THE NATIONAL ANTHEM

The İstiklal Marşı (Independence March) was officially adopted as Turkey's National Anthem on March 12, 1921. 724 poems were submitted to the competition organised for this March, and a poem written by the poet Mehmet Akif Ersoy was adopted unanimously by the Turkish Grand National Assembly. In the competition arranged f or the selection of a musical composition for the National Anthem, 24 composers participated. The Council, which was only able to convene in 1924, due to the War of Liberation, adopted the music composed by Ali Rifat Cagatay. The words of the National Anthem were sung to this music for eight years. Thereafter, the music of the National Anthem was changed to a composition written by Zeki Ungor, conductor of the Presidential Symphony Orchestra, and the words of the National Anthem have been sung to this musical composition ever since.