Name

His birth name is "Mustafa" (meaning "the Chosen"). He acquired "Kemal" (meaning "Perfection") as a second name during his elementary school years. He was known as Mustafa Kemal or commonly "Kemal Pasha", until his resignation from his post in the Ottoman Empire. During the independence war the Turkish National Assembly assigned him the title Gazi, hence "Gazi Mustafa Kemal". With the passage of the surname law on November 24, 1934, he asked to be called "Öz", but was instead presented by the Turkish National Assembly with the surname "Atatürk" (meaning "Father Turk" or "Ancestor Turk"), hence Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.^[2] He is revered by the people of Turkey as the Father of the Nation.

 Early life

Atatürk was born in 1881 in the Ottoman city of Selânik (modern-day Thessaloniki, Greece), the son of a minor official who became a timber merchant. In accordance with the then prevalent Turkish custom, he was given a single name, Mustafa. His father, Ali Rıza Efendi, was a customs officer who died when Mustafa Kemal was seven and it was left to his mother Zübeyde Hanım, to raise the young Mustafa.

When Atatürk was 12 years old, he went to military schools in Selânik and Manastır (present-day Bitola, Republic of Macedonia), centres of discontent towards the Ottoman administration. Mustafa studied at the military secondary school in Selânik, where the additional name Kemal ("perfection" or "maturity", not an uncommon name) was given to him by his mathematics teacher in recognition of his academic excellence.^[3] Mustafa Kemal entered the military academy at Manastır in 1895. He graduated as a lieutenant in 1905 and was posted to Damascus under the command of the 5th Army. In Damascus, he soon joined a small secret revolutionary society of reform-minded officers called Vatan ve Hürriyet (Motherland and Liberty) and became an active opponent of the Ottoman regime. In 1907, he attained the rank of captain and was posted to the 3rd Army in Manastır. During this period he joined the Committee of Union and Progress, commonly known as the Young Turks. The Young Turks seized power from the Sultan Abdul-Hamid II in 1908, and Mustafa Kemal became a senior military figure.

Mustafa Kemal and Libyan bedevis (anti-Italian fighters)

In 1910, he took part in the Picardie army maneuvers in France, and in 1911, he served at the Ministry of War in Istanbul. Later in 1911, he was posted to the province of Trablusgarp (the present Libya) to participate in the defense against the Italian invasion. Following the successful defense of Tobruk on December 22, 1911, he was appointed the commander of Derne on March 6, 1912.

He returned to Istanbul following the outbreak of the Balkan Wars in October 1912. During the First Balkan War, he fought against the Bulgarian army at Gallipoli and Bolayır on the coast of Thrace, and played a crucial role in the recapture of Edirne and Didymoteicho during the Second Balkan War. In 1913 he was appointed military attaché to Sofia, partly to remove him from the capital and its political intrigues, and was promoted to lieutenant colonel in 1914.

 Military career in World War I

Further information: Middle Eastern theatre of World War I

 Battle of Gallipoli, 1915

Mustafa Kemal commanded 19^th division at Battle of Gallipoli, which he faced with nearly all the landings

In 1914, the German Marshal Otto Liman von Sanders was assigned by the defence of the Dardanelles in command of the 5^th Army. Mustafa Kemal was subsequently promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and given the task of organizing and commanding the 19^th Division attached to 5^th Army. With his division stationed in Gallipoli, Mustafa Kemal found himself at the centre of the Allies' attempt to force their way on the peninsula.

Mustafa Kemal in Gallipoli with soldiers, 1915.

On 8 January 1915, the British War Council decided to launch an operation "to bombard and take the Gallipoli peninsula with Istanbul as its objective". Between 19-25 February, during an initial British scouting, a sergeant named "Mehmet" rushed a British sailor with a rock, when his rifle was jammed. Mustafa Kemal publicized this incident to improve the morale of his soldiers and gave birth to the term "Mehmetçik", which is used today as a nickname for Turkish soldiers.

