The Statue of Atatürk at Sarayburnu (Turkish: Sarayburnu Atatürk Heykeli) is a monument of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the Republic of Turkey, located at Sarayburnu (Seraglio Point) in Istanbul, Turkey. It was commissioned by the Mayor of Istanbul Emin Erkul, created by the Austrian sculptor Heinrich Krippel (1883–1945) and opened on 3 October 1926. It was the first monument of Atatürk in Turkey.
Background The art of sculpture was considered a sin in the Islamic faith during the Ottoman era. Its entering into social life in Turkey without any obstacles was only possible after the Turkish War of Independence (1919–1922). Following the victory of the final battle in the War of Independence, the Battle of Dumlupınar (26–30 August 1922), known as Field Battle of the Commander-in-Chief, a campaign was launched to honor the commander Ghazi Mustafa Kemal Pasha with an equestrian statue at Ulus Square before the parliament building in Ankara. Subsequently, a parliamentary commission was formed consisting of Hamdullah Suphi Tanrıöver, Fuat Umay, Ali Rıza Bebe and Eyüp Sabri Akgöl led by Yunus Nadi Abalıoğlu to build monuments and make paintings. In his speech, Mustafa Kemal Pasha held in Bursa on 22 January 1923, emphasized that building monuments and statues would not contradict the religion of Islam. Following the proclamation of the Republic of Turkey on 29 October 1923, Work has been initiated in almost every city in Turkey to build monuments, busts and statues of Atatürk. Istanbul acted more quickly than other cities in these initiatives. One of the main reasons for this could be the desire to re-strengthen the bond between Ghazi Mustafa Kemal Pasha and Istanbul as the capital of the Ottoman Empire that had weakened during the years of the War of Independence. After the victory, Istanbul, which wanted to preserve its former influence and status as the capital city, sought ways to strengthen its relations with the leader of the national struggle. However, the statements made by Gazi Mustafa Kemal Pasha in İzmit on 16 January 1923 gave the first signs that, contrary to what was thought, Istanbul would not be made the center of government as it was in the past. On 28 February 1923, Ghazi Mustafa Kemal Pasha was granted honorary citizenship of Istanbul by the "Cemiyet-i Umûmiye-i Belediye" (Association of Municipalities), thus demonstrating the love and loyalty of the people of Istanbul to him. However, this kind gesture was not enough for Istanbul to retain its status as the capital, as of 13 October 1923, the new administrative center of the state became Ankara. On the other hand, although Ghazi Mustafa Kemal Pasha was invited to Istanbul for various reasons starting in 1923, he did not visit the city until 1 July 1927. While this issue occupied the public agenda for four years, the city administrators claimed that this was a mere coincidence. Another reason that accelerated the construction of the Atatürk statue in Istanbul was the perspective of the then the Mayor of Istanbul Emin Erkul on the art of sculpture. Before his duty as the Mayor of Istanbul, Emin Erkul, a former military surgeon, served in the National struggle period (1918–1920) and in the parliament as a deputy (1920–1923). He considered the development of sculpture to be a part of civilization and in his statements to newspapers he expressed his desire to build statues he had encountered in the European cities he had previously traveled to. When all these were combined with the importance that the Republic administration and especially Atatürk gave to the fine arts within the framework of their modernization goals, the Istanbul Municipality accelerated its work to become the first city, where a statue of Gazi Mustafa Kemal Pasha was erected.
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