Turks recently celebrated the anniversary of the opening of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM) by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk on April 23, 1920.

Every April 23, officially known as “National Sovereignty and Children’s Day,” schoolchildren throughout Turkey enjoy a mix of politics and festivities as they sing songs, sit at the desks of high-ranking government officials — president, prime minister, Cabinet ministers, speaker of parliament, provincial governors — and issue remarks on the importance of freedom, the rule of law, national independence and representative democracy. The heartwarming spectacle nurtures hope that younglings with a tenuous understanding of lofty ideals will someday become informed citizens and dedicated public servants.

Although Turkish children were still able to enjoy April 23 this year, new and futile disputes in the political realm marred the national tradition. Ten days before the anniversary, the office of Speaker Ismail Kahraman, who is a member of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), announced that the TBMM will not hold its traditional reception out of respect for those killed in the ongoing fighting in southeast Turkey.

But then news emerged that the AKP government planned to commemorate on April 29 the centennial anniversary of the Ottoman victory at Kut al-Amara in Iraq against the British during World War I. Whereas the cancellation of the TBMM reception had received scant attention, the Kut issue started a storm.