Mustafa Kemal, by holding off the allied forces at Chunuk Bair, earned the rank of Colonel during these first stages of landings. The second stage of the Gallipoli campaign, which was opened on August 6, put Mustafa Kemal only three hundred meters (0.18 miles) away from the firing line. He was the commander at many major battles like Battle of Chunuk Bair, Battle of Scimitar Hill, Battle of Sari Bair, and during the Landing at Anzac Cove. On 25 April 1915 (Anzac Cove), he met the enemy in the hills, held them, and retook the high ground. Largely owing to him and his command, the Australian and New Zealand forces were contained and the landing force failed to reach its objectives.^[4] Mustafa Kemal told his troops:

I don’t order you to attack, I order you to die. In the time it takes us to die, other troops and commanders can come and take our places.^[4]

Words of Atatürk at the Anzac Cove.

Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives… you are now lying in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets where they lie side by side here in this country of ours… You the mothers who sent their sons from far away countries, wipe away your tears. Your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace. Having lost their lives on this land they have become our sons as well.

The evacuation was the greatest Allied success; on the Ottoman Empire side Halil Sami (9^th division) at Cape Helles, Esat Bülkat (III Corps), Yakup Şevki Subaşı (XV Corps), Otto Liman von Sanders (5^th Army) and Enver Pasha (Minister of War) had significant achievements based on their role toward the defense of straits. However, Mustafa Kemal became the outstanding front-line commander and gained much respect from his former enemies for his chivalry in victory. The Mustafa Kemal Atatürk Memorial has an honoured place on ANZAC Parade in Canberra, Australia. Mustafa Kemal's commemorating speech on the loss of thousands of Turkish and Anzac soldiers in Gallipoli stays at Anzac Cove.

 Caucasus Campaign, 1916

Following the Battle of Gallipoli, Mustafa Kemal served in Edirne until April of 1916. Most historians believe that Enver Pasha deliberately delayed his promotion.

On April 1, 1916, Mustafa Kemal was given the command of XVI corps of 2^nd Army and sent to the Caucasus Campaign, with the rank of Brigadier General. In 1916 the Russian Caucasus army had two branches. Nikolai Nikolaevich Yudenich was in the north and moving toward Trabzon while pushing the 3^rd Army. 2^nd Army was on the south facing the insurgency and two organized military forces; the Russian army under General Tovmas Nazarbekian and the detachment Armenian volunteer units controlled by Andranik Toros Ozanian. When Mustafa Kemal was assigned to his post, these forces were in constant advance and an Armenian provisional government was formed with a progressive autonomous region.^[5][6] The Armenian administration was growing from its initial set up around Lake Van.^[7] When Mustafa Kemal arrived to the region, Aram Manougian was controlling occupied regions since the beginning from the early Van Resistance. The initial stages of the Battle of Bitlis and the Battle of Muş were already developed and these centers were captured by opposing forces. The region was inhospitable at the best of times.^[8] Communication lines were under insurgency attacks. It was hard to find craftsmen to fix things. Kurds were roaming round towns whose social fabric had been destroyed.^[8] Hundreds of thousands of refugees, many of them Kurds, which had bitter relations to Armenian units, came flooding in front of the advancing armies.^[9] Mustafa Kemal's initial task was to bring order to the scared people so that his corps could function during this human suffering. Mustafa Kemal had so strengthened the morale of his force, following its defeat, that within five days his two divisions captured not only Bitlis but the equally important town of Muş, greatly disturbing the calculations of the Russian Command.^[10] But Izzet, on other parts of the front, failed to match these successes. In September, he retreated from Muş under the heavy advance of Russian army and Armenian volunteer units. However, he could claim the only Turkish victory in a round of defeats.^[10] That same year as recognition of his military achievement and the improvement of stability of the region, he was given the medal golden sword of the order of "Imtiyaz".

During his command, Mustafa Kemal concentrated on inspection of the hospitals to check the wounded and the mosques which became the centers for helping refugees, alongside the strategic goal of confining the enemy within the mountainous region. On March 7, 1917, he was appointed from command of XVI corps to the command of 2^nd Army.

Sinai and Palestine Campaign, 1917

Sinai and Palestine Campaign in 1918, which Mustafa Kemal was commanding 7^th Army from Nablus.

His command of the 2^nd Army was cut short, as he was transferred to Sinai and Palestine Campaign. He was assigned to the 7^th Army. After a short visit to the 7^th Army HQ, he returned to Istanbul on October 7. He joined the crown prince Mehmed Vahdettin on a visit to Germany. During this trip he fell ill and stayed in Vienna for medical treatment.

