The founder of modern Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk once said, "Children are the new beginning of tomorrow." He dedicated April 23rd to the children of the country to emphasize that they are the future of the new nation. It is celebrated every year with children's parades, marching bands, school performances, and other events.
UNICEF recognizes this day as International Children's Day now.
The monument in the picture behind the children is the Republic Monument in Taksim Square in Istanbul. During the Ottoman Empire, public monuments were not allowed and forbidden as idolatry. Under Ataturk, and the new Turkish Republic however, he wanted to show that Turkey was now a secular republic with division of state and religion. Italian sculptor Pietro Canonica was commissioned to make a work honoring the leaders of the struggle for independence and the formation of the republic in 1923. It was just restored and unveiled for the start of Friday's events.
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