@ 9:05

November 10 is Atatürk Remembrance Day when Turkey commemorates Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the Republic of Turkey who died on this day in 1938. Although it is not a public holiday, it is marked throughout the country with a moment of silence at 9.05, the time when he passed away. The surname Atatürk (meaning 'Father of the Turks;) was granted to him in 1934. Born in 1881 in Thessaloniki, in what was then the Ottoman Empire, he made his mark in the military in 1915 when he led forces to repel the allied invasion in Çanakkale, known in the West as the Dardanelles. (Gallipoli). Following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire after World War I,  Atatürk was the leader of the Turkish National Movement and established the Republic of Turkey in 1923, becoming the first president. Atatürk's extensive reforms helped convert Turkey into a modern and secular nation-state. - Taken from BiahaHotels.com and Turkish Daily News

Although it is Sunday, over 1000 folk, the entire school community, gathered in the school gym this morning at 8.30 for the ceremony (pictured). The event began, as it always does, with the wailing sirens at 9.05.  Meanwhile, Robin and Graham, both in different locations on campus, watched the streets as pedestrians and traffic halted their journeys for the three minute silence, on the pavement, on the road, on the bridges and on the Bosphorus, the only sound being the mournful sirens and horns from the boats on the Bosphorus.  It is very moving. 

After the ceremony, Robin, Caitlin, Graham and I went to Kanyon shopping mall for a delicious brunch followed by some idle mooching, thinly disguised as minimal shopping.  Watched much the Remembrance Day service in London on my phone whilst we had a refreshment break from meandering, making it a day heavy with collective memories that lays melancholy like a blanket over an otherwise beautiful sunny day. So warm in fact, as yesterday, that this evening I can hear the cicadas "singing" in the trees outside my window - the sound of summer in early November! Home for late afternoon downtime with Robin.  Tonight's dinner was takeaway meals that Graham and I collected while Robin visited Melissa. She returns to Baku tomorrow, so is now sorting her suitcase as I write this. 

A reminder re Mono Monday: the theme tomorrow is "Profile". The tag is MM303. Please join in the fun, interpreting, misinterpreting, (or even ignoring!) the theme in any way you wish. Results, as in heart donations, on Thursday 14th, along with the theme for Monday 18th.