The ATLAS Experiment Entering Operation: Overview, Motivation and Status

The general motivation and the status of the ATLAS experiment at the LHC are briefly reviewed in this report. An account is given on the main milestones of the installation of the detector, as well as of the preparation for the data collection and analysis framework in the worldwide Collaboration. First results from the in-situ commissioning of the detector, and details of the physics potential are reported in almost 20 dedicated talks during this conference. The ATLAS detector has been developed and constructed by a worldwide collaboration. Turkish colleagues have contributed to the project since early on, enthusiastically led and motivated by the late Professor Engin Arik. This talk is dedicated to the memory of Engin Arik and her colleagues whom we all miss so badly.