An old house used by the founding father of the modern Turkish Republic, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, as a military headquarters has been discovered in northern Syria’s Afrin province, under the control of the Turkish military following an offensive launched earlier this year, the T24 news website reported on Monday.
According to Süleyman Hatipoğlu, a historian at Hatay Mustafa Kemal University, the house, located in the Raco district of Afrin, was used as a military headquarters in 1918, when Mustafa Kemal was commander of the Ottoman Empire’s 7th Army on the Palestine frontier.
Mustafa Kemal had arrived in Raco the same year, organizing a resistance against the British occupation. A confrontation took place on Oct. 26, 1918 Katme, resulting a victory for the Ottoman side.
After the Afrin area was captured by the Turkish military in March 2018, the newly founded Local Civilian Council conducted some research to uncover the history of the house, according to the state-run Anadolu news agency, citing council head İbrahim Halil Ali.
Ali also said the house had been belonged to Hanif Ağa, a local Kurdish figure who had supported Ottoman rule over the British occupation at the time.
“We should not forget this instructive piece of history. We want to restore the house,” Ali told the agency, adding that the house had been built circa 1890.