AP Photos: The mausoleum of Turkey's founding father Ataturk
By lefteris pitarakis, associated press
ANKARA, Turkey — Apr 14, 2017, 5:51 AM ET
The Associated Press
In this March 29, 2017 photo, Turkish military honour guards perform the hourly changing of the guard at the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey in Ankara, Turkey. The legacy of the man whose surname means "father of Turks" was one of a modern, secular, western-leaning Turkey. But the personality cult that grew around him has very gradually been fading as current President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in power since 2003 as alternately prime minister and president, has harked back to the glory days of the height of the Ottoman Empire to whip up patriotic sentiment.
For generations, Turks have revered their nation's founding father, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, who carved out modern Turkey from the ashes of the Ottoman Empire in the wake of World War I, and his mausoleum in Ankara is a place of pilgrimage for many.
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