Ne mutlu Türküm diyene

Ne mutlu Türküm diyene (German: Happy the one who calls himself a Turk ) is a guiding principle of Atatürk, who until now often finds application in Turkey and is most often translated differently or wrong in foreign media.

Uses

The entire text is used among other things in Turkish schools. After singing the national anthem every morning before class this text will be pronounced as oath of a boy and a girl and repeated by all other students.

Whole text

The full text is:

Translated into German, this means:

Interpretations and translations

The official interpretation of the sentence refers only to citizenship. Happy is he who calls himself a Turk, and not who is Turkish. This should also include citizens of other origin. However, the state practice was often tantamount to denying the existence of minority ethnic groups.

Sources and links

• A Tradition in Delivering Injustice: Judiciary and Rights in Turkey, Necati Polat, with text of the oath (English )
• Turkish original text, Document of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, pdf, p.5

• Oath
• Turkish history
• Mustafa Kemal Atatürk