Yesterday's Victory Day celebrations, which marked the 88th anniversary of the Turkish victory in the Battle of Dumlupınar, were dominated by a heavy military presence, with most events held either under the auspices of the armed forces or attended by members of the military.

The Battle of Dumlupınar marks the final conflict of the 1922 Turkish War of Independence. Members of the military were present at Anıtkabir, the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, led by Chief of General Staff Gen. Işık Koşaner. Land Forces Commander Gen. Erdal Ceylanoğlu, Naval Forces Commander Gen. Eşref Uğur Yiğit, Air Forces Commander Gen. Hasan Aksay, Gendarmerie Commander Gen. Necdet Özel, Deputy Chief of General Staff Gen. Aslan Güner and other army members attended the ceremony.Koşaner laid a wreath of red and white carnations in front of Atatürk's tomb, followed by a minute of silence and the singing of the national anthem. “Great Atatürk, we are observing the 88th anniversary of the great victory you won by gathering the whole nation around the idea of independence. This victory has paved the way for us to embrace the republic, a guarantee for Turkey to take its place among contemporary civilizations. … Fully aware of the significance the Atatürkist system of thought carries for our nation, we bow before you with respect. May you rest in peace,” the general wrote, signing the official Anıtkabir memorial guestbook at the Misak-ı Milli (National Pact) Tower.Politicians and statesmen attended an official ceremony held at the General Staff headquarters in Ankara. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, however, failed to attend the ceremony as he was in northern Rize, where he was visiting locals who were affected by last week's destructive landslides. Among the participants were President Abdullah Gül, Parliament Speaker Mehmet Ali Şahin, Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu and Constitutional Court President Haşim Kılıç.İstanbulites marked Victory Day in Taksim Square with the attendance of members of the armed forces, the governor, the mayor and the city's chief of police as well as other top bureaucrats in the city. In some eastern and southeastern provinces, however, the day was marked with tension. In Diyarbakır, the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) provincial chairman, Mehmet Baki Aksoy, refused to attend the celebrations, arguing that a seat was not reserved for him in the protocol. In Van, Mayor Bekir Kaya, a member of the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP), did not attend the celebrations and cited no reason for his absence. 31 August 2010, TuesdayTODAY'S ZAMAN  İSTANBUL