Guide
The monument stands on Kocatepe, at 1,874 metres, within the boundaries of the town of Büyük Kalecik in the central district of Afyonkarahisar. The road up is asphalt but closed in winter because of the snow.
This is where the Great Offensive was begun, directed and commanded by Mustafa Kemal on 26 August 1922. Geographically it is a hill commanding the plains of Afyonkarahisar and Sinanpaşa. He and his companions came up on the evening of 25 August 1922 and launched the offensive here the next morning, running its first phase from the headquarters established on the hill and from the trench that is still there; he left Kocatepe around midday on 27 August.
The Ministry of National Defence built a cut-stone monument here in 1953 and set on it a marble inscription carved with flowers. In 1993 the Ministry of Culture added the statue of Atatürk, landscaped the site and opened it to visitors. The bronze monument weighs four tonnes and stands 7.5 metres high with its base.
Victory Week is held in Afyonkarahisar each year from 26 to 30 August, beginning with the first ceremony at Kocatepe on 26 August and running five days. For a place of this weight, the portal notes, the number of visitors is low.
