On May 19, 1919, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, landed in the city of Samsun on the Black Sea to rally the people in the struggle for a Turkish nation. It was within the framework of the "Great Offensive" ("Büyük Taarruz" in Turkish), started four days earlier, that on August 30, 1922, the Turkish army, composed of nearly 30 ethnic groups, under the command of Atatürk, won the battle of Dumlupinar against the Greek invading forces. This victory by bringing others, it was finally on October 29, 1923, that the inhabitants of Anatolia declared their independence as Turkish Republic. In his speech on the state of the country, Atatürk concluded his speech with these words: "Ne mutlu Türküm diyene" ("Happy is he who says he is Turkish"), emphasizing solidarity in diversity based on the new national citizenship.
The Turkish War of Independence had an impact beyond Turkey; it was a model for peoples eager to get rid of the tutelage of the colonial powers.
