Filiz President’s call for ‘Atatürk House’: “Do not let it be abandoned to its fate”

Filiz Ceritoğlu Sengel, the Mayor of Selçuk, who has been fighting for the restoration of the building where Mustafa Kemal Atatürk stayed in the Çamlık neighborhood of Selçuk in 1937, stated that the structure needs to be restored as soon as possible. Sengel said, “It doesn’t matter who built the Atatürk House. The municipal government, the governor’s office, the Ministry of Culture, or any other public institution is not important. What matters is to protect these cultural values.”

The condition of the building where Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk stayed during his arrival by train to Selçuk in 1937 to participate in the Aegean maneuvers in Kuşadası is deteriorating day by day. Since being elected mayor in 2019, Selçuk Mayor Filiz Ceritoğlu Sengel has been fighting for the restoration of the building and requested its allocation to the municipality in a letter to the Provincial Directorate of Environment and Urbanization.

Mayor Ceritoğlu Sengel stated, “When I became the Mayor of Selçuk in 2019, we applied for the Çamlık Atatürk House. The Atatürk House has deteriorated incredibly since 2019. We had requested from the governor’s office, ‘Transfer the Çamlık Atatürk House to us. We will carry out its restoration.’ Because we have restoration architects within our municipality as well. However, it was stated that it would be done by YİKOB during that period.”

“We allocate a share from the budget each year for restoration”

Despite making requests again over time, Mayor Ceritoğlu Sengel noted that these requests were still not accepted; “In 2022, we made a request again. We said that this could be done as soon as possible either through the YİKOB share by the Governor’s Office or by transferring it to the Efes Selçuk Municipality, using a system that Efes Selçuk Municipality could find. Since then, not a single stone has been laid. We insistently allocate a share for restoration in our municipal budget every year. After we sent the letter in 2019, we saw that years passed and nothing happened, we sent it again; we were told we would do it. We are still waiting for them to do it.”

Mayor Ceritoğlu Sengel emphasized, “First of all, we believe that it is everyone’s duty to protect this historical and cultural heritage. It doesn’t matter who built the Atatürk House. The municipal government, the governor’s office, the Ministry of Culture, or any other public institution is not important. What matters is to protect these cultural values. Our MP Sevda Erdan Kılıç also brought this issue to the parliamentary agenda. We are expecting everyone’s support.”

The history of the Atatürk House

Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk arrived in Selçuk by train in 1937 to participate in a military maneuver to be held in Kuşadası and then traveled by land to Çamlık (then known as Aziziye village) where he resided in the mentioned building. During his stay in what is referred to as the Atatürk House, he was fascinated by the pine trees in the vicinity, and for this reason, he suggested that the name of the village Aziziye be changed to Çamlık.