Portal:Turkey/Selected biography
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (1881 – November 10, 1938) was an army officer, revolutionary statesman, the founder of the Republic of Turkey and its first President.
Mustafa Kemal established himself as a successful and extremely capable military commander while serving as a division commander in the Battle of Gallipoli. Afterwards he had fought with distinction on the eastern Anatolian and Palestinian fronts, making a name for himself during World War I. [1] Following the defeat of the Ottoman Empire at the hands of the Allies, and the subsequent plans for its partition, Mustafa Kemal led the Turkish national movement in what would become the Turkish War of Independence. Having established a provisional government in Ankara, he defeated the forces sent by the Entente powers. His successful military campaigns led to the liberation of the country and to the establishment of the Republic of Turkey.
Mustafa Kemal then embarked on a major programme of reforms, in the political, economic and cultural aspects of life in Turkey with the perspectives defined in the Kemalist ideology, which sought to create a modern, democratic and secular nation-state.
- ^ Erik J. Zurcher, p. 142