April 23 National Sovereignty and Children's Day

In the course of history, at a time when Istanbul was under occupation, the Greek army was advancing through Western Anatolia, and internal uprisings continued, the day on which a multi-front struggle for existence began with the opening of the Grand National Assembly in Ankara was gifted as a holiday to Turkish children by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, with the aim of instilling national memory and a consciousness of national independence in the generations to come.

Embodying the spirit of the founding years of the Republic of Türkiye, this holiday is the symbol of Mustafa Kemal's establishment of the principle of national sovereignty as the foundation of the National Struggle and of the newly founded state — that is, of the Turkish Nation's mastery over its own destiny and the realization of the principle that it would determine its own future.

Mustafa Kemal and his companions, by ensuring the opening of the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye (TBMM) on April 23, 1920, lost no time in undertaking efforts to place the state on a democratic and constitutional footing; these efforts culminated exactly nine months after the establishment of the Assembly, on January 20, 1921, with the adoption of the first constitution. The 1921 Constitution — put into effect before the proclamation of the Republic on October 29, 1923, and recognized as the first constitution of the Republic of Türkiye — stipulated in its first article that sovereignty belongs unconditionally to the nation, and that the method of governance rests on the principle of the people directly and effectively governing their own destiny. A plaque bearing the inscription "Sovereignty belongs unconditionally to the nation" was hung behind the rostrum in the TBMM.

The Merging of the National Holiday and the National Sovereignty Holiday, and the Activities of the Himaye-i Etfal Society

The emergence of Sovereignty and Children's Day, one of our important national holidays, came about through the merging of two separate official holidays. One of these was the National Sovereignty Holiday, declared after the abolition of the sultanate on November 1, 1922, when the Assembly became the sole legal authority; the other was the National Holiday declared on April 23, 1920 — the date of the opening of the TBMM, which fell on a Friday.

While the April 23 National Holiday and November 1 were initially celebrated as separate holidays, they were merged in 1935. In 1927, following the favorable reception of the proposal by the Himaye-i Etfal Society¹ (Children's Protection Society), which was under Atatürk's patronage, that April 23 become Children's Day, this National Holiday began — from 1926–1927 onward — to be known as the Children's Holiday of the young ones who are the guarantee of our future. With the merging of these holidays in 1935, the name of the April 23 National Holiday was changed to National Sovereignty and Children's Day. When the sultanate was abolished on November 1, 1922, the dates of November 1 were thereafter declared the National Sovereignty Holiday.

Because November 1, 1922 was designated the "National Sovereignty Holiday," the anniversaries of the opening of the TBMM after 1922 were also observed as this holiday; over time, November 1 lost this character, and in 1935 the two holidays were merged so that April 23 became the National Sovereignty Holiday.

The idea of generating income for the Himaye-i Etfal Society played an important role in the birth of this holiday. In order to increase the various forms of aid, donations, and material income for orphaned, fatherless, and destitute children, the Himaye-i Etfal Society considerably intensified its efforts and activities on April 23 and during the week of that day. The postage stamps printed on April 23, 1923 in the name of what was then called the Himaye-i Etfal Society constitute historical documents of that era on this subject. It was intended that the income obtained from the sale of stamps during National Holiday ceremonies be used to meet the needs of orphaned, fatherless, and destitute children (TBMM / Zabıt Ceridesi [Minutes Journal], 1921, pp. 29–34).² To this end, the Himaye-i Etfal Society — founded in Istanbul on March 6, 1917 — had provided significant assistance to the children of those martyred, taken prisoner, missing, or lost for various reasons during and after World War I, as well as to destitute, orphaned, and fatherless children. On June 30, 1921, during the period of the National Struggle, through the efforts of TBMM members, it began and continued its activities in Ankara with the aim of protecting, sheltering, caring for, and raising the orphaned, fatherless, and destitute children of previous wars and of the War of Independence.

