Ask Mehmet: Victory Day
Victory Day is a Turkish national holiday that's celebrated on Aug. 30 each year. It's the day of the great and final victory between national Turkish forces over Greek invaders in 1922. The Ottoman Empire, which was in power for almost 600 years, was on the losing side of World War I. After the war, Turkey was divided and occupied by British, French, Italian and Greek troops. Since the Ottoman Empire had no power to resist the occupation, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk sparked the War of Independence and established a national Turkish force to drive foreign forces out of the country. (U.S. Air Force graphic by Tech. Sgt. Andrea Salazar)