Atatürk’s House in Erzurum

Abstract

The house in which Mustafa Kemal Pasha and his friends stayed during the Turkish Liberation War witnessed significant events. In this particular house many events of the time including Erzurum Congress were discussed about and decided upon. It was in this house that the Republic would be declared and the other reforms would be implemented. Before the Law on Hat Reform was accepted, people living in Erzurum stated that they were genuinely sorry for the negative reactions against this reform in Erzurum, and declared that they decided to present this house as a gift to Mustafa Kemal Pasha after a decision taken on 31 December 1925 by Erzurum Town Council. The reason for this decision was the fact that the plans concerning the liberation of the country were made in this house. On 8 February 1926, a committee submitted the key of the house which was registered officially in his name to Mustafa Kemal Pasha. In the same year Mustafa Kemal Pasha left the house to the control of the local Republican People's Party but it was used as a state estate. As Atatürk did not include the house within his will and the donation of his farms, the house was passed to his legal inheritor Makbule Boysan. Later on, the house was sold to the State Orphanage. After being purchased by the state Orphanage, for some time the house was used as Orphanage and then in 1984 it was transformed to "Atatürk House Museum." In 2001, the Ministry of Cultural affairs started a comprehensive project to renovate Atatürk's House and opened it to visitors. In 2009, this museum was transferred to the Ministry of Tourism and Cultural affairs.