Abstract
Abstract Turkey’s century old April 23 national holiday has a puzzling past. Though it was officially dedicated to national sovereignty in 1922, what is actually celebrated on April 23 has changed over time. Shifting official priorities on this day can best be observed via coverage of the holiday in contemporary Turkish newspapers. This study examines Cumhuriyet, Tan , and Ulus newspapers from 1936 to 1950 to demonstrate that April 23 was a malleable national holiday in the early Republican period. Though officially dedicated to national sovereignty, children were feted on the front pages of Turkish newspapers covering April 23 during the Second World War. After 1945, celebrating national sovereignty with a focus on a more democratic understanding of the term became the norm. I argue that the changes in how April 23 was celebrated reflected not only the priorities of the government, but also embodied the zeitgeist of the era.