(GEN) 259,000 PEOPLE VISIT ATATURK'S MAUSOLEUM.

ANKARA, Nov 11, 2009 (TUR) -- A total of 259,371 people have visited Anitkabir, mausoleum of the founder of the Republic of Turkey Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, on the 71st anniversary of his demise.

According to General Staff's web-site, 259,371 people including 785 foreigners visited Anitkabir on Tuesday.

The number of visitors to Anitkabir since the beginning of November reached 505,299.

On November 10, 2008, 232,177 people visited Anitkabir.

Great Leader Mustafa Kemal Ataturk has been commemorated throughout Turkey, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) and Turkish missions in foreign countries on the 71st anniversary of his demise today.

Daily life and traffic stopped at 9:05 a.m. when Ataturk passed away 71 years ago for two minutes as sirens wailing and people observing two minutes of silence out of respect to Ataturk. Flags across the country were flown at half-staff.

The pillars of the Turkish state led by President Abdullah Gul visited Ataturk's mausoleum. They laid a wreath of red and white carnations at the tomb and observed a minute of silence out of respect to the founder of modern Republic of Turkey.

Ataturk (born in 1881 in Thessaloniki) was a Turkish army officer, revolutionary statesman, and founder of the Republic of Turkey as well as its first President.

Ataturk became known as an extremely capable military officer during World War I. Following the defeat of the Ottoman Empire, he led the Turkish national movement in the Turkish War of Independence. Having established a provisional government in Ankara, he defeated the forces sent by the Allies. His successful military campaigns led to the liberation of the country and to the establishment of Turkey. During his presidency, Ataturk embarked upon a program of political, economic, and cultural reforms. An admirer of the Age of Enlightenment, he sought to transform the former Ottoman Empire into a modern, democratic, and secular nation-state. The principles of Ataturk's reforms, upon which modern Turkey was established, are referred to as Kemalism.

(GC-CE)

(THROUGH ASIA PULSE)