19th DIVISION AND HEROIC 57th REGIMENT MEMORIAL PARK

Lieutenant Colonel Mustafa Kemal, accompanied by his adjutant and the squad under his command, Sergeant Hasan from Çerkeş, arrived in Tekirdağ on February 2, 1915. Mustafa Kemal and his aide spent their first night in Tekirdağ at the house of Bahriyeli Salih Bey on Yunus Bey Street in the Ortacami neighborhood. During his stay in Tekirdağ, the Musava coffee houses along the way to the military recruitment office were among his main haunts. The completion of the 19th Division took until February 25th. Lieutenant Colonel Mustafa Kemal faced many difficulties in the formation of the 19th Division. Because, on the one hand, the Battle of Çanakkale was ongoing, and on the other hand, hundreds of martyrs and wounded soldiers were being brought to Tekirdağ every day. Despite this, in the face of the difficult situation the country was in, the 57th, 72nd, and 77th regiments, consisting of 891 men, were formed, gathered from Tekirdağ, Malkara, Çorlu, Hayrabolu, and some from depot regiments. During this period, Mustafa Kemal stayed in a wooden house (or hotel) on Corps Street, then known as Fitnat Hanım Mansion, which belonged to Salih Zeki Bey. The last owners of the house were Münir and Hüseyin Soyuer. The building, which was later demolished and rebuilt, is the Yahya Soyuer apartment building.