April 23 Becoming Children's Day

The fundraising activities of the Himaye-i Etfal Society through the National Sovereignty Holiday first led to April 23 becoming associated with children (Hâkimiyet-i Millîye, 1923, p. 1). In the 1922 celebrations of the National Sovereignty Holiday held in Ankara, children appeared in the front ranks, and the Himaye-i Etfal Society — backed by the patronage and support of Assembly President Mustafa Kemal — began collecting aid and donations for children on April 23, 1923. Partly due to the liberation of the country from enemy occupation in the War of Independence, the National Sovereignty Holiday was celebrated with even greater enthusiasm on April 23, 1923. Nearly all the residents of Ankara took part in the festivities and ceremonies held in the Assembly garden and along the avenue. In the ceremonies of this holiday, children and students marched in parades, adding excitement and enthusiasm to the celebrations.

This meaningful day — celebrated as Children's Day during the commemorative activities and ceremonies held in 1925, and after 1926 increasingly perceived and accepted among the public and in daily life as the Children's Holiday — came to be widely referred to among the people by the term "Children's Holiday" rather than "National Sovereignty Holiday." In the April 23, 1926 issue of the newspaper Hâkimiyet-i Millîye, it was noted that the Himaye-i Etfal Society had adopted April 23 as "Children's Day," and it was stated that tradespeople of many different professions would donate a portion of their daily income and earnings that day to the Himaye-i Etfal Society. Thus, through the Society's initiative, this day came to be known both as a day of aid for destitute children and as a holiday for children, and this day of aid and solidarity was designated Children's Day.

On the commemoration day of 1927, pursuant to a decision taken by the board of directors of the Himaye-i Etfal Society, it was proposed that this holiday, called Children's Day, be celebrated as the "Children's Holiday." The April 23 ceremonies held in 1927 were celebrated with various games and performances under the patronage of Atatürk, the first President. Although the commemorative activities organized for children on April 23 in the years before 1927 were referred to with the terms Children's Day and Children's Holiday, it was on April 23, 1927 that Children's Holiday ceremonies and celebrations were held for the first time nationwide and in a broad sense, with the participation of all official state institutions and schools.

During the celebrations held on April 23, 1927, Atatürk gave the children one of his official cars, and the Presidential Band gave a concert for children in the building known as the Children's Palace. That same year, the building of the Himaye-i Etfal Society was for the first time turned into the "Children's Palace" in Ankara, and the children of İsmet İnönü, who was invited to the "Children's Ball" held there, also attended.

İsmet İnönü's son Erdal İnönü won first place in the Robust Child competitions in 1926. One of the reasons children were placed in the front ranks and brought to the fore during this period was the desire to increase the country's population. In fact, although birth rates had risen, child mortality rates were also very high, and this constituted a significant obstacle slowing the pace of population growth. In light of these developments, child health, child development, and children's education began to occupy a greater place on the agenda, and the importance of the question of children steadily grew. As a result of the increased intense interest in children's issues, interest in this holiday also grew after 1929. In order to further expand the Children's Holiday across the country and raise public awareness of children's issues, the period between April 23 and 30, 1929 was declared "Children's Week" by the Himaye-i Etfal Society. The commemorations and ceremonies, which until 1929 had been held on a single day, were extended to a week and celebrated with various games and performances. The National Holiday itself continued to be celebrated on April 23, as before. In 1929, with the assistance of Atatürk and the government, the duration of the celebrations and activities for the Children's Holiday was set at seven days under the name "Children's Week," and greater duties and responsibilities were assigned to the Turkish Hearths (Türk Ocakları) in the celebrations and ceremonies held.

With Children's Week, the aim was in fact to publicize and disseminate children's problems to the public, to have them embraced, and thereby to encourage the public to take ownership of children's issues. Despite all these activities, the desired level was not reached. The celebrations held in 1929 were carried out with very broad participation by the Himaye-i Etfal Society and the Turkish Hearth, whereas only a few official state institutions participated in the commemorative activities and ceremonies held in subsequent years. For this reason, Fuad Umay Bey, Member of Parliament (for Kırklareli) and president of the Himaye-i Etfal Society, submitted a legislative proposal to the TBMM in 1932 so that their voices could be heard nationwide — a proposal concerning the affixing of the Society's Compassion Stamps (Şefkat Pulları) to letters, postcards, and telegrams between April 20 and 30. This proposal passed the Assembly's approval and entered into force as law on April 14, 1932.

