On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the proclamation of the Republic, members of Balıkesir City Council Fidelity to the City Assembly visited the citizens living in Balıkesir province who were born in the same year as the Republic. Emotional moments were witnessed during the visits. The surviving great sycamores of the Republic reminisced the past by telling their childhood memories of the first period of the Republic and the anecdotes of the War of Independence told by their elders to the members of the Fidelity to the City Assembly who came to visit them.

Gökmen Karadağ, President of the Fidelity to the City Assembly of Balıkesir City Council, made statements about the visits; 'The father of the idea of this project is actually our Mayor of Balıkesir Metropolitan Municipality Mr. Yücel Yılmaz. We started this project after he stated that it would be meaningful to carry out such a study in a meeting we had with him. First of all, we started by identifying those born in 1923 residing within our provincial borders. As a result of our research, we identified 24 citizens in 14 districts, but unfortunately 7 of them were not suitable for visits due to health problems. We contacted the families of our precious elders in Karesi, Balya, Kepsut, Burhaniye, Edremit and Susurluk through our mukhtars and conveyed our visit request. And thanks to them, none of them refused our invitation request. During our visits, we listened to sad memories and fun memories. The most striking moment during our visits was that when we took out our glorious Turkish Flag, which was among the gifts we brought, the 100-year-old great sycamores could not hold back their tears. When we saw their satisfaction with our visit, we were extremely happy. On this occasion, while remembering Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and his comrades-in-arms and all our martyrs with gratitude, and prayers, who gave us the Republic as a gift. We celebrate the Republic Day of all our beloved people who are proud and honoured to be under the Turkish flag."