Victory Day

Today I celebrated Victory Day with some good friends. Pictured, starting on the left, is Tim, Haluk, Ben, Caleb and Seth. Seth teaches with me. Haluk is Caleb and Ben's father. And of course I teach the three boys. Caleb goes almost every year, he loves to see the planes, which was one of the coolest parts. This was a Turkish experience I didn't want to miss out on.

Victory Day celebrates the end of the War of Independence for Turkey following World War II. It really was a war of liberation, since Turkey was free before. Following World War II the Allies carved Turkey into basically spheres of influence. The British, Italians and Greeks all took a piece. Victory Day celebrates the end of the war to free Turkey from foreign influence. The final battle was in Izmir, defeating the Greeks.

This parade really is a celebration of the military and the Turkish Republic. Everyone has flags and banners. I got a ribbon that says Turkey. I saw another ribbon that I got Haluk to translate for me. It basically said "We follow in your footsteps Atatürk. Remember that Atatürk is the father of Turkey. He led them to victory and freedom to establish the Turkish Republic. (Republic Day is in October.)

During the parade they had men in military uniforms throughout Turkish history. They started with Ottoman soldiers, working their way through both World Wars to the present. Those guys deserve extra applause for wearing those uniforms in the heat. Though there was a nice breeze that made it bearable. Of course I wasn't in a wool uniform! :)

Parachuters came in to start the ceremony carrying flags. It was very cool. Following the soldiers the helicopters came. My favorite part was the helicopters pictured here that had guys hanging from ropes. It was very impressive. Then came the artillery and tanks. One weapon had its own special trailer, I'm thinking it was a pretty powerful weapon. There were lots of tanks as well.

When the ceremony started all the soldiers were lined on the field and they began to sing the national anthem. You could have heard a pin drop in the crowd. It was just the soldiers' voices, no music. It was pretty moving. While the soldiers marched they chanted and sang nationalist songs and words. I've put two videos below so you can get the idea. Caleb was translating for me, but he's really hard to hear.

This is the link to my pictures on facebook. I took a lot, but I tried to limit the number I posted. http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=54930&l=b0c7e&id=620259852