Children's Day

April 23 marks Children's Day in Turkey, and so we have no school on Thursday. After having no idea what Children's Day even was (apart from a day to celebrate children, of course), I did a little scholarly Wikipedia search to find that on April 23, 1920, the first meeting of the Grand National Assembly took place during the Turkish independence war, and that Mustafa Kemal Ataturk--the father of modern Turkey-- proclaimed that day a day for children so that they may understand the importance of independence.

Apparently, children from around the world travel with their families to Turkey and stay with host families with children of similar ages. Throughout this week (including here on campus), there are lots of cultural festivals and carnivals and the like. And, the seats of parliament are held by children on the 23rd, and Turkey even has a child president for the day, who apparently makes a speech on national television. What an interesting holiday!