Victory and Remembrance March to be Held from Kocatepe to Izmir

Izmir Metropolitan Municipality organizes Victory and Remembrance March from Kocatepe to Izmir between 100 August and 24 September as part of the 9th anniversary of the liberation of Izmir. Citizens will also be able to attend the Derecine-Kocatepe stage between 24-26 August and the Kemalpaşa stage on 8 September. President Soyer said, “We will walk the 400-kilometer Victory Road on the same route that our ancestors passed.”

Izmir Metropolitan Municipality organizes the Victory and Remembrance March, which will start from Kocatepe and end in Izmir, as part of the 100th anniversary of the liberation of Izmir. The last stop of the 400-kilometer historical journey will be the liberation ceremonies to be held in Izmir on September 9. Minister Tunç Soyer, stating that they organized the 100th anniversary activities of İzmir with the theme of peace, said, “We have planned many activities in the 100th year of the Independence to increase harmony in İzmir, to reinforce the achievements of the National Struggle and the Republic, peace and democracy. The Victory and Remembrance March, which will start from Kocatepe and end in Izmir, is the most important part of our 100th anniversary program. Our convoy, which will set off from Kocatepe, where Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk lit the fire of independence, will walk the 400-kilometer Victory Road, where the struggle for freedom and independence was sealed with an epic victory, on the same route that our ancestors passed, and will embrace our people at the liberation ceremonies of Izmir on September 9. That evening, we will hold the biggest celebration of İzmir and Turkey in Gündoğdu Square.”

Interview and concert in Derecine

Izmir Metropolitan Municipality also organizes a series of celebration events within the scope of liberation programs. The events to be held on the evening of August 24 in Derecine, which embraced our glorious army before the Great Offensive, were held by the artist, writer Zülfü Livaneli, Mayor of İzmir Metropolitan Municipality. Tunç Soyer and Prof. Dr. It will start with the talk of “Peace and Turkey”, in which Emre Kongar will also participate as a guest. After the talk, DJ Yarkin Bora and Haluk Levent will take the stage. The group, which will participate in the public march to be held in the neighboring Yeşilçiftlik Town after the concert, will spend the night in the tent camp.

Victory Road

The convoy will visit the Şuhut Atatürk House, where Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk shared his final preparations for the Great Attack with his comrades, and on the night of August 25, the historical anniversary of the Great Attack, they will walk on the 14-kilometer Victory Road stretching from Çakırözü village to Kocatepe. . The caravan, which will reach Kocatepe on the road where Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and his comrades marched to victory a century ago, will be sent off to Izmir after the commemoration ceremonies to be held in the morning.
The main hiking group of 350 people, consisting of licensed mountaineers, athletes and volunteer youth, will arrive in İzmir in 400 days, by walking the 14-kilometer Victory Road, where the struggle for independence is fermented with the enthusiasm of freedom and independence, just like the villages and towns where our ancestors passed.

Independence Days will be celebrated

After visiting the Atatürk House, museum and martyrdom on the route, the team will walk to Dumlupınar and will also participate in the events to be held in Zafertepe, where Mustafa Kemal Pasha heralded the victory of the nation with the order "Armies, Your First Target is the Mediterranean, Forward". After participating in the liberation day celebrations of Banaz, Uşak, Ulubey, Eşme, Kula, Alaşehir, Salihli, Ahmetli, Turgutlu and Kemalpaşa, the last stop of the caravan, which will continue to proceed towards İzmir, is the liberation ceremonies of İzmir to be held on the morning of September 9 at Cumhuriyet Square. will be. The marching group will add the commemorative soil from the Kocatepe, Zafertepe and Dumlupınar martyrdoms to the soil of the Atatürk Monument rising in Cumhuriyet Square.

History talks and music performances

Izmir Metropolitan Municipality, which will provide logistic support to the convoy with its mobile teams along the line, will organize social and cultural events in the villages where the marchers pass, and experience the joy of liberation and victory with the local people. In the evenings of the camp, history talks and music concerts will be organized to which the villagers will be invited, and children will be presented with story books and Speech.

Victory concerts

As part of the celebrations, İzmir Metropolitan Municipality Village Theater and Sümer Ezgü will take the stage with their play “Our Republic” on August 28 in Dumlupınar. In the event program to be held on the evening of September 8, the liberation day of Kemalpaşa, Prof. Dr. Emre Kongar, journalist-writer Uğur Dündar interview and Onur Akın concert.

How will participation be ensured?

Citizens will also be able to attend the Kemalpaşa stage (Hamzababa-Bağyurdu) on September 24 (Derecine – Kocatepe) to be held between 26-8 August. Those who want to participate in the walk will be able to access the registration screen by becoming a free member of İzmir's digital platform Bizİzmir. Records for the Dereçine-Kocatepe phase have started to be received on “bizizmir.com”, “gencizmir.com” and “izmir.art”. Kemalpaşa stage registrations will be opened on 29 August.