99th Anniversary of Ankara's Becoming the Capital! How, When and Why Did Ankara Become the Capital?

Ankara, which was chosen by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk as the dispatch and administration center of the National Struggle, is the 99th anniversary of the official declaration of Ankara as the capital of the National Struggle, which fulfilled the responsibility of being the de facto capital, which it assumed as the center of dispatch and administration of the National Struggle, with the spirit of the Kuva-yı Milliye. It was declared as the capital on 13 October 1923. Mustafa Kemal Atatürk famously said, “There is no line defense, there is surface defense. Ankara, the place where he said "that surface is the whole homeland", served as a de facto capital city as a headquarters during the War of Independence due to its geopolitical, strategic and geographical location.

During the War of Independence, Ankara was chosen by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk as the center of the Representative Committee, the administration of the resistance movement in Anatolia. Greek troops were repelled as a result of the Battle of Sakarya in Ankara, where the most intense battle of the Turkish-Greek War took place. The Turkish Grand National Assembly, which registered its national borders with the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne and ratified its independence, declared the city of Ankara the capital on 13 October 1923.

WHEN AND WHY WAS ANKARA BECOME THE CAPITAL?

Ankara; During the War of Independence, it served as a de facto capital city as a headquarters where strategic decisions were taken and prominent with its geopolitical position. Sixteen days before the proclamation of the Republic, it became the legal capital of the newly established state on 13 October 1923, with the adoption of the law proposal submitted to the Turkish Grand National Assembly.

İsmet Pasha and 14 deputies proposed a law to the Turkish Grand National Assembly on October 9, 1923, in order for Ankara, which had become the symbol of the Turkish independence movement, to become the capital of the new state. The justification for the bill was briefly stated as follows: “… The provisions adopted for the Straits by the Treaty indicate the necessity of establishing the main existence of the New Turkey, the development of the country's power resources, in the center of Anatolia. The security of the country, Ankara's geographical and strategic situation requires this.”

Ankara was accepted as the capital of Turkey by the decision of the Turkish Grand National Assembly on 13 October 1923. In the 20nd article of the Constitution adopted by the Turkish Grand National Assembly on April 1924, 2, it was stated that the capital of the Turkish state was Ankara.

ANKARA DURING THE WAR OF Liberation

The city, geographically in the middle of Anatolia, can be reached by railway, is close to the Western Front, and Ankara became a central place in the Turkish War of Independence, mainly due to the fact that the people were in favor of the national struggle. Mustafa Kemal, who came to Ankara on 27 December 1919, chose the city as the center of the Representative Committee, which was the administration of the resistance movement in Anatolia.

Due to the occupation of Istanbul by the British, the Parliament was dissolved and the Grand National Assembly was established in Ankara on April 23, 1920.

Greek troops were repelled as a result of the Battle of Sakarya, which took place between 23 August and 13 September in Ankara, which was the scene of the most critical and intense battles during the War of Independence. The difficult battle that took place near Polatlı became the turning point of the War of Independence, and Mustafa Kemal Atatürk famously said, “There is no line defense, there is surface defense. That surface is the whole country,” he said at this time.

A few weeks later, with the Ankara Agreement with France, the Turkish-French conflict came to an end.

Proving its sovereignty over its lands as a result of the War of Independence, Turkey registered its national borders in the international community with the 1922 Lausanne Peace Conference and the 1923 Lausanne Treaty and had its independence approved.