Item: i111615

Authentic Coin of:

Turkey
27th May 1960 Revolution
1960 Silver 10 Lira 34mm (14.81 grams) 0.830 Silver  (0.3977 oz. ASW)
Reference: KM# 894
TURKIYE CUMHURIYETI ON LIRA, Head of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk left.
Radiant crescent and star above torch, balance scales, crossed flag and wing; 27  MAY 1960 below.

You are bidding on the exact item pictured, provided with a Certificate of Authenticity and Lifetime Guarantee of  Authenticity.

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk; (19 May 1881  –  10 November 1938) was a Turkish army officer, revolutionary , and the first President of Turkey . He is credited with being  the founder of the Republic of Turkey . His surname, Atatürk  (meaning “Father of the Turks”), was granted to him in 1934 and forbidden to any other person by  the Turkish parliament.

Atatürk  was a military officer during World War I . Following the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in World War I, he led the Turkish National Movement in the Turkish War of Independence . Having established a provisional government in Ankara , he defeated the forces sent by the Allies , eventually leading to victory in the  Turkish War of Independence. Atatürk then embarked upon a program of political,  economic, and cultural reforms, seeking to transform the former Ottoman Empire  into a modern and secular nation-state. Under his leadership,  thousands of new schools were built, primary education was made free and  compulsory, and women were given equal civil and political rights, while the  burden of taxation on peasants was reduced. His government also carried out an  extensive policy of Turkification . The principles of Atatürk’s reforms , upon which modern Turkey was  established, are referred to as Kemalism .

Turkey,  officially the Republic of Turkey, is a parliamentary republic in Eurasia , mainly on the Anatolian peninsula in Western Asia , with a smaller portion on the Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe . Turkey is bordered by eight  countries: Syria and Iraq to the south; Iran , Armenia , and the Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhchivan to the east; Georgia to the northeast; Bulgaria to the northwest; and Greece to the west. The Black Sea is to the north, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and the Aegean Sea to the west. The Bosphorus , the Sea of Marmara , and the Dardanelles (which together form the Turkish Straits ) demarcate the boundary between Thrace and Anatolia ; they also separate Europe and Asia.  Turkey’s location at the crossroads of Europe and Asia makes it a country of  significant geostrategic importance.

Turkey has been inhabited since the paleolithic age , including various ancient Anatolian civilizations, Aeolian , Dorian and Ionian Greeks , Thracians , Armenians , and Assyrians . After Alexander the Great ‘s conquest, the area was Hellenized , a process which continued under the Roman Empire and its transition into the Byzantine Empire . The Seljuk Turks began migrating into the area in  the 11th century, starting the process of Turkification , which was greatly accelerated by  the Seljuk victory over the Byzantines at the Battle of Manzikert in 1071. The Seljuk Sultanate of Rûm ruled Anatolia until  the Mongol invasion in 1243, upon which it  disintegrated into several small Turkish beyliks .

Starting from the late 13th century, the Ottomans united Anatolia and created an empire  encompassing much of Southeastern Europe, Western Asia and North Africa,  becoming a major power in Eurasia and Africa during the early modern period . The empire reached the  peak of its power between the 15th and 17th centuries, especially during the  1520–66 reign of Suleiman the Magnificent . After the second Ottoman siege of Vienna in 1683 and the  end of the Great Turkish War in 1699, the Ottoman Empire  entered a long period of decline . The Tanzimat reforms of the 19th century, which  aimed to modernize the Ottoman state, proved to be inadequate in most fields,  and failed to stop the dissolution of the empire .

Effectively controlled by the Three Pashas after the 1913 coup d’état , the Ottoman Empire entered World War I (1914–18) on the side of the Central Powers and was ultimately defeated.  During the war, the Ottoman government committed ethnic cleansing or genocide against its Armenian , Assyrian and Pontic Greek citizens. Following the war, the  conglomeration of territories and peoples that formerly comprised the Ottoman  Empire was divided into several new states .

The Turkish War of Independence (1919–22),  initiated by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and his colleagues in Anatolia , resulted in the establishment of the  modern Republic of Turkey in 1923, with Atatürk as its first president. Turkey  is a democratic , secular , unitary , constitutional republic with a diverse cultural heritage . The country’s  official language is Turkish , a Turkic language spoken natively by  approximately 85 percent of the population. 70–75 percent of the population are  ethnic Turks ; and about 25-30% of the population  consists of recognized (Armenians, Greeks , Jews ) and unrecognized (Kurds, Circassians , Arabs , Albanians , Bosniaks , Georgians , etc.) minorities. Kurds make up the  largest minority group. The vast majority of the population is Sunni Muslim , with Alevis making up the largest religious  minority. Turkey is a charter member of the UN , early member of NATO , and a founding member of the OECD , OSCE , OIC and the G-20 . After becoming one of the first members of the Council of Europe in 1949, Turkey became an associate member of the EEC in 1963, applied for full EEC membership in  1987, joined the EU Customs Union in 1995 and started accession negotiations with the European Union in 2005. Turkey’s growing  economy and diplomatic initiatives have led to its recognition as a regional power.