In the 1933 celebrations, the commemorative activities held on the April 23 Children's Holiday were transformed, with a new understanding and approach, into a program that would enable children to fulfill the duties and responsibilities they would assume in the future and lay a foundation for them. On the day of the holiday, Atatürk welcomed and received in his office the children who came to visit him, gave his seat to the children, and conversed with them. Following this gesture of Atatürk's toward children, the other ministries and public institutions and organizations, taking his behavior as an example, gave their offices to children on this meaningful day and held the same kind of conversations with them; from April 23, 1933 onward, they began handing over their official seats to children. Thus, the handover of official seats to children on this commemoration day began to become a custom, and sports and physical education demonstrations and exercises began to be performed in sports stadiums from 1933 onward.

## The National Sovereignty and Children's Holiday Becoming International

All nations are obliged to attach importance to their futures. As a requirement of this understanding, the first implementation was the International Declaration of the Rights of the Child, published in 1924 by the International Save the Children Union, which was adopted by a vote of the member states convened on September 26, 1924 in the General Assembly. The League of Nations was established following World War I, and beneath the document of this organization titled the "International Declaration of the Rights of the Child — Geneva Declaration" stands the signature affixed by Mustafa Kemal in 1928. The second implementation on this subject consists of Articles 25–26 of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights of the United Nations. At that time, the International Union of Child Welfare, which dealt with children's issues, drew up the seven-article Geneva Declaration of the Rights of the Child in line with what these two articles set out and indicated. This seven-article document was reorganized into 10 articles on October 20, 1959. Alongside these declarations, organizations working at the international level were also established. Among the most important of these are the "International Union of Child Welfare" and the organization established by a resolution of the UN General Assembly, in which member states took part, on December 11, 1946 — the "United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF)."

Following UNICEF's declaration of 1979 as the International Year of the Child (Hürriyet, 2017; UNICEF, 2017), the International April 23 Children's Festival was put into practice by the Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT), raising this holiday to the international level. To this day, large numbers of children from foreign countries take part in this commemorative event in their own national costumes; various games and performances are staged; and shows, ceremonies, and various activities are held in schools. The custom initiated by Atatürk himself on April 23, 1933 — receiving children in his office and handing his seat over to them — continues today in the form of children briefly taking the seats of the officials heading state institutions (Aslan, 1982, p. 581). From the 1970s onward, the April 23 Children's Holiday became a holiday celebrated with enthusiasm by the entire public, embraced and celebrated by all segments of society, young and old alike. Children are invited to the Parliament and their participation in the ceremonies held in the TBMM is ensured; they are informed about all parliamentary activities and how laws are made, and the holiday is celebrated with ceremonies organized under the roof of the Assembly.

With UNICEF's declaration of 1979 as the International Year of the Child, aimed at finding solutions to the problems of the world's children, it was also envisaged that this day be known as World Children's Day. Türkiye sought to assume a leadership role in this matter, and on April 17, 1978, the competent authorities proposed to the United Nations that the April 23 Holiday, celebrated with great enthusiasm every year, become and be declared World Children's Day. However, the Western countries argued for October 2, and the socialist countries for June 1, as their preferred dates. This proposal — Türkiye's very justified and fitting suggestion that April 23 be made a holiday for all the world's children — was not accepted, on the grounds of the Western and socialist countries' objections regarding celebration dates and their claims of having other programs on those dates. Türkiye nonetheless continued its struggle in this regard; from 1979 onward, the commemorative activities were raised to the international level and implemented as such, and awareness of this holiday was created among all the countries of the world through the press and media.

TRT, which had participated in the celebrations from 1975 onward, attached importance to programs concerning children and broadcast these programs throughout the week. It was accepted that children equal in number to the members would take part in the ceremonies held in Parliament on April 23, 1978. Approximately 120 countries have participated from 1979 to the present in the commemorative activities, which on average see the participation of children from 40 countries each year. After UNICEF declared 1979 the International Year of the Child, this holiday acquired an international character. The practice begun in Parliament on April 23, 1979 with the participation of representatives of Ankara primary schools was realized in 1980 with the formation of the "National Children's Parliament," with the participation of children from all the provinces of the country (Aslan, 1982, p. 589). On that date, TRT invited children from neighboring and foreign countries to the ceremonies for the commemorative activities, and the Children's Holiday was celebrated for the first time in an international sense and at an international level. TRT's activities in this direction have continued to the present day, becoming ever more widespread and expanded.

