Mustafa Kemal Atatürk
Kemal Atatürk (March 12, 1881 - November 10, 1938), Turkish soldier and statesman, was the founder and first President of the Republic of Turkey. Some consider him one of the greatest progressive and reformist figures in turkish history; others, especially many conservative Muslims, remember him as a traitor to the Islamic faith.
Born in Selânik as Mustafa Kemal (later given the title Pasha), he entered the military secondary school in Salonika in 1893 and the military academy at Monastir (now Bitola) in 1895. After playing a minor role in the Balkan Wars of 1912 - 1913, he gained a major victory by repulsing the Allied invasion of Gallipoli in 1915.
As part of the Treaty of Sèvres areas with a majority of Christian Italian (Levantine) and Greek population had been assigned to the Allied Powers. Kemal organized the Turkish Nationalist Republican Party in 1919 from local resistance groups. This group overthrew the incumbent Ottoman Sultan Mehmed VI and the Allies in Anatolia, and he and his lieutenant Ismet Pasha (later Ismet Inönü) then presided over the defeat of the Greek invasion during the war that turks call Turkish War of Independence. With the Treaty of Lausanne these areas were reincorporated into Turkey.
The Republic of Turkey was founded on October 29, 1923. Atatürk was elected Turkey's first president in 1923. The name "Atatürk", meaning father of Turks was bestowed on Kemal by the national parliament in 1934.
Atatürk began a variety of Westernizing reforms by abolishing the Caliphate (March 1924). The theological schools were closed, the Sharia law of Islam was replaced by the Swiss Civil Code -- importantly for the politics of the region, this officially separated the functions of Church and state in Turkey. Also the Italian Penal Code and the German Commerce Code were also adopted.
He attacked the fez (the head dress) and made its use illegal. He made his public appearances in a European-style hat and made that the new head dress. He was also impressed with European dance and encouraged women to learn it.
He was also responsible for the conversion of written Turkish from an Arabic script to a modified Latin alphabet. (A date was fixed and it was made illegal by law to use the old Arabic script.)This resulted in the increased use of the typewriter and a long-term increase in literacy. Also, the mass introduction of typewriters brought more stenographic jobs and thus more employment for women. It also made it impossible for even educated Turks to read any of the Ottoman history or manuscripts or literature, except as translated by a tightly controlled academia and media. All the citizens from six to forty years of age were made to attend school and learn the new alphabet.
Drawing any kind of Human forms was banned in Islamic faith. Kemal opened new schools to teach the new art form for boys and girls. Atatürk also greatly appreciated the national alcoholic beverages raki, and boza. Atatürk drank vast quantities of raki and this finally caused his death.
He wanted to cut off Turkey from the Arabic nations as much as possible and so he even forced the moulvis (Men of Mosque) to change the azan (Call to prayer) from the Arabic to Turkish. This act made him look like a traitor of the Islamic faith to many conservative Muslims, as well as his alleged comment calling the Islamic prophet Muhammad an "immoral camel driver" although some historians suspect that this comment was fabricated by his enemies to discredit him.
Atatürk gave Turkey a new prestige in the international field by his achievements in both military and political fields, crowned (July 1936) by the restoration of Turkish sovereignty over the Straits under the Montreux Convention. He died in 1938 of complications of cirrhosis.
The personality cult Atatürk established around himself during his rule has remained influential in Turkey into the 21st century. To this day, his portrait can be seen in most public buildings, and even in the homes of many Turkish families. Atatürk's legacy can be seen to remain in the strong political role of the Turkish military, the extremely detailed teaching of his biography in schools to the detriment of other subjects, and the strong focus on promoting "Western" values. However, western values have changed considerably since Atatürk's time, and it is perceived in some circles that clinging to these old-fashioned values is actually harming the modernized Westernization of Turkey. The legacy of Atatürk has also served as an obstacle to anti-Western islamists in Turkey, balancing the agenda of the present government, with its Islamic roots, with the traditional secular values of Atatürk's Republic.
Atatürk has an international airport named after him, the Atatürk International Airport in Istanbul.
see also Young Turks