For best results, click to see the images in full.
Sometimes, a grave can become a celebration of a person’s life, and nowhere is this more true than at Anıtkabir, located in Ankara.
Atatürk did not leave many instructions in his will about how he wanted to be buried, but he did mention that he wanted to be buried near trees and that he wanted his grave to look out on a Turkish flag. Anıtkabir is surrounded by Peace Park, which includes trees given as gifts by other countries- a symbolic reminder of his words: “Peace at Home, Peace in the World”. The building faces Ankara Kalesi, built on another hilltop where the Turkish flag is visible as it flies above the capital.
His adopted daughter Sabiha Gökçen is said to have noticed tears streaming down his face upon hearing a song being played at dinner once. When she asked him why, he said that it was because it reminded him that one day he would have to leave his country and his people.
There is much to be impressed by at the Anıtkabir. In my numerous visits there over the past decade, though, nothing has been more impressive than seeing and feeling the Turkish people’s love for Atatürk – and his love for them. That love is felt in the smiles of children posing for photos with the soldiers who guard it – as well as in the soldiers’ gentleness in telling the occasional child who climbs too close to the tomb to come down (Atatürk was always very patient with children and the soldiers have not forgotten this). It is felt in the prayers people quietly read for his soul, in the way people join in with the various patriotic songs playing in the museum. It is felt in the dedication of the soldiers who tirelessly guard the tomb and stand for hours on end no matter the weather, in the huge crowds that often form there as people come from all over Turkey and in the way people talk about their visit to Anıtkabir when they go back home.
Even though Atatürk left this world decades ago, that love is still as alive as ever, and nowhere is it more clearly felt than at Anıtkabir. This is simply an attempt to show a tiny piece of it.
“To see me does not mean to have seen my face. If you have understood my ideas and my feelings, that is enough.”
