Turkish revolutionaries

The "Atatürk and Independence Road March," which lasted for four days, has ended on the 95-kilometer Independence Road route, where the weapons and ammunition arriving at İnebolu Port in the northern province of Kastamonu were transported to Anatolia during the War of Independence.

Turkish people are celebrating Victory Day on Aug. 30 marking the anniversary of when Turkish armies succeeded in the Great Offensive under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk against occupying Greek forces on the same date in 1922. (AA Photo)  

Turkish people are celebrating Victory Day on Aug. 30 marking the anniversary of when Turkish armies succeeded in the Great Offensive under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk against occupying Greek forces on the same date in 1922. (AA Photo)  

Never seen before photographs of Deniz Gezmiş, a revolutionary student leader executed in 1972 for attempting to overthrow the constitutional order, have been brought to light by a relative.

The photographs of the prominent political figure taken immediately after his capture by the security forces in 1971 were colored by his relative Enver Gezmiş and were shared on social media.

People gathered on May 6 in Ankara's Karşıyaka Cemetery to commemorate Deniz Gezmiş, Yusuf Aslan and Hüseyin İnan, three student leaders executed in 1972 for attempting to overthrow the constitutional order, on the 46th anniversary of their death.

Today is May 19, the anniversary of the date when a handful of military and civilian leaders led by general Mustafa Kemal (Atatürk) set out for the Black Sea port of Samsun, from Istanbul, in 1919. They were due to launch a war of resistance against armies occupying the last remaining parts of the empire under the fading Ottoman dynasty.

The life of Eşref Kuşçubaşı is of enduring controversy. A secret service operative who worked from the Balkans to North Africa to Arabia in the final years of the Ottoman Empire, he turned his back on the resistance forces of Mustafa Kemal during the War of Independence and ended up in exile for almost 30 years.

'The Circassian: A Life of Eşref Bey, Late Ottoman Insurgent and Special Agent' by Benjamin C. Fortna (Hurst, 341 pages, £25)

The Ottoman administration exiled writer and poet Namık Kemal. The sultan who had sent him into exile remained "one of the other sultans." Namık Kemal, on the other hand, became the "poet of the country" and "the poet of freedom." 

Turkey celebrated National Sovereignty and Children's Day on April 23 along with the 96th anniversary of the first season of Grand National Assembly.