Atatürk Monument is a statue depicting

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, or Mustafa Kemal Pasha until 1921, and Ghazi Mustafa Kemal from 1921 Surname Law (Turkey), until 1934 ( 1881 – 10 November 1938) was a Turkish Mareşal (Turkey), field marshal, Turkish National Movement, re ...

, the founder of the Republic of Turkey, in

Mersin Mersin (), also known as İçel, is a large city and a port on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast of southern Turkey. It is the provincial capital of Mersin Province, Mersin (İçel) Province. It is made up of four municipalities and dis ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

Geography

The monument is situated in the Cumhuriyet Square (''Republic square'') in Mersin at .

Mersin Halkevi Mersin Halkevi is a building in Mersin, Turkey originally built within the scope of the project Halkevleri, but currently used as a cultural center and opera house. History Halkevleri was an important enlightenment project in the early years o ...

is to the northwest and

İsmet İnönü Boulevard İsmet İnönü Boulevard ( tr, İsmet İnönü Bulvarı) is a major avenue in Mersin, Turkey. It is named after İsmet İnönü (1884-1973), the second president of Turkish Republic between 1938 and 1950. Geography The eastern end of the boulev ...

is to the southeast of the square. Up to the 1960s, the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...

coast was just to the south, but after the construction of

Mersin Harbor The Port of Mersin ( tr, Mersin Limanı), is a major seaport located on the north-eastern coast of Mediterranean Sea in Mersin, southern Turkey. As one of the largest harbors in the country, it is Turkey's main gateway to the Mediterranean Sea. ...

now the distance to seaside is about .

History

Tevfik Sırrı Gür, the governor of Mersin Province in office between 1943 and 1947, was instrumental in building the monument. It was erected in 1944 on 23 April, the 24th anniversary of the foundation of

Turkish parliament The Grand National Assembly of Turkey ( tr, ), usually referred to simply as the TBMM or Parliament ( tr, or ''Parlamento''), is the unicameral Turkish legislature. It is the sole body given the legislative prerogatives by the Turkish Consti ...

. Its creator was

Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

sculpture professor Kenan Yontunç, who had created a number of Atatürk statues before.

Technical details

The monument is a composed of a marble dais and a bronze statue of Atatürk, the founder of modern Turkey in military uniform. The height of the statue is .Mersin chronology page
/ref> The dais is a raised platform which is situated in front of the statue.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ataturk Monument (Mersin) Buildings and structures in Mersin

Buildings and structures completed in 1944 Bronze sculptures in Turkey

Geography

History

Technical details

See also

References