A Victory March was held from Çakırözü village in Şuhut, Afyonkarahisar, toward Kocatepe to mark the 104th anniversary of the opening of the Great Offensive. According to Anadolu Agency’s report dated August 26, the program began in the schoolyard at Çakırözü before participants followed the historic route toward Kocatepe. Afyonkarahisar Governor Naci Aktaş and provincial officials were reported among those attending. The event took place during the night connecting August 25 and August 26, bringing the march into the anniversary date on which the offensive began.
The route from Şuhut to Kocatepe
Şuhut and Kocatepe are closely connected in the historical account of the Great Offensive. A current record published by the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye states that the movement from Şuhut began on August 25, 1922, before the offensive was launched on August 26. The commemorative march makes that connection visible through a present-day public event. Anadolu Agency reported that the opening program in Çakırözü included a video produced by the Turkish Armed Forces, the recitation of a commando oath and performances of patriotic folk songs. The walking group then continued on the route toward Kocatepe.
The operation that began 104 years ago
A historical note from the Atatürk Research Center says the Great Offensive began on August 26, 1922, and reached a decisive stage with the victory in the Battle of the Commander-in-Chief on August 30. The institution describes the campaign as a major turning point in the military outcome of the Turkish National Struggle and the path toward the establishment of the new state. The current march is not presented as a reconstruction of combat. Its stated function is to remember the starting route, the date and their place in public memory.
Part of Victory Week
Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş, speaking at the 104th-anniversary event in Şuhut, emphasized the historical link between the departure from Şuhut on August 25, 1922, and the offensive that began the next day. The official parliamentary record places the event within the wider Victory Week program. The night march therefore became one of the opening commemorations in the calendar leading to Victory Day on August 30. No shared, verified attendance figure appeared in the reviewed event reports, so this article does not provide one.
Why the event is newsworthy now
The march is more than an anniversary message because it was a current event conducted at a verifiable location and along a defined route. The start in Şuhut, the program at Çakırözü and the walk toward Kocatepe are described through complementary details in Anadolu Agency’s field report and the official parliamentary account. Historical background has been limited to the institutional record of the Atatürk Research Center. Keeping those source roles separate helps distinguish information about the 2026 event from facts about 1922.
Further commemorations are expected in Afyonkarahisar and nearby locations during Victory Week. This report is limited to the Şuhut–Kocatepe Victory March completed in the first hours of August 26 and to program details that could be verified from the cited records. Any later ceremonies, attendance claims or schedule changes should be checked against new statements from the responsible institutions before being reported.
