As part of the events marking the 104th Anniversary of the Adoption of the Independence March (the Turkish National Anthem), a conference programme themed “One Star, One Crescent, Eternal Independence” was organised by the Hasan Kalyoncu University (HKU) Faculty of Education.
Following a moment of silence for our martyrs and the singing of our Independence March, the programme began at the HKU Congress and Culture Centre with a theatre performance titled “The Voice of the Crescent and the Star”, prepared by students of Ünler Secondary School. It was attended by HKU Vice-Rectors Prof. Dr. Gül Rengin Küçükerdoğan and Prof. Dr. Mehmet Lütfi Yola, Acting Dean of the Faculty of Education Prof. Dr. Latife Özaydın, Dean of the Faculty of Economics, Administrative and Social Sciences (FEASS) Prof. Dr. Hanifi Aslan, Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences Prof. Dr. Kezban Bayramlar, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering Prof. Dr. Hanifi Çanakçı, Head of the FEASS Department of Political Science and International Relations Prof. Dr. Ahmet Keser, Asst. Prof. Dr. Sakine Hakkoymaz of the Department of Primary School Teaching, Faculty of Education, as well as academic staff and students.
Speaking at the opening of the programme, HKU Vice-Rector Prof. Dr. Mehmet Lütfi Yola said: “The Independence March is not merely a national anthem; it is also a unique work that tells of our nation’s spirit of independence, love of homeland and epic of heroism. In writing these verses, Mehmet Akif Ersoy expressed the Turkish nation’s love of homeland, its faith and the sacrifices it made for independence in the strongest terms. While writing this anthem, he also left us the wish that the struggles waged for the sake of the homeland would never have to be lived again, saying, ‘May God never make this nation write an Independence March again.’ I thank our Faculty of Education, our esteemed academics and all our students who contributed to organising this meaningful event. We commemorate with mercy all our martyrs who gave their lives for the homeland, and we remember with gratitude all our heroes, foremost Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, who made the writing of our Independence March possible.”
During the programme, FEASS Department of Political Science and International Relations Head Prof. Dr. Ahmet Keser delivered a presentation titled “One Star, One Crescent, Eternal Independence”. Emphasising the historical importance of the Çanakkale Victory, one of the greatest epics of the Turkish nation’s struggle for independence and freedom, he stated that the struggle waged at Çanakkale coincides with the spirit of the Independence March and that this spirit is felt most strongly in the verses of Mehmet Akif Ersoy.
After the presentation, in which he shared episodes from the life of our National Poet Mehmet Akif Ersoy and important observations about the events that took place while the Independence March was being written, Acting Dean of the Faculty of Education Prof. Dr. Latife Özaydın presented a gift to Prof. Dr. Ahmet Keser.