He returned to Aleppo on August 28, 1918 and resumed the command of the 7^th Army. His headquarters were in Nablus Palestine. He was under Liman von Sanders, whose group headquarters were in Nazareth. Mustafa Kemal studied Syria thoroughly once again and visited the front line. His conclusion was that Syria was in a pitiable state (the 1915-1917 period had left 500,000 Syrian casualties to famine.)^[11] There was no Ottoman civil governor or commander. There was an abundance of English propaganda and English secret agents were everywhere. The people hated the government and looked forward to the arrival of the English as soon as possible. The enemy was stronger than his forces were in men and equipment. He said "We are like a cotton thread drawn across his path."^[12]

Mustafa Kemal had Arab Revolt in his hand, which was organized by Great Britain. Liman von Sanders lost the Battle of Megiddo leaving 75,000 POW behind just on the first day. Now, Allenby and Mustafa Kemal's 7^th Army were face to face. Mustafa Kemal retreated towards Jordan. In a couple of days, the total number of the deserters reached 300,000.^[13] Mustafa Kemal's war was changed drastically from fighting against allies to fighting against disintegration. He sent a furious telegram to Sultan:

The withdrawal ... could have been carried out in some order if a fool like Enver Paşa had not been the director-general of operations, if we did not have here a commander - Cevat Paşa - at the head of a military force of five to ten thousand men, who fled at the first sound of gunfire, abandoning his army, and wandered round like a bewildered chicken, and a commander of the 4^th army, Cemal Paşa, ever incapable of appreciating a military situation, and if above them we did not have a group headquarters [under Liman von Sanders ], which lost all control from the first day of battle. Now there is nothing left to do but to make peace.^[14]

Mustafa Kemal was appointed to the command of Yıldırım Orduları, replacing Liman von Sanders. He established his headquarters at Katma and succeeded in regaining control. He managed to resist at south of Aleppo, at the mountains. He stopped the advancing British forces (last engagements of the campaign), which Mustafa Kemal's line became the base of the peace agreement. Mustafa Kemal's last active service to the Ottoman Empire was organizing what was left behind in the southern part.

Mustafa Kemal in Aleppo, 1918

 Partitioning of the Empire, 1918

See also: Partitioning of the Ottoman Empire

On 30 October 1918 the Ottomans capitulated to the Allies with the Armistice of Mudros. Beginning with the armistice, the creation of the modern Arab world and Turkey began. As a reaction to the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire, the Turkish people waged an independence war to create the modern Turkey as soon as possible. The Arab rejection of the armistice developed later, which had established the independent Arab countries of Syria, Iraq, Kuwait, Jordan, and Lebanon.

At the end of the war, Mustafa Kemal was 37 years old. Initially, he was assigned to command the largest remaining military front the, Yıldırım Orduları. After the armistice, however, the Yıldırım Orduları was dissolved, and Mustafa Kemal returned to an occupied Istanbul on November 13, 1918. He was given an administrative position at the Ministry of War.

The British, Italian, French and Greek forces began to occupy Anatolia with the intention of leaving only a part of Central Anatolia as Turkish territory. Occupation of Istanbul along with the occupation of İzmir mobilized the establishment of the Turkish national movement and the Turkish War of Independence.^[15]

 Independence

Main article: Turkish War of Independence

 Initial organization (May 1919-March 1920)

Further information: Initial Organization

Members of the first Assembly with Mustafa Kemal, Ankara, 23 April 1920

Establishment of the Turkish national movement was the first goal in Mustafa Kemal's mind. The occupations generated disorganised local oppositions through numerous militant resistance groups and unions. Most of these oppositions met with Allied crackdowns. Some of their leaders were exiled to Malta (see Malta exiles). The Sultan kept his title during the occupation of Istanbul and initiated the Turkish Courts-Martial of 1919-20 to escape from Allied pressure.

Mustafa Kemal's active participation in the resistance began with his assignment as a General Inspector the East army. His task was to oversee the demobilisation. This assignment put him in an ideal position to help organise the resistance.^[16] Mustafa Kemal stepped in Anatolia on May 19, 1919. Interpreting his powers liberally, he contacted local leaders and started issuing orders to provincial governors and military commanders — calling on them to resist occupation. In June 1919, he and his close friends issued the Amasya Circular which described why Istanbul's authority had become illegitimate.

