If you read through all of my descriptions of the WW I battles near Canakkale, you have learned about the role of Mustafa Kemal. After WW I, the "great powers" were looking to carve up the Ottoman Empire, and they succeeded... at first. They did get a weak Turkish government to sign a treaty. The powers encouraged Greece to grab islands and much of the coastal areas of Asia Minor, but Mustafa Kemal organized an army and drove them out. A new treaty was signed and Kemal became the first President of the Republic of Turkey and he received the name "Atatürk." His picture is in almost every retail establishment, and Turkish flags fly all over the country (even at gasoline stations).

This is a government building in Bergama, to celebrate the anniversary of a visit by Atatürk many years ago (he died in 1938) to the city. Government buildings often have the flag draped down the facade.