Under the leadership of Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the national liberation struggle officially began with his departure to Samsun on May 19, 1919 and the opening of the First National Assembly, the founding parliament of the new state, on April 23, 1920. As the liberation struggle continued, Commander-in-Chief Mustafa Kemal and Chief of General Staff İsmet İnönü discussed the need to write an anthem to raise the morale of the soldiers and the people and to be used by the new state to be established in international relations. The Irşat Committees, including Mehmet Akif Ersoy, who were working to raise the morale of the soldiers and the people at the front, often brought up the necessity of the anthem.
On October 25, 1920, the First National Assembly announced the launch of the National Anthem Song Contest in the Hakimiyet-i Milliye newspaper with the title Nazar-ı Attention of Our Poets. The National Anthem Song Contest was launched with the support of the Ministry of Education (today's Ministry of National Education) and the General Staff. 724 poems participated in the contest. Out of 724 poems, 6 poems made it to the finals.
Mehmet Akif Ersoy refused to participate in the National Anthem Song Competition because it was a competition and there was a 500 lira prize. After the deputy Hamdullah Suphi (Tanrıöver) Bey reassured Mehmet Akif Ersoy about the issues he found objectionable, he decided to write a poem. He completed his poem "Dedicated to our Heroic Army" within 48 hours and sent it to the Ministry of Education. The poem was published in the newspapers Hâkimiyet-i Milliye and Sebilürreşad on February 17, 1921 before it was read in the new parliament.
Table of Contents
Poems in the Final of the National Anthem Competition
Mehmet Muhsin's poem
Years of fire and blood on six fronts;
To those who are enemies of the Turkish religion;
He is your ancestor; you struck like lightning from time to time
Your high head has never bowed to the world
O army of heroes, O thunderbolt.
Show the world a bloody revolution
O one whose past is a thousand epics;
Who swung a sword against the oppression of the West for a hundred years
Lion-hearted army, wear iron and take up arms!
Because fire and blood and smoke covered the border.
O army of heroes, O thunderbolt - chitab,
Show the world a glorious revolution!
Arslan mujahid army, O haris-i salah
A glorious weapon like seyf-i hak in his hand
You opened the sky to the nation in the morning.
Atî is ours. Our homeland, victory, felah.
O army of heroes; O thunderbolt - chitab.
Show the world a glorious revolution
Poem by Muhittin Baha Bey, Deputy of Bursa, with the pseudonym "M"
Heroic Turk" was your name in the world.
You were a bulwark of fire for Islam
You lived like a sun that never goes out.
O great famous nation, forward!
Don't let your enemy trample this glorious place!
If your enemy is a world, your friend
Your right is of course to live independently
Dash, crush, strike, your independence is yours
May this red flag shine forever...
O my glorious nation, forward;
Don't let your hands trample these countries!
Iskender Haki Bey's Poetry
O Muslim, O son of Turk
The road to independence is open
These are my last days,
Anatolia tells us.
Czech flag Turkish army
The Turk has no fear of life
Can it withstand captivity
Turkish homeland, Turkish honor?
This last battle is obligatory on us,
We have very few opportunities,
Be victorious, O nation
Make history with gold.
Let us unite from our essence,
Let's not go back on our word,
And let's wipe this stain,
Our face in history.
Kemalettin Kamu Poetry
Say goodbye to tears
O beautiful Anatolia!
He'll protect your rights
The unbending arm of the Turk
Thank you, young husband
Not today, not tomorrow
As our mourning cries
Izmir call to prayer
It becomes blood on the path of truth,
We overflow into worlds;
It is either shot with honor,
Either we live as masters.
A new trick every day
Then we were sold;
Every day with a new language
We were kicked out of our homeland
Enough, O our Kaaba
Those who take from our hands
He can't hold us back
Lies in our way.
Which low hand takes it,
Hand chain around your neck?
Who leaves the Greek
To the bosom of a Turkish girl?
Poem by the pseudonym "Ace"
Let the love of nation, love of religion, love of homeland awaken
May those who covet our homeland be painted in red blood
Let him take up the weapon that says it's me or them
This nation is the son of Turk
This country belongs to the Turks
This nation is the son of Turk
This country belongs to the Turks
Enemy eyes cannot hold the burning mountains
We keep every stone of the homeland in our bosom
Whoever looks sideways to our homeland will shed tears
This nation is the son of Turk
This country belongs to the Turks
This nation is the son of Turk
This country belongs to the Turks
We always give our lives for freedom
Either veteran or martyrdom is a state for your servant
The ancestor entrusted his honor to his son
They call us sons of Turks
These places have always been ours
Hüseyin Suad Bey's Poetry
The Turk once had a great father
He hoisted the banner of the crescent moon
We painted the sea with our blood
That's how we got these beautiful countries
Forward, arsh forward, arsh forward
Let the sons of bitches of the motherland stay back
To revive you, O great one
We died and died for your homeland
Neither big nor small is left on this path
The Turk like mountains gave you cover
Go on, O people of the nation, go on
Walk, son of the motherland
Since the motherland sacrificed her son
The nation aspires to live free
He can't give anyone a Çamlıbeli
I wonder if the hand of the Turk will be tied
Forward, arsh forward, arsh forward
It's chewed because it's back on the road,
Mehmet Akif Ersoy's Poetry
-Our Heroic Army-
Do not be afraid, do not be extinguished, the red banner that floats in these dawns; The last hearth that smokes above my homeland will not be extinguished. It is the star of my nation, it will shine; It is mine, it belongs to my nation only.
Don't frown, I sacrifice your face, O crescent moon! A rose for my heroic race... why this violence? Our spilled blood will not be forgiven to you, Independence is the right of my nation who worships the Truth.
I have lived free since time immemorial, I will live free. Which madman would put chains on me? I am astonished! I am like a roaring flood; I will break through and overcome; I will tear mountains, I will overflow the vastness.
If the wall of steel armor surrounds the horizon of the West, I have a fortification like my chest full of faith. Your nation, do not be afraid! How can such a faith be strangled by the one-toothed beast you call "Civilization!"?
Friend! Do not let the scoundrels invade my homeland; Take cover, let this insolent raid stop. The days promised to you by God will dawn... Who knows, maybe tomorrow... maybe closer than tomorrow.
Do not pass the ground you step on by saying "soil!", recognize it! Think of the thousands of shroudless who lie beneath it. You are the son of a martyr, do not hurt your ancestor, it is a pity; Do not give this paradise homeland, even if you take the world.
Who would not sacrifice for this paradise homeland? May Hudâ take my life, my soul, all that I have, and not let me be cut off from my only homeland in the world.
My soul's only desire from you, O God, is this: Let no unprotected hand touch the breast of my mother! These call to prayer, the martyrdom of which is the foundation of the religion - May it be my cry over my homeland forever
Then, with ecstasy, a thousand prostrations -if there are any- my stone will make; From every cerîham, Divine, my bloody tears will pour out, My body will gush out of the ground like the soul-i mücerred; Then, rising up, my head may be worthy of the Throne.
Wave like the dawns, O glorious crescent; Let all my shed blood be forgiven. No more for you, no more for my race forever: Freedom is the right of my flag that has lived free; Independence is the right of my nation that worships God!
