Türkiye Republic Day
Evan MULHOLLAND (Northern Metropolitan) (09:53): Sunday 29 October was a special day in the calendar of the Turkish citizens here in Victoria and around the world, commemorating the declaration of the Turkish republic in 1923 by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk in the aftermath of the First World War and the Turkish War of Independence. My electorate in Melbourne’s north is home to the bulk of Victoria’s Turkish–Australian population, and on Monday evening I had the great pleasure of joining with the Consul General of the Republic of Türkiye Mr Dogan Isik and Mrs Yasemin Isik and members of the Turkish community to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the proclamation of the Republic of Türkiye. I thank the Consul General and Mrs Isik for their warm welcome and hospitality and thank the broader Turkish community for their warm friendship since my election to the Victorian Parliament. I am very proud to be the co-convener of the Victorian Parliament’s Parliamentary Friends of Türkiye group, and I congratulate the Turkish–Victorian community on the centenary of the Turkish republic.