Türkiye gears up for May 19 holiday as athletes carry soil from Atatürk’s birthplace
As millions across Türkiye prepare to celebrate the May 19 Commemoration of Atatürk, Youth and Sports Day, officials have brought soil from modern Türkiye founder Mustafa Kemal Atatürk’s birthplace in Thessaloniki as a symbolic tribute to the start of the nation’s War of Independence.
Wrapped in a Turkish flag, the so-called “ancestor’s soil” was transported from Atatürk’s birthplace in Thessaloniki, Greece, to the İpsala border gate in the northwestern province of Edirne under an initiative organized by local authorities and Turkish associations.
The soil was then handed over to a group of athletes participating in a commemorative peace run that will carry it first to the Black Sea city of Samsun and later to Anıtkabir, Atatürk’s mausoleum in Ankara.
May 19 is one of Türkiye’s most important national holidays.
