Turkish Cypriots on Wednesday celebrated the 102nd anniversary of the creation of the Republic of Turkey, with commemorations centring around a ceremony held at the monument to Turkey’s founding president Mustafa Kemal Ataturk at Nicosia’s walled city’s Kyrenia gate.

That ceremony was attended by Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman, former Turkish Cypriot leaders Mehmet Ali Talat and Ersin Tatar, the north’s ‘prime minister’ Unal Ustel, supreme court chief justice Bertan Ozerdag, Turkish ambassador in Nicosia Ali Murat Basceri, and other dignitaries, as well as children from schools across the north.

It began with the laying of wreaths at the monument, a moment of silence, and then the raising of the flags.

People gather at the monument to Mustafa Kemal Ataturk at the Kyrenia gate

Erhurman then signed a memorial book, writing, “my dear Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, I am proud to be in your presence as the sixth president of the TRNC on the occasion of the 102nd anniversary of the founding of the Republic of Turkey, of which you are the founder.

“The determination, courage, and foresight you displayed while leading the Turkish nation’s fight for existence also shaped the fight for existence waged by the Turkish Cypriot people … Our sole goal is to further advance the values you have bequeathed to us and to be worthy of your trust,” he wrote.

Earlier, he had released a public statement, which declared that the Turkish Cypriot people have embraced the values embodied by the republic and continue to work in accordance with the principles of democracy and the rule of law.

“On this meaningful day, I celebrate October 29 with all the citizens of the Republic of Turkey and of the TRNC, and I share their enthusiasm and excitement with my deepest feelings … The light of the Republic will continue to illuminate the Turkish Cypriot people,” he said.

Erhurman stands ahead of other high-profile Turkish Cypriots at the ceremony

Meanwhile, Ustel had said Turkish Cypriots are “a people who have engraved the love of the republic deep in our hearts and shaped the character of freedom and independence in the footsteps of Ataturk”.

He likened Ataturk’s remark on October 28, 1923 – “gentlemen, tomorrow we shall declare the republic” – to those of influential late Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash, who said on November 14, 1983, “friends, tomorrow we shall declare the republic”, the day before the unilateral declaration of the ‘TRNC’.

Other, similar ceremonies took place in Famagusta, Kyrenia, Morphou, Lefka, the village of Galateia, near Trikomo, and the Famagusta district villages of Lefkoniko and Lysi, while the day is a public holiday in the north and in Turkey.