General Hakan Çanlı. The program was presented by Burak Şahin, President of ASA.
This year’s guest speaker was Prof. George Gawrych, historian and the author of the book “Young Atatürk”. In his compelling speech, Prof. Gawrych analyzed Ataturk’s memories that shed light on his revolutions, the importance he gave to each subject; from art to science, including national identity. And in the second half of the program, ASA was honored to present a documentary film about the work and life of Staff Major Mustafa Kemal, who was appointed as the first Turkish military attaché to Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, between 1913 and 1915.
This was the premier of "Mustafa Kemal's Years in Sofia 1913-1915” in the US.
As one of the founding members of the Ataturk World Platform, ASA Board of Directors are proud to organize and hold worldwide premieres and screenings of this documentary, within the framework of the Ataturk World Platform’s ‘Commemoration of Ataturk’ programs. Apart from the screening in Washington, DC; there were premieres of the documentary in London by the Ataturk Society of UK on November 4, in Los Angeles by the Southern California Turkish
American Association November 6, and in Ft Lauderdale by the Florida Turkish American Association on November 10. Other member associations of the Ataturk World Platform in Europe will also screen this documentary in the coming months.
The documentary “Mustafa Kemal’s Years in Sofia 1913-1915” includes information and documents on the work and life of Staff Major Mustafa Kemal, who was appointed as the first Turkish military attaché to Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. Bulgarian and Turkish historians were consulted, state archives were entered, and the views of some politicians from Turkey and Bulgaria were also used to produce the movie.
The co-producers of the film, Nahide Deniz and director Ufuk Karakaş, took care to shed light on Atatürk’s goals for the Republic of Turkey in Sofia and his contributions that form the basis of Turkish-Bulgarian friendship in the documentary. COMMEMORATION OF ATATÜRK guests were very touched and impressed by the documentary film.