Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and Karşıyaka Sports Club

The first club that Gazi Mustafa Kemal Pasha visited as the President of the young Republic of Turkey was Karşıyaka Sports Club.

The first visit is dated October 13, 1925,

During these visits, Gazi writes the following notes in the club's honor book:

"The youth I have encountered at Karşıyaka Sports Club is worthy of pride. In the face of this youth, the strong happiness of the future seems obvious."

Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk

Karsiyaka Sports Club honor book

Gazi went on a country tour starting from Konya on May 8, 1926. He also reserved the period between 16 - 30 June 1926 for İzmir. While he was going to go from Balıkesir to İzmir on 14 June, he received the news from the Governor of İzmir that an assassination had been organized against him in İzmir. Among those who would attempt to assassinate Mustafa Kemal on the night of June 14, there was also the son of Kadı Hurşit, who had sided with Mustafa Kemal in the war of national independence. Because of his father's services, Mustafa Kemal had Ziya Hurşit elected to the Grand National Assembly as Rize Deputy in 1920. After the assassins were caught, Mustafa Kemal set out for Izmir on 15 June at 19.00. On 16 June, Soma stopped by Menemen and arrived in İzmir at 18:00 on the evening of 16 June.

Despite these important developments, the Great Leader Gazi Mustafa Kemal and his delegation visited Karşıyaka Sports Club on 24 June 1926. He watched the matches of KSK female tennis players and wrote this note in the KSK Honor Book.

"This time, during my visit, I saw the valuable advantage of spending and overtime service in the past months. Thank you and congratulations."

Ghazi Mustafa Kemal

(24 June 1926)

(Ismet Inonu, Fahrettin Pasha, Dr. Tevfik Rüştü)

The note written by the Great Leader Gazi Mustafa Kemal in the honor book of Karşıyaka Sports Club.

Left to right, General Fahrettin Altay, Foreign Minister Tevfik Rüştü Aras, İsmet İnönü, Atatürk, and Karşıyaka Municipality and KSK President Fikri Altay are seen in this photograph taken during his visit to Karşıyaka Sports Club on 24 June 1926.

On January 15, 1923, Mustafa Kemal lost his beloved mother, Zübeyde Hanım, in Karşıyaka. Mustafa Kemal, who came to his grave on January 27, 1923, makes the following oath at the end of his speech at his mother's grave; “Let me repeat my oath of conscience, which I have sworn to the spirit of my mother-in-law and the spirit of all ancestors. I swear in front of my mother's grave and in the presence of Allah. I will never hesitate to go to my mother's house, if necessary, for the preservation and defense of the sovereignty that my nation has achieved and strengthened by shedding so much blood. Giving my life for the sake of national sovereignty should be a debt of conscience and honor for me."

Zübeyde Hanım was buried in the mausoleum seen in the photo, Karşıyaka-İzmir.

In his speech addressed to the people of Karşıyaka on October 11, 1925, Gazi Mustafa Kemal prefers the following words to describe how much he loves this place:

"Citizens of Izmir, I greet you with deep affection… I love all Izmir and all the people of Izmir. I am sure that the pure-hearted people of beautiful Izmir also love me. Only a coincidence has connected me to Karşıyaka even more. People of Karşıyaka, my mother is in your favor. People of Karşıyaka, the day I saw İzmir, I first saw Karşıyaka and the grave of my mother, who was lying there on your Turkish soil."

Source:  1www.ksk.org.tr 2-Karşıyaka Karşıyaka Magazine 3-cemkaragozlu.blogspot.com