What happened on April 23, 1920?
On April 23, 1920, the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye (TBMM) opened in Ankara. The building stood in the Ulus district. Today it is the War of Independence Museum.
The opening ceremony followed the Friday prayer at the Hacı Bayram-ı Veli Mosque.
115 representatives attended that first meeting. The oldest member, Şerif Bey, the deputy for Sinop, served as temporary chair because of his age. He gave the opening speech.
The road to that day was short. Mustafa Kemal Pasha started the election process with a declaration on March 19, 1920. He announced the opening date in a circular on April 21. The Assembly met two days later.
National Sovereignty and Children’s Day: what the name means
The English name is National Sovereignty and Children’s Day. The Turkish name is Ulusal Egemenlik ve Çocuk Bayramı. Written in full, it is 23 Nisan Ulusal Egemenlik ve Çocuk Bayramı.
If you search for the meaning, the answer has two parts. “National sovereignty” points to the Assembly. The day is held every year on April 23 to commemorate the founding of the TBMM in 1920. “Children’s Day” points to a tradition that was added later.
It is one holiday under one name.
When is it celebrated?
The date does not move. It is April 23 every year, so 2025 and 2026 follow the same rule. In 2026 the day was marked as the 106th anniversary of the Assembly’s opening.
If you plan a trip, check the holiday against your own dates. The holiday has been written into law since 1921, and the rules around it have changed several times. The timeline below shows how.
From national holiday to children’s day
The children’s side did not exist on day one. The law came first.
On April 23, 1921, the Assembly passed Law No. 112. That was exactly one year after its opening. The law declared April 23 a national holiday. Its first article did not mention a children’s holiday.
The law was published late. It appeared in issue 13 of the Ceride-i Resmiye, the official gazette, on May 2, 1921.
The children’s link came through a society. The Türkiye Himaye-i Etfal Cemiyeti was founded in Ankara on June 30, 1921. It played a leading role in tying April 23 to children.
In 1923 the society printed and sold aid stamps for the April 23 celebrations. That same year Istanbul held its first April 23 celebrations, in Gülhane Park.
The society’s 1927 statute made it official on its own side. Article 61 named April 23 as the society’s children’s day.
That same year, on April 23, 1927, large Children’s Day celebrations were held. The Himaye-i Etfal Society led them. Mustafa Kemal Atatürk gave them his patronage.
Timeline
- March 19, 1920: Mustafa Kemal Pasha published the election declaration for an assembly to meet in Ankara.
- April 21, 1920: A circular announced the opening date.
- April 23, 1920: The Grand National Assembly opened in Ankara.
- April 23, 1921: Law No. 112 declared April 23 a national holiday.
- May 2, 1921: The law was published in the Ceride-i Resmiye.
- 1923: April 23 celebrations took place in Istanbul’s Gülhane Park.
- April 23, 1927: Large Children’s Day celebrations were held under Atatürk’s patronage.
- April 23–29, 1929: The celebrations grew into Children’s Week.
- April 23, 1933: Atatürk received children in his office.
- May 27, 1935: The holiday was set as one and a half days.
- April 23, 1961: The First Assembly building opened to visitors as a museum.
- 1979: TRT held the first international April 23 Children’s Festival.
- July 7, 1979: Bedrettin Tuncel proposed a UNESCO World Children’s Day in Geneva.
- 1981: The name National Sovereignty and Children’s Day gained legal status.
- 1983: An amendment was prepared to widen the scope of the celebration and the holiday.
- April 23, 2026: The 106th anniversary of the opening was marked.
How the celebration grew
In 1929 the Children’s Day events were expanded. They became Children’s Week, which ran from April 23 to April 29.
In 1933 Atatürk received children in his office on April 23 and talked with them.
The holiday itself was fixed in law in 1935. The Law on National Holidays and General Holidays, dated May 27, 1935, set the National Sovereignty holiday. It began on the afternoon of April 22 and ran through April 23. That is one and a half days.
The name you see today came later. The joint name National Sovereignty and Children’s Day gained legal status in 1981. That is a separate step from the Children’s Day celebrations that began in 1927.
The holiday was addressed again in 1983. Preparatory documents for the amendment aimed to remove the limit that kept April 23 ceremonies to kindergarten and primary school level. They also aimed to bring the day under the general holiday rules.
The international side
In 1979 TRT, the national broadcaster, organized the first April 23 Children’s Festival with foreign guests. According to TRT’s institutional history, 133 children and 31 leaders from five countries took part.
