ANKARA
The original will of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk -- the founder of modern Turkey -- is not missing and is in fact safe in the archives of Turkey’s General Directorate of State Archives, a senior official told The Anadolu Agency.
Moreover, there is no mention of the Ataturk Forestry Farm where the new presidential palace has been built in Ankara in the will, General Director of State Archives Ugur Unal said.
Ataturk established the farm in 1925 as a private establishment and donated it to the Turkish state in 1937.
Some media organizations and Union of Turkish Architects and Engineers had claimed that Ataturk’s will was violated. They said the donated farm was for the benefit of all people and alleged that the new presidential palace was built illegally. It was also said that will of the Turkish republic’s founder had gone missing. Following the claims, an Ankara court requested to see the will. The first hearing of the case was held on Dec. 4, 2014.
The General Directorate of State Archives had also informed the court in a statement about the contents of the will.
About the will, Unal told AA that it remained safe. "It has been well preserved at The General Directorate of State Archives, since the day when it was submitted to our directorate in 1989," he said.
"It is kept in a special strongbox and is open only for research," he added.
Ataturk penned the will on Sept. 5, 1938 at his then residence in Istanbul’s Dolmabahce Palace.
