Independence or Death: War of Independence Exhibition

The exhibition, which presented a chronological narrative of our great military and political victory that left its mark on the 20th century, brought together the extensive photograph and document archive of the Department of Chief of Staff and the rich objects in the inventory of the Navy Military Museum.

At the event, photographs, some of which were seen by the public for the first time, personal belongings of commanders who led the War of Independence, especially Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, medals, swords, weapons and clothing were exhibited. The section where the names of all the martyrs who sacrificed their lives in the War of Independence were written and the section where the commanders that determined the fate of the war was introduced was met with great interest. The flag that Kazım Karabekir had raised when he recaptured The Castle of Kars and was placed on his coffin after his death, as well as the flag sent to Atatürk by Indian Muslims, were among the most remarkable elements of the exhibition.

The exhibition, which opened its doors to visitors on April 19, 2017, witnessed how a generation that had been defeated in World War I, had lost most of its lands, and whose independence was in danger, laid the foundations of the young Republic and a new nation-state with what difficulties.