Mustafa Kemal Atatürk

Day 9 of our holiday in Dalyan.

Today we had a relaxing day on the beach.

After dinner we did our usual stroll through the town centre and ended up at the statue of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.

Atatürk was an Ottoman and Turkish army officer, revolutionary statesman, writer, and the first President of Turkey. He is credited with being the founder of the Republic of Turkey.

He was a military officer during World War I. Following the defeat of the Ottoman Empire, he led the Turkish national movement in the Turkish War of Independence. Having established a provisional government in Ankara, he defeated the forces sent by the Allies and gained Turkey independence. Atatürk then embarked upon a program of political, economic, and cultural reforms, seeking to transform the former Ottoman Empire into a modern, westernized and secular nation-state.

In my view he did a pretty fine job.