Atatürk's death certificate, signed by nine medical professors, officially declared that the founder and President of the Turkish Republic had died at 09:05 local time on November 10, 1938, in the state residence of Dolmabahçe Palace in Istanbul from his long-lasting illness.
Mavi Boncuk |
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, first President of Turkey, died at the Dolmabahçe Palace, his official residence in Istanbul, on 10 November 1938. His state funeral was held in the capital city of Ankara on 21 November, and was attended by dignitaries from seventeen nations. His body remained at the Ethnography Museum of Ankara until 10 November 1953, the fifteenth anniversary of his death, when his remains were carried to his final resting place at Anıtkabir.
During 1937, indications of Atatürk's worsening health started to appear. In 1938, while he was on a trip to Yalova, he suffered from a serious illness. After a short period of treatment in Yalova, an apparent improvement in his health was observed, but his condition again worsened following his journeys first to Ankara, and then to Mersin and Adana. Upon his return to Ankara in May, he was recommended to go to İstanbul for treatment, where he was diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver. During his stay in İstanbul, he made an effort to keep up with his regular lifestyle for a while, heading the Council of Ministers meeting, working on the Hatay issue, and hosting King Carol II of Romania during his visit in June. He stayed on board his newly arrived yacht, Savarona, until the end of July, after which his health again worsened and then he moved to a room arranged for him at the Dolmabahçe Palace.
No religious funeral service was at first foreseen. However, his sister Makbule Atadan, who stayed at the palace for several days, insisted on a religious funeral service to be held in a mosque, as is normally the case, before her brother's body was transferred to Ankara. She was subsequently convinced by the President of Religious Affairs Rifat Börekçi that an Islamic funeral service may also be held outside of a mosque. The funeral prayer was conducted at 08:10 local time in the morning of November 19 by Şerefettin Yaltkaya, Director of the Institute for Islamic Studies, in Turkish, not in the traditional Arabic. During the religious ceremony, photographs were not allowed. The funeral prayer was attended by people who were close to him, some generals, religious officials, palace servants and Hafız Major Yaşar Okur, who served with Atatürk for fifteen years.Prof. Mehmet Kâmil Berk, one of the signers of the death certificate, bound Atatürk's jaw with a silk handkerchief and his big toes with a bandage, as per Islamic rites. Since the burial would be delayed, his body was embalmed by pathologist Prof. Lütfi Aksu, who came for this purpose from the Gülhane Military Medical Academy (GMMA) in Ankara.
His body then lay in repose while his sister Makbule Atadan, high-ranking government officials and officers, and other influential people came at specified times to pay their respects. Atatürk's body was put in a zinc-lined mahogany casket of walnut wood. The flag-draped casket was placed on November 16 in the reception hall of the palace on a catafalque. It was flanked by three high torches at each side symbolizing the six pillars of Kemalist ideology and crowned by wreaths for lying in state. For three days, thousands of mourning people paid their respects passing by the catafalque, where an honor guard of officers stood vigil.
Following the funeral prayer, Atatürk's casket was taken out the Dolmabahçe Palace, placed on a horse-drawn caisson and brought in front of a cortege to Gülhane Park. From Seraglio Point, a torpedo boat forwarded it to the battlecruiser TCG Yavûz. Turkish navy ships and foreign vessels escorted TCG Yavûz with Atatürk's casket aboard until off Büyükada. Yavûz carried then Atatürk's body to Izmit. Subsequently, Atatürk's casket was transferred to a funeral train in Izmit that brought it to Ankara arriving the next day on November 20. In Ankara, President İsmet İnönü, Speaker of the Parliament Abdülhalik Renda, Prime minister Celal Bayar, government ministers, Chief of the General Staff Marshal Fevzi Çakmak, high-ranked officers and members of the parliament were all present during the arrival of the funeral train in the Ankara Central Station.