The children came from the USSR, Iraq, Italy, Romania and Bulgaria.
That same year, on July 7, 1979, Bedrettin Tuncel made a proposal in Geneva. He was the head of the UNESCO Turkish National Commission. He suggested that UNESCO celebrate April 23 as World Children’s Day.
Was it the world’s first Children’s Day?
You will often read that April 23 is the world’s first Children’s Day. A study by İffet Aslan, published in Belleten in 1982, describes it that way.
Be careful with the wording. The Atatürk Encyclopedia records that an Ottoman Children’s Day was celebrated on May 2, 1916. So the claim cannot cover every kind of children’s celebration.
A safer sentence is this: April 23 is the day on which the Assembly’s anniversary and a children’s celebration were joined into one national holiday. That statement fits the record.
Visiting the First Assembly building
If you are in Ankara, go to the Ulus district. The building where the Assembly met is there. It was opened to visitors on April 23, 1961, under the name Grand National Assembly Museum. Today it is the War of Independence Museum.
The museum is a good place to link this history to ordinary life. The building’s roof was finished with tiles collected from the homes of people in Ankara. Others came from the Numune School in Ulucanlar. Think of it as a neighborhood roof: you could say a city covered its own Assembly the way a family fixes its own house.
Details you won’t find in guidebooks
- A holiday without children: Law No. 112 of 1921 defined April 23 as a national holiday. Its first article said nothing about a children’s holiday.
- Nine days of delay: The law was passed on April 23, 1921, but the gazette published it only on May 2, 1921, in issue 13.
- Stamps for the cause: In 1923 the Himaye-i Etfal Society printed and sold aid stamps for the April 23 celebrations.
- Bursa in 1927: The Children’s Day program in Bursa included free cinema shows and automobile tours for children.
- A half-day rule: The 1935 law started the holiday on the afternoon of April 22.
- Tiles from homes: The roof of the First Assembly building was completed with tiles from the homes of Ankara residents and from the Numune School.
FAQ
When is National Sovereignty and Children’s Day?
It is held every year on April 23. The date marks the opening of the Grand National Assembly (TBMM) in Ankara in 1920. In 2026 the day was celebrated as the 106th anniversary of that opening.
What does Ulusal Egemenlik ve Çocuk Bayramı mean?
It is the Turkish name of National Sovereignty and Children’s Day. The full Turkish form is 23 Nisan Ulusal Egemenlik ve Çocuk Bayramı.
Was April 23 always a children’s day?
No. The 1921 law made April 23 a national holiday and did not mention children. The children’s side grew from 1927, when the Himaye-i Etfal Society led large celebrations. The joint name gained legal status in 1981.
Was April 23 really the world’s first Children’s Day?
Only with a limit on what you mean. Some scholarship calls it the world’s first Children’s Day. But the Atatürk Encyclopedia records that an Ottoman Children’s Day was celebrated on May 2, 1916. So the claim does not hold for every kind of children’s celebration.
Where were the first Istanbul celebrations held?
The first April 23 celebrations in Istanbul took place in 1923 in Gülhane Park.
Sources
- Ministry of Culture and Tourism, War of Independence Museum kulturportali.gov.tr
- Turkish Wikipedia, 23 Nisan Ulusal Egemenlik ve Çocuk Bayramı tr.wikipedia.org
- TBMM, Law No. 112 www5.tbmm.gov.tr
- Atatürk Araştırma Merkezi Dergisi, Cumhuriyet Türkiye’sinin İlk Çocuk Haftası atamdergi.gov.tr
- Anadolu Ajansı, TBMM arşivinden ilk 23 Nisan kutlamaları aa.com.tr
- TBMM, Danışma Meclisi, Sıra Sayısı 355 www5.tbmm.gov.tr
- English Wikipedia, National Sovereignty and Children’s Day en.wikipedia.org
- TRT, Tarihçe trt1.com.tr
- Belleten, Dünyanın İlk Çocuk Bayramı 23 Nisan ve Uluslararası Çocuk Yılı belleten.gov.tr
- Atatürk Ansiklopedisi, 23 Nisan Ulusal Egemenlik ve Çocuk Bayramı ataturkansiklopedisi.gov.tr
- TBMM, 23 Nisan 2026 mesajı tbmm.gov.tr
Image: 1938 04 23 Cumhuriyet.jpg — Cumhuriyet, Vakit, Akşam ve Son Posta Gazeteleri, Public domain
