Happy Children's Day............April 23rd is a National Turkish Holiday Honoring Children

Today is National Children's Day in Turkey, a National Holiday established by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder and first president of the Republic of Turkey, formed in 1923, after a devastating period of wars including World War One and Turkey-Greece War of 1922.

The photos here are of Turkish children from 1) Edirne 2) Konya, 3) Gaziantep (Syrian refugee children), 4) Izmir 5) Izmir (Syrian children) and 6) Izmit/Sakarya.

Top Ten Things to Know for Today and This Week: William Shakespeare Turns 451

Here are ten things to know for today, April 23rd, 2015:

1) Today is National Children's Day in Turkey (pict. top)

2) Today is William Shakespeare's 451st birthday (pict. center)

3) Tampere is the third largest city in Finland

4) Serdar Kilic is the Turkish ambassador to the United States

5) Seville (Spain), Dnipro (Ukraine), Fiorentina and Napoli (Italy) advanced to the semi-finals of the Europa League.

6) Dynamo Kiev's Jeremain Lens (Netherlands, pict. bottom) got a red card in the team's 2-0 loss to Fiorentina today.

7) "Laverne and Shirley,"  an American sitcom, lasted 178 episodes over eight seasons (1976-83).

8) Nicholas Smith, 81, (Mr. Rumbold) is the surviving original cast member of "Are You Being Served?," a British sitcom that debuted in 1972, and lasted 10 seasons.

9) James Earl Ray, the accused murderer of Martin Luther King, Jr., in Memphis, Tennessee, died on this date of natural causes at age 70 in 1998.

10) Chile's Calbuco Volcano erupted for the first time in 42 years yesterday.

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.

Image of the Day/Week- Children's Day in Turkey

Until this week, we were unaware that Google puts aside a special image just for Google Turkey users in honor of National Children's Day, which has been celebrated in Turkey on April 23rd since the founding of the Republic of Turkey by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk in 1923.

Ironically, the national holiday is celebrated around a time when people of Armenian heritage around the world target Turkey politically for a highly controversial matter which occurred nearly 100 years ago which we refer to as "The Rashomon Nightmare," a term that neither my fellow Turkish-Americans or Armenian-Americans seem to care for, which means there may very well be logical reasoning for my viewpointhttp://www.ataa..orghttp://www.turkishfutbol.blogspot.com.

This year, Enes Karabulut, age 9, was declared 'Kucuck Baskbakan/Little Prime Minister" by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Karabulut headed a delegation of 18 young students from across Turkey who visited Ankara in honor of National Children's Day.

And, like most adult politicians and political leaders, Karabulut may have isolated many people in Turkey by boldly declaring that he wanted to see his favorite soccer team Fenerbahce, an Istanbul powerhouse. win the Turkish soccer championships.

On Sunday, Fenerbahce faces cross-town rivals Besiktash. On Saturday, GalataSaray, also an Istanbul powerhouse and a team I've rooted for since childhood, will face Trabzonspor in the semi-finals of the championship.

This is the very first year that Turkey has held a play-off system to determine the league champion. Interestingly enough, the four teams in the semi-finals are also the four most popular teams in Turkey. In something 'that could only happen in Turkey,' the GalataSaray-Trabzonspor game will be held in front of women and children spectators only.

I suppose the people who made the seemingly futile decision would say that in neighboring Iran women are not allowed to attend soccer games at all.

Incidentally, tonight we are coming to you live from a bowling alley in Bethesda, Maryland*.

*-This is not really where I am, but I enjoy these gags, which has been a tradition of this blog since its founding in 1984.

Happy Children's Day in Turkey

With Earth Day and Easter being on this weekend here in the United States, few may realize that a very important holiday, Children's Day, is being celebrated on April 23rd in Turkey, my late father's home country.

The national holiday was started by the Republic of Turkey's founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, and it was first officially recognized in 1927, when my father Mehmet Gokbudak was six years old.

According to Wikipedia, many people in Turkey feel that International Children's Day, which is June 1, was inspired by the Turkish Children's Day, which is known as Cocuklar Bayrami.

When we were living in Turkey when I was from 1977-79, I participated in a Children's Day parade in Eregli, which is near the western Black Sea port city of Zonguldak. I forget if I marched in 1978 or 1979, or both years. I was in my school uniform, which all Turkish children are still required to wear to school (I really missed wearing "Spiderman" t-shirts as I did back in Roanoke, Va.)

Alas, things are becoming quite unsettled in Turkey's neghbor Syria where the BBC reports that more than 70 protestors have been killed across the country with the highest casualties being cited in the Damascus suburb of Deraa.

AlJazeera, which is only available in the United States in few localities, like Toledo, Ohio, in addition to some coverage on Link TV, reports that there was a major student demostration at Damascus, Syria. The Quatar-based news agency also said there was a similar protest in Latakia, which is the main Syrian port.

"The Christian Science Monitor" said protests broke out in Homs, which is Syria's third largest city behind Damascus and Allepo. The Boston-based news agency said government officials used live bullets and tear gas to crack down on demonstrators.

Syria's dictator Bashar al-Assad, 45, has been power since his father's death in
2000; Syria has been in the family's hands for over 40 years.

There is not report yet as how this will affect Turkey, which is one of Syria's main trading partners though the two countries have at times had strained relationships and territorial spats.

April 23 was Children's Day in Turkey

Today was Children's Day in Turkey. The day is actually a federal holiday day and schools are closed throughout Turkey.

I once marched in a Children's Day parade when I was eight years old in 1978 in Black Sea Eregli, Turkey, and it may have been the only time I was ever in a parade in my life.

Nine years later, I was watching the Homecoming Day Parade for Glenvar High School in Salem, Va., which many of my friends participated in. It was fun to watch the float with the cheerleaders and have them wave at me:)

This footage is from Children's Day festivities in the resort town of Kushadasi, which is about one hour south of Izmir, which is Turkey's third largest city. The ruins of Ephesus are also in close proximity to Kushadasi as is the Greek island of Samos.

Today is Children's Day in Turkey

Today happens to be Children's Day in Turkey, my late father Mehmet Gokbudak's country.

The occasion has recieved international recognition, and the children we are featuring here are indeed from Turkey.

The day was started by the Republic of Turkey's founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk in
1935.

I actually marched in a Children's Day Parade in Zonguldak Eregli, Turkey, back in 1978 when I was eight years old.