Ataturk’s life, legacy cast in stone

One of the panoramic paintings depicting Turkish war of independence (Photo:Nzau Musau)

As if beckoning you, the monumental tomb of Turkish founding father Mustafa Kemal Ataturk unmistakably sticks out on a hill off an elegant Ankara driveway.

A colonnaded structure built on kempt lawns, the structure fondly referred to as Anitkabir by Turks, cuts the image of a medieval age relic until you are told it is a 1940’s creation.

Before that, the place was littered in tumuli and had remains of Phrygian princes, princesses and kings.

Phrygia was a kingdom in West Central Turkey whose legendary kings such as Midas (of Midas Touch fame) and Gordias (of Gordian knot fame) feature in Greek mythology.

The ironic sense of human history wafts through the air as you go up the stairs leading into the 423-foot long and 276-foot wide ceremonial courtyard.

The first thing you see on making the last step is Atartuk’s elevated tomb on your right. When we arrived, the ceremonial guards were stepping down from the structure in a single file, wowed visitors in tow.

On the wall to the left of their steps are colossal stone-carved reliefs depicting various aspects of Turkish history. They marched towards us, stamping their feet on the ground and making the incantations military men are wont to.

We were told the ceremony takes place four times in a day as sentries change positions. We were then ushered into the museum of Ataturk.

In the museum, Ataturk is essentially immortalised. From his ceremonial swords, guns, travel passports, gifts, ornaments, uniforms, medals, smoking pipes — everything about him is encased in glass.

They have even displayed his pajamas, socks and gowns in show of the reverence with which they hold the man. In one of the chambers, a wax life-size statue of the man in all his elements stares at you with penetrating eyes.

Our guide told us it is one of the most-prized and most-guarded displays in the museum. In yet another one, an assortment of the garments he wore are also displayed.

Another chamber hosts a “war of independence” section complete with series of panorama images of the struggle led by Ataturk himself.

From the days the British and the French split up the Ottoman Empire as a post-war trophy to the days Ataturk’s army battled the allies’ proxies, it’s all displayed there.

The panoramas attest to Turk’s endeavour to project themselves as resilient and tenacious lot in their struggle for independence under Ataturk’s leadership.

They also pay tributes to different groups for playing their role in the independence struggle. The women for example, are captured carrying bombs or making bullets with babies on their backs.

Sounds Of War

They also celebrate what our guide called Ataturk’s “national obligation” order on Turks to give 40 percent of what they owned to get the army ready for war.

The murals are replete with ordinary men surrendering items as mundane as shoes.

Complete with background sounds of war, the panoramas also capture the moment Ataturk fell off a horse in 1921 and had to issue orders to his army from a sitting position.

The man who ordered his troops not to attack but to die instead is exhaustively eternalised here.

From the war of independence section, we headed to the 18 galleries where thematic displays of the Ataturk period of between 1919 and 1938 are exhibited.

Close to 2000 photos as well as reliefs relating to this period are also displayed alongside busts of 20 heroes of independence.

At the very end of the vaulted galleries is the Republic Tower. Welcoming you is a glass-encased composition of Ataturk in his office desk. The wax statue of Ataturk in his original measurements presents an idyllic image of an intellectual at his study with huge volumes behind him.

As you cross from the tower to a library, a small stuffed dog, the favourite of Ataturk’s pets menacingly postures at you. Leaving the museums, we surfaced outside the Hall of Honour where his tomb is. On the sides of the entrance of brass doors, huge reliefs of excerpts of his speech delivered during the 10th anniversary of the republic are inscribed in Turkish language.

The hall’s interior is as simple as it is elegant. With the columns rising up to 17 metres, exquisite mosaic decoration, massive windows for light and marbled finishing, the hall is a heaven of sorts.

At the front is a 40-tonne sarcophagus carved off a single boulder.

Beneath it in a special tomb room, Ataturk’s body is buried, we were made to understand, in a smaller sarcophagus of red marbles.

Visitors do not go beyond the hall of fame. This is where visiting dignitaries come to lay a wreath in honour of the man credited with establishing the modern Turkey.

But this is not the end of the Anitkabir. You need enough time to go through it all. In our rush, we missed out on walking through a long monumental avenue lined with lion statues on the right of the Hall of Honour, which is actually the official entrance to the mausoleum. We also missed out on viewing the cenotaph of Turkish second president General Ismet Inonu which is also located opposite Ataturk’s burial place. We did not visit most of the ten towers surrounding Ataturk’s main burial chamber.

Each one are ten towers symbolises the various aspects of Turkish history and growth. Rectangular with pyramidal roof, each one of them symbolises a particular epoch or event.

For instance, I gathered, Ataturk’s Cadillac Series 80 car which he rode in between 1936 and 1938 is displayed in the “3 April Tower which celebrates the opening of the Turkish Grand National Assembly on April 23, 1920.

As you step out of the mausoleum, you are certain of one thing: the Turks can teach your country one or two things about immortalising public figures.

Apart from the mausoleum, Ataturk’s image features almost everywhere in Ankara, Istanbul and the other cities.