The Turkish Air Force paratroopers open Turkey Kemal Ataturk portrait in Turkish capital Ankara on Oct 29, 2007. [Photo/Xinhua]

After World War I, Britain, France, Italy and other allied countries forced Turkey to sign the “Treaty of Sevres.” Turkey was in danger of being completely divided. In order to save the nation, nationalist revolutionary Mustafa Kemal began leading a national resistance movement which ended in a brilliant victory. In July 1923, the Treaty of Lausanne was signed which declared Turkish independence. The Grand National Assembly of Turkey decided upon the establishment of a Republic in Turkey, which was officially declared on October 29, 1923. With the establishment of the Turkish National Movement, the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire and the abolition of the sultanate, the Ottoman era and the Empire came to an end, and with Atatürk's reforms the Turks created a modern, secular nation-state on the political front, and Kemal was elected the first president of the Republic.