PENSPACE

Name: Mustafa Kemal

Honorific Title: Ataturk

Best Known As:

• The Founder of the modern Republic of Turkey

• A Renowned statesman, reformer and political thinker

Birth and Death:

• Born May 19, 1881 in Salonika (modern day Thessaloniki), Greece.

• Died November 10, 1938 in Istanbul, Turkey.

Overview:

Mustafa Kemal Ataturk is considered to be the founder of the Republic of Turkey. Ataturk is remembered as a military hero, reformer, political thinker and a visionary who founded the modern Republic of Turkey from the ruins of the Ottoman Empire.

Early Life and Education:

Ataturk was born in Salonika (modern day Thessaloniki), Greece. His father was a government official in the Ottoman Empire. At the age of 12, he was sent to Military school and then to the Military Academy, Istanbul from where he would graduate as a lieutenant in 1905.

Career:

After graduating from the Military Academy in Istanbul, Ataturk was assigned to a military unit in Damascus. In the following years, he participated in the campaigns against the Italians in Libya and in the Balkans war. He earned great acclaim during the Dardanelles campaign of the First World War, where the Ottoman Turkish forces repulsed the disastrous Allied landings on the beaches of Gallipoli. The stiff Turkish resistance, eventually, forced the Allies to withdraw. The role of Ataturk during this crucial event in the war made him a national hero and earned him his reputation as a courageous and capable commander and acclaim, even amongst the Allies, for his brilliant military tactics.

The First World War ended with the victory of the Allied Powers over the Ottoman Empire. Turkey came under Allied occupation and the Allies drew up plans to partition the Ottoman Empire.

Turkish resentment over the occupation provided a fertile ground for the growth of Turkish Nationalism. The Turkish National Movement was born, in which Ataturk played a leading role. The Turkish War of Independence, which soon followed, led to the birth of the Turkish Republic in 1923. Ataturk was proclaimed the first President.

Ataturk’s Reforms:

Ataturk established the Turkish Republic on his ideology known as Kemalism. Ataturk envisioned a modern republic that was progressive and secular.

Ataturk believed that one of the chief reasons for the defeat of the Ottoman Empire during the First World War was its regressive social and cultural mindset. Soon after assuming the presidency, Ataturk abolished the Ottoman Caliphate and instituted a series of reforms.

He theorized that Turkey can attain the level of European nations only by adopting the customs, education and laws of the West. Towards this end, he launched sweeping reforms on the political, economic, legal and cultural spheres.

Ataturk laid great stress on education and launched numerous literacy campaigns. Ataturk replaced the traditional script of the Turkish language with a simpler Latinized script. A firm believer in women’s rights, he gave voting rights to women. This was a revolutionary step considering the fact that even women in many European countries did not have voting rights at the time.

He also introduced changes in the dress code, law and in the calendar. He encouraged Turks to abandon the oriental dresses of the Ottoman Empire and to switch over to Western attire. All religious institutions linked to the state were abolished and the secular nature of the state was emphasized.

Legacy and Death:

Ataturk is considered to be a visionary, reformer and a great statesman. He advocated a pacifist foreign policy that worked towards world peace and forged peace treaties with neighboring countries.

Mustafa Kemal Ataturk died in Istanbul on November 10, 1938. He is buried in the Ataturk Mausoleum in Ankara, Turkey – a revered national monument.

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