On December 27, 2019, Turkey Post issued a series of postage stamps to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Kemal Ataturk's arrival in Ankara.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the great Ottoman Empire came close to its decline. Her disappearance from the map of the world was only a matter of time. The emergence on the ruins of the empire of modern Turkey, as we know it, was due to the activity of one person - Gazi Mustafa Kemal Pasha, better known as Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.

In the First World War, the Ottoman Empire fought on the side of Germany. After the defeat in the war, the empire lost all external possessions, a number of territories were occupied by the Entente troops, the straits were taken under control, and the country's territorial integrity was under threat. In the spring of 1919, General Kemal Pasha, by that time a successful military and political leader, became the head of the revolutionary movement directed against the occupation forces and the Sultan government of the Ottoman Empire. Mustafa Kemal announced that he would fight for the creation of an independent Turkish state with the support of the people, and expressed the idea that a new state based on national sovereignty would soon be created. In 1919, in the city of Sivas, at a meeting of the Congress, a new government was established in opposition to the Sultan's government in Istanbul, headed by Mustafa Kemal.

Mustafa Kemal believed that after the Sivas Congress, the headquarters of the mission should be moved to Ankara. The main reason was the strategic importance of this city in the conditions of 1919. Many factors such as geographic location, equal distance to the fronts, ease of access to ports, railways and telegraph networks led to the selection of Ankara as the new political center. An important role was played by the support of the local population, as well as the presence in Ankara of the 20th Army Corps under the command of Ali Fuat Pasha.

In 1923, after several years of hostilities, Mustafa Kemal managed to achieve the withdrawal of allied troops from Turkish territory, the recognition of his government and the new borders of the state. As a result of the revolution that took place and successes in foreign policy, Mustafa Kemal gained immense authority. He became the founder of the modern Turkish Republic, was elected its first president, retaining this post until his death in 1938. Mustafa Kemal carried out a huge number of serious political, social and cultural reforms in the country. In 1934, with the introduction of surnames in the country, the Turkish parliament gave Mustafa Kemal the surname "Ataturk" - which means "father of the Turks" or "great Turk".

The postage stamp series consists of two blocks and a mini sheet. The stamps reproduce portraits of Mustafa Kemal and fragments of historical photographs of that period. Mustafa Kemal rides in an open car at the 2.4 lira postal block in Ankara and is greeted by riders on horseback along the road.

In addition to postage stamps, Turkish Post also issued a first day envelope. On the day the series was put into circulation, postage stamps and envelopes were canceled with a special postmark depicting the equestrian monument to Kemal Ataturk.