"From Remembrance to Understanding: In the Footsteps of Atatürk" commemoration program was held

The program started with a moment of silence at 09:05 followed by the singing of the National Anthem. Istanbul Gelisim University Faculty of Helath Sciences Deputy Dean A. Yüksel BARUT continued with the speech of stating the meaning and importance of the day.

Asst. Prof. A. Yüksel BARUT; “Atatürk was the only leader in the world who was accepted as a "Headmaster" not actually a master. He wrote a geometry book. He was the father of Turkish names for 48 geometry terms such as "triangle, angle, rectangle ...". In this respect, Mustafa Kemal was truly an educator.

His biggest dream was to go on a world tour and expand his studies on Turkish language and history. He was very hardworking. There was no such thing as working hours for him. He worked without sleeping, resting or eating until he finished his work. He was not a friend of sleep. Apart from the short illnesses he had from time to time, he would not go to bed and sleep without seeing the morning sun. He feel sorry for the time he spent asleep. If he loved the book he started, he wouldn't go to sleep until he finished it. He had thousands of books; but he wouldn't keep one of them, Reşat Nuri Güntekin's "Çalıkuşu" novel, from his bedside.

He was very interested in his clothing and housekeeping. His shirts were all white, he wouldn't wear any other color shirts. He never liked navy blue clothes. He dressed very elegantly. He always drew the models of the suits himself.

He had a sportsmanlike personality. Every day he rode, went swimming, rowed and played backgammon. In short, he loved to do sports. He was a different person. He was humble; but he was not at all docile, he was harsh. His life was full of difficult events.

In Ankara, he would often and secretly shut himself in a hut in Söğütözü, which is on the farm land, and read the Qur'an for hours for his mother, who was his favorite woman in his life. Atatürk was not superhuman; He was a beautiful person, a full person, a great person. Not only we, but all the nations of the world recognized his greatness. Some nations stated that he changed the history of the world, while others stated that he was the greatest man the century had produced.

He does not see people who sit at his table and do not speak their minds as courageous, moreover, he gets very angry with those who do not. He would get everyone's opinion before deciding on something.

Like every human being, Mustafa Kemal was mortal. God would take Him too when the time came. And it was so, on November 10th, 1938, this beautiful person passed away from us. Some nations saw this as an immeasurable loss, a great pain. Some did not find the world as interesting as before after his death. Others said that the Ancestor of the East had disappeared and a sun had set.

On that day, the ominous news was heard at five past nine in Istanbul University. A German professor working at the Faculty of Law saw the situation of the crying and upset students and was very surprised.

He could not decide whether to attend the class or not. He went to the rector to explain the situation and get information. Him:

- Sir, I don't know what to do. I'm undecided. Should I attend classes? he asked.

Rector:

"Do what you do when such a great man dies," he replied.

Here then the German professor said: "Sir, such a great man did not die in our country."

Individuals continue to live as they are mentioned, they die when their names are mentioned for the last time. That's why we commemorate Mustafa Kemal Atatürk every day...”

In the oratorio show prepared by the students of the Nursing Department; Hasan Emre ALUÇ, Pelin AKTAN, Ceren BAKAR, Ferhat GÜNER, Duygu KURT, Sunay ORAL and Hakan SAKALLI, the memories of our ancestor were shared with the participants and they ended their performance by saying, “As you can see, Turkish youth do not forget the memories of their ancestor and will not make him forget, remember him forever.”

The commemoration program continued with the poetry recital of Mehmet Şeyhmus ERDEVE, a student of the Nursing Department. Then, after the zeybek show prepared by our students Beste ÇAYLAK and Arman GÖRHAN, Atatürk's favorite songs were sung by the IGU Music Club. The event ended with the closing speech of the Deputy Dean A. Yüksel BARUT, in which he thanked those who contributed to the commemoration program.