The period after 1980 marked an important turning point with respect to the change of the holiday's name. Since the fact that April 23 was officially recorded as the National Sovereignty Holiday while being known among the public as the Children's Holiday caused confusion, the two were merged in the official records after 1980. With the legal amendment made in 1981, a major deficiency that had existed until that date was remedied, and the name of the day and date of April 23 was changed to April 23 National Sovereignty and Children's Day (Resmî Gazete [Official Gazette], 1981, no. 2429).

With this decision, April 23 was given an official name and status, and this holiday became a day on which Turkish children gift April 23 to the children of the world — a day of shared friendship, brotherhood, and love. In the emergence of the April 23 National Sovereignty and Children's Day under the patronage and support of Atatürk, and in its observance as a children's holiday, the "Himaye-i Etfal Society" (Children's Protection Society) and Fuad Umay, Member of Parliament for Kırklareli who served as its president for many years, also made great efforts, proposals, and contributions.

There is no doubt that, through the important efforts and work of the Turkish Radio and Television Corporation and the TBMM, the April 23 Children's Holiday will in the future become a children's holiday accepted and celebrated by all countries. Although the Children's Day and Children's Holiday celebrations — which began to be observed from the first anniversary of the day the TBMM opened — are commemorated and celebrated with enthusiasm throughout the country, a commemoration day for children still does not exist in the developed countries said to be the cradle of civilization.

Despite all of UNICEF's efforts, apart from the celebrations held in Türkiye under the names Children's Holiday and Children's Week — which became a very important national holiday commemorated with a wide variety of activities — no progress was recorded among other countries until the 1979 International Year of the Child. This, then, is the April 23 that has become a deeply rooted custom in Türkiye — the day of which Atatürk, in his own words, said, "I will gift this holiday to the children; I will have no worries left behind," and which we celebrate with a wide variety of activities.

The "April 23 National Holiday," the first and most important national holiday of the newly founded Turkish state, began to be celebrated by a decision adopted in 1921. It was later commemorated together with the November 1 National Sovereignty Holiday, which began to be celebrated following the abolition of the sultanate. Beginning with the first National Sovereignty Holiday commemorative activities held in Ankara on April 23, 1922, children began to take their place in the front ranks. The "Children's Day" that emerged on April 23 through the practices of the "Himaye-i Etfal Society" — on behalf of the unclaimed children of those martyred, taken prisoner, missing, or lost for various reasons in the wars, as well as fatherless and orphaned children — and through the patronage, encouragement, and support of these practices by President Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, came to be called the "Children's Holiday" from 1926 onward; in this process, the contributions of the Himaye-i Etfal Society to the holiday's becoming a children's holiday were great. From 1927 onward, in line with the Society's proposals, the holiday was referred to by the expression Children's Holiday, which was widespread among the people; when the duration of the commemorative activities was extended to a week in 1929, it took the form of the Children's Holiday and Children's Week. With the merging of the November 1 and April 23 holidays in 1935, its name became the April 23 National Sovereignty Holiday, and with the arrangement made in 1981, it took its present-day name, April 23 National Sovereignty and Children's Day. The Republic of Türkiye became the first and only state in the world to celebrate a children's holiday. As in the Children's Holiday celebrations of the early years, Türkiye invites the children of all countries to the April 23 celebrations and, without any official decision, has through de facto practice achieved its aim of spreading its World Children's Day proposal — this holiday — to all the countries of the world. Today, in practice and in social life, even though it has not been officially declared by the United Nations Organization or in the international arena, this holiday appears to have been accepted by all the countries of the world as if it were the International Children's Holiday.

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¹ The Himaye-i Etfal Society, founded in Istanbul on March 6, 1917, provided significant assistance during and after World War I to the children of those martyred, taken prisoner, missing, or lost for various reasons, as well as to destitute, orphaned, and fatherless children.

² TBMM / Zabıt Ceridesi (Minutes Journal), 1921, pp. 29–34.