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Blue Homeland, Children in Blue, Blue Civilisation

This is an annual event celebrating ‘April 23rd National Sovereignity and Children’s Day’. Bebekliler Association organizes activities to encourage children and adolescents to get to know the seas and seafaring in and around Istanbul. Interactive sporting, cultural, social, educational, and art activities are attended by thousands.

‘April 23rd National Sovereignity and Children’s Day’ is the only ‘children’s holiday’ declared and dedicated to Turkish children and the children of the world by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the Turkish Republic. Following the celebrations held at schools, together with their families, children join us to celebrate the day once again, this time in the coastal town of Bebek, by the Bosphorus. The seas and seafaring constitute the theme of each and every activity there. Children enjoy short rides in sailboats and rowboats. They play or dance to sailors’ songs; they take part in competitions related to seafaring. As they watch documentaries on underwater life or divers who dive right before them, children get to learn about different dimentions of the seas. Children witness the energy, enthusiasm, that come with the variety offered by the seas, and they experience the comfort provided by sea transport…

Three sides of our beautiful country Turkey are surrounded by the Black Sea, the Marmara Sea, the Eagean Sea, and the Mediterranean Sea. We believe we can be more independent, more democratic, more rational, more scientific, more productive, more hardworking, more courageous and more happy if we can adopt ‘blue civilisation’ as a national goal.