Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad pays his respects to the founding father of modern Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, at the Anitkabir mausoleum in Ankara July 25, 2019. ― Bernama pic
ANKARA, July 25 — Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad visited Anitkabir, the mausoleum of modern Turkey founding father Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, this morning.
With great ceremony, the prime minister laid a wreath at the mausoleum in a show of respect. A nearby band then struck up the Turkish national anthem.
The wreath in red and white, the Turkish national colours, had the words “Malezya Basbakani”, referring to the “Malaysian prime minister”.
Ataturk led the Turkish War of Independence and signed the Treaty of Lausanne in 1923, which made Turkey a republic.
He was elected its first president and secularised Turkey.
In Malaysia however, some Muslims fault him for ostensibly causing the fall of the Ottoman Empire, the mightiest and last of the caliphate.
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