After his fellow soldier and commander in chief
Newly elected President İsmet İnönü made a speech on the radio on November 21, 1938 in memory of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, who passed away on November 10, 1938. İnönü’s speech was as follows:
To the Great Turkish Nation,
The mortal body of the great Atatürk has been interred in his resting place on the venerating arms of his dear nation to whose service he dedicated his entire life. His true resting place is the heroic and loyal bosom of the Turkish nation filled with love and pride for him. Atatürk came forward in our history’s most cruel and unfair day of judgment and defended and claimed the innocence and righteousness of the Turkish nation. His powerful voice, the importance of which was not conceived at first, penetrated the consciousness of the entire world with a force that never faltered.
Even after having won the greatest of victories, Atatürk dedicated his entire life to proving the Turkish nation’s eternal services to humankind and show history its redeeming qualities. The founder of our state, the selfless, loyal servant of our nation, the lover of the human ideal, the distinguished, unparalleled hero Atatürk: This nation is grateful to you.
