Afyon Victory Monument is inaugurated
During the Battle of Dumlupınar, Mustafa Kemal Pasha, İsmet Pasha, and Fevzi Pasha entered Afyon on August 28, 1922, set up their headquarters, and planned the next stage of the war in the city. Depicting Mustafa Kemal and his brothers-in-arms as they were designing the plan of attack on the map and the repulsion of the enemy forces, the famous Victory Monument was erected at the very point Mustafa Kemal and his fellow fighters used as their headquarters.
Dedicated to the liberation of Afyon and the victory of Turkish military forces, the Victory Monument was designed by Austrian sculptor Heinrich Krippel. On the day of the monument’s inauguration on March 24, 1936, Prime Minister İsmet İnönü, Ministers of Public Works, Finance, and, Economy, as well as CHP General Secretary Recep Peker arrived in Afyon by train. The large crowd including a platoon, a military band, boy scouts, students, and the public was gathered for the ceremony. Following the speeches, Prime Minister İnönü cut the ribbon holding the flag and inaugurated the monument.
Upon seeing it for the first time on November 20, 1937 during a visit to Afyon, Atatürk described the monument as “the monument that best depicts the Great Victory.”
