The Grand National Assembly the nation's unicameral parliament, on April 23rd, 1920, met in Ankara to lay the foundations of the new Turkish republic.
To mark the event, April 23rd was proclaimed a national holiday in 1921, making this the first public holiday in the new republic.
Since 1927 it has also become Children's Day, when the founder of the Turkish Republic, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, dedicated April 23rd to the children of Turkey to recognise that children are the future of the nation. With this, Türkiye became the first country in the world to celebrate an official Children's Day, as a gift to the children in Türkiye and around the world.
In 1979, UNICEF recognised this important national day as an international event. In the years since 1979, Turkey has hosted thousands of children from 150 different countries on Children's Day.
