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THESSALONIKI, Greece (AP) - A museum dedicated to the founder of the modern Turkish state has reopened in his native city in northern Greece following a year's restoration work.
Greek and Turkish government officials said the museum, at the house where Mustafa Kemal Ataturk is believed to have been born in 1881, would help efforts to strengthen ties between the two historic rivals.
The three-level house inaugurated in Thessaloniki on Friday lies within the Turkish Consulate complex. It has been declared a modern monument by Greek cultural authorities, and was restored to the appearance it had in 1881.
Ataturk, who led Turkey's defeat of Greek expeditionary forces in the 1919-22 war, lived part of his childhood in Thessaloniki. He became Turkey's first president, heading efforts at reconciliation with Greece, and died in 1938.
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