Nation sings national anthem from home to mark Children's Day

Turkey on April 23 celebrated the nation's April 23 National Sovereignty and Children's Day and the 100th anniversary of the foundation of the Turkish parliament.

People at 9 p.m. took up their places at the windows and balconies of their homes to sing the national anthem, the Istiklal Marsi (March of Freedom), while waving the Turkish flag.

Every year 23 April is celebrated with solemn ceremonies nationwide with children performing in the country's stadiums and streets, but this year home was the focus of celebrations due to the threat from gatherings under coronavirus.

Sound and light shows were also done in city centers along with firework displays.

Turkey every year commemorates the first gathering of the Turkish Grand National Assembly which took place in 1920 by attending ceremonies and visiting Anıtkabir, the mausoleum in the capital Ankara of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk's, the nation's founder.

Turkish children take seats in parliament symbolically every year after it was dedicated by Atatürk.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan also addressed the nation on television with children alongside him and sang the anthem. 

"When our homeland was occupied, our Grand National Assembly, which opened a century ago in Ankara, became the center of our nation's and the state's struggle for freedom," Erdoğan said in a video message from his current residence at Huber Mansion in Istanbul.

He also commemorated the founder of Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, and all the martyrs of the country, saying: "The Republic of Turkey was built on the concepts of unity, solidarity, brotherhood, and solidarity."

"The late Mehmet Akif Ersoy wrote our national anthem not with his pen, but with the rapture that came out of...