Was Ataturk’s Adopted Child An Armenian?

A controversy started in Turkey after the Agnos daily of the Armenian minority claimed that Sabiha Gokcen, the adopted child of Ataturk and the first woman war pilot of Turkey, came from an Armenian family. Gulsah Celiker who is preparing a documentary for three years for the life of Gokcen, denied these claims, saying that “If Sabiha Gokcen was adopted at the age of 5-6, she should have been at the age o1 15 during her first flight in 1935. (Agnos claimed that Gokcen lost her family during the 1915 Armenian incidents in the Ottoman Empire). However, she was 22 year’s old when she first flew.” Celiker said, “I did not come across any finding in these three years that, Gokcen was of Armenian origin.” According to Celiker, Ataturk adopted Sabiha in 1925, during his visit to Bursa. The General Staff reacted at the claim of the Armenian newspaper, saying, “Publishing such a news, by abusing national values, is unacceptable for the sake of news making. We are following with concern for a while, the irresponsible, unhealthy reports which are being published by part of the Turkish media. "Sabiha Gokcen is also a symbol , showing the importance Ataturk attached to the role of woman in the society. Making such a symbol a controversy, i does not contributke to national unity and social peace." The family tree of Gokcen, shows that she was the daughter of an Ottoman official.Ulku Adatepe, another adopted child of Ataturk said that "I know Sabiha Gokcen as the adopted child of Ataturk and also because she is a relative of my first husband.  She was born in Bursa in a Turkish family. The allegations are pure fabrication. We do not have any negative feelings towards Armenians. But Sabiha was born in a Turkish family in Bursa and was adopted in 1925 at the age of 13, by Ataturk."