Founded on October 29, 1923, the Republic of Turkey, which celebrates its centenary today, was born out of the ashes of the Ottoman Empire and the vision of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, who became its first president.
Here are the key dates of its transition:
1918: Dismantling the empire
Allied with the losers of the First World War — Germany, Austria-Hungary and Bulgaria — the Ottoman Empire, which stretched from the Balkans to present-day Yemen, is dismantled by the victors: Italy, France and the United Kingdom.
They split up the former empire’s provinces, except İstanbul, and give themselves “zones of influence.”
1919: Nationalist movement
A growing nationalist movement is led by the young General Mustafa Kemal, who had distinguished himself against the Allies in the Dardanelles Strait.
He launches a war of independence against the occupiers.
1920: Treaty of Sevres
The treaty defines the borders of Turkey, contested by nationalists who wanted to recover part of the lost territories, including Thrace and west of the Aegean ceded to Greece.
1922: End of the sultanate
On November 1, 1922: The sultanate, installed at the end of the Empire, is abolished.
1923: Treaty of Lausanne
The treaty is signed On July 24, 1923 by the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Japan, Greece and Yugoslavia, and nullifies the Treaty of Sevres and redefines the borders of Turkey.
It also renounces the creation of Turkish Kurdistan.
October 29, 1923: Republic proclaimed
The Republic of Turkey is officially proclaimed and Mustafa Kemal is elected president.
In 1934, the Turkish Assembly grants him the name “Atatürk,” meaning the “father of the Turks.”
© Agence France-Presse
