'Forever': A home dedicated to the memory of Turkey's founder

The clocks in pensioner Mukaddes Kokeralp Cirak’s house still show the moment modern Turkey’s founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk died in 1938.

So do the calendars and all sort of other trinkets dedicated to the man who built a brand new nation out of the Ottoman Empire’s ruins 100 years ago.

As Turkey celebrates its centenary Sunday, few places look as festive as Cirak’s two-story house, which she has turned into a museum dedicated to the “father of all Turks”.

“He gave us the republic as a gift,” the 85-year-old said in the northwestern city of Edirne, pointing to a statue of Ataturk seated in an armchair in her living room.

After a lifetime of hard work in Germany, the mother of two returned to Turkey in 1985. She began collecting objects related to Ataturk upon her husband’s death.

Cirak paid for some of the items and gathered others, such as calendars and notebooks featuring Ataturk that have been released by banks and even the army through the years.

Her house is now a living tribute to Ataturk, its walls and even facade and garden emblazoned with portraits, photos and other tributes to the one-time field marshal.

Her garage serves as a warehouse for all the photos she no longer has room to hang. She dusts them regularly.

Cirak said her passion came from her great-grandfather, whose family was close to Mustafa Kemal’s in Thessaloniki, a Greek port city that was once part of the Ottoman Empire where Ataturk was born.

The family met Turkey’s future hero when he was still an officer in the Ottoman army, where he was doing his military service.

Cirak never misses official commemorations ceremonies and frequently visits schools to talk about Ataturk with younger generations.

After her death, she wants her collection to be donated to a museum, for the benefit of Turkey and the rest of the world.

But she is worried about the political track the country has taken under the leadership of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has reversed some of Ataturk’s secular reforms over his 20-year rule.

Erdogan and his Islamic-rooted party are overseeing relatively muted celebrations of the centenary, and Cirak fears that the Turkish leader is not paying her hero enough respect.

“I hope the republic will last forever, not just another century,” she said.

by Ozan KOSE