Happy Children's Day

Since today April 23rd is National Children's Day in Turkey, we thought we'd continue with our annual tradition of posting images of Turkish children for this blog entry.

It was 35 years ago today that I participated in a Children's Day parade in the town of Eregli in Zonguldak province.

The TRT (Turkey Radio Television) organizes a festival each year where children from around the world gather in Turkey. Last year, children from Azerbaijan, Egypt and Vietnam were among the participants.

The first Children's Day was celebrated on April 23, 1920, and it was founded by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, Turkey's iconic political leader who formally established The Republic of Turkey on October 29, 1923. October 29th is now recognized as Republic's Day. May 19th, a day set aside to recognize youth and athletics in Turkey, is also one of Turkey's main state holidays.