The title of this article is taken from the book about the psychobiography of Atatürk written by the prominent Turkish-Cypriot Psychoanalyst Vamık Volkan. I would highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in learning about the founder of Turkish Republic who is still an icon for millions as well as a figure of controversy for many. Although I had read the book years ago, I still recall an anecdote of Vamık Volkan in which he tells about a dream he had, close to the end of finishing the book. In his dream, he dreamt that Atatürk was about to die and finally passed away. Volkan interpreted this dream as the end of a long journey of writing the psychobiography of a leader who is immortal for millions. The symbolic death in his dream represented the end of the book as well as his acceptance of the finite nature of Atatürk as a man regardless of his symbolic immortality.
You can see this immortal leader’s statue in many locations scattered round the city as a reminder of this great leader who still live in the hearts of millions but there is one particular statue of Atatürk that is of historical significance and that is the one in Sarayburnu. Note that this is the first statue of Atatürk built in İstanbul in 1926.
I had always wondered why Atatürk’s first statue had been built on this specific location looking at the Bosphorus with great confidence. I learnt later that this was the location the troops which occupied İstanbul had disembarked in 1918. We know that Atatürk said ‘They shall leave as they come’ when he saw the ships of occupation forces on the Bosphorus. Atatürk wanted his statue to be a symbol on the location where the enemy disembarked in order to communicate the victory of Turkish nation.
Ships of Occupation Forces on the Bosphorus
Atatürk’s statue is facing the Bosphorus with his back turned to Topkapı Palace which is residing over the hill behind Sarayburnu which represents the ‘ancien regime’.
Note that this is not only the first statue in Turkey but in all of the Islamic world.
A detail from the statue
Note that Sarayburnu is one of the most beautiful spots of İstanbul stretching to the sea of Marmara and overlooking the Asian side of İstanbul.
