Turkey Independence March History

Following the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire and the slow-rising success of the newly-organized civilian and armed forces around Anatolia fighting against invading European powers, it was decided that an inspirational, soul-stirring and dramatic composition was needed to invigorate the ailing spirits of an exhausted people fighting for their freedom, which would also act as a foundation stone on top of which a new nation could be built.

A nation-wide competition was subsequently organized to find and select the most suitable original composition for a National March, for which a total of 724 poems were submitted. Particularly striking due to its literary merits as well as the manner with which the poet had successfully infused patriotic fervor with spiritual passion, a ten-verse poem written by the renowned poet Mehmet Akif Ersoy was unanimously adopted by the Turkish Grand National Assembly following an evaluation by a parliamentary committee.

Shortly thereafter, twenty-four composers participated in another competition arranged for the selection of a musical composition that would suit the elected National Anthem best. The Council, which was only able to convene in 1924 due to the Turkish War of Independence, adopted the music composed by Ali Rifat Çagatay.

The words of the National Anthem were sung to this music until 1930. Thereafter, the music was changed to a symphonic arrangement written by Osman Zeki Üngör, conductor of the Presidential Symphonic Orchestra, and a new harmonization supplied by Edgar Manas. The original words have been sung to this musical accompaniment ever since.

Source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C4%B0stikl%C3%A2l_Mar%C5%9F%C4%B1#English_translation