The British were alarmed when they learned of Mustafa Kemal's activities. On June 23, High Commissioner Admiral Cathrope sent a report to the British Foreign Office. The following communications brought the Ottoman government's order for the execution of Mustafa Kemal. On July 8, he resigned from the Ottoman Army, while in Erzurum. Erzurum was the gateway and portal to Turkish tribes migrating to Eastern Anatolia. It was hosting the Erzurum Congress at the time. Mustafa Kemal was declared a "Honorary Native" and freeman of the city, which issued him the first citizenship registration and certificate. Mustafa Kemal became the city's deputy. The Sivas Congress, established after Erzurum, honored Mustafa Kemal with the speaker title. Mustafa Kemal called for a national election to establish a new parliament that would sit in Ankara.^[17] Nationalist call for the election was achieved.

On 12 February, 1920, the last Ottoman parliament gathered in Istanbul and declared the Misak-ı Milli (National Oath). The coming days brought its dissolution by the British and subsequently the Sultan.

Mustafa Kemal and İsmet before the Battle of Dumlupınar

 Jurisdictional Conflict (March 1920 - March 1922)

Further information: Jurisdictional Conflict

Mustafa Kemal used the dissolution of the parliament as a chance to establish a new assembly in Ankara. The first session of the "Grand National Assembly of Turkey" gathered on April 23, 1920, in Ankara. Mustafa Kemal became the President of the Assembly. The goal declared was to liberate the sultan.^[17]

A "jurisdictional conflict" occurred between the Ottoman government in Istanbul and the newly established parliament in Ankara. The Treaty of Sèvres was signed between the Ottoman government and the Allies on August 10, 1920, which further set up the occupation of Anatolia. This caused a big drop in the legitimacy of the Istanbul government. Occupations were unacceptable. Mustafa Kemal used this very effectively against the sultanate. Popular sovereignty passed with the new constitution of 1921. The Constitution of 1921 gave Mustafa Kemal the tools to wage an independence war, as it refuted the principles of the Treaty of Sèvres by assigning the legality to the nation, not to the monarch or its representative (Ottoman government). He persuaded the Grand National Assembly to gather a national Army. Mustafa Kemal was an established military strategist.

The national Army, under Marshal Mustafa Kemal, faced Allies on three fronts; Franco-Turkish, Greco-Turkish, Turkish-Armenian fronts. When the Turkish forces fell back to the Sakarya River, eighty kilometers from the Grand National Assembly, against Greeks, Mustafa Kemal was given personal command of the Army and the Turkish Army decisively defeated the Greeks in the twenty-day Battle of Sakarya from August 23 to September 13, 1921. Final victory over the Greeks came in the Battle of Dumlupınar on August 30, 1922.

With the collapse of the Russian Empire in 1917, three independent republics had been established in the Caucasus: Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia. Kemal and his movement were angered by the Ottoman government's decision to recognize the "principle of autonomy" in Armenia,^[18] and this only galvanized after Ferid signed the Treaty of Sèvres which stated that the country would recognize Armenia as a "free and independent state" and thus renounce any territorial claims against it.^[19] In the early autumn of 1920, Kemal's forces attacked Armenia and captured much of the territory of the Republic. In December 1920, Armenia sued for peace and in the ensuing treaties with the Soviet Union (after Armenia was incorporated in to it) Turkey won control of much of territories of the DRA.

TIME March 24, 1923. Atatürk, the title reads 'Where is a Turk his own master?'

 Stage for peace (March 1922- April 1923)

Further information: Stage for Peace

See also: Treaty of Kars and Treaty of Lausanne

In 1921, Yakup Kadri Karaosmanoğlu reports that Mustafa Kemal was not universally popular in the assembly, as he devoted his time to politics instead of leading the army. They used as evidence the fact that he directly commanded only two battles during the independence war.^[20] Beginning with March 1922, Kemal’s political efforts began to give their results which the eastern border was settled by the Treaty of Kars on October 23, 1921. The treaty returned the sovereignty of the cities of Kars and Ardahan. These cities were captured by Tsarist Russia in Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878.

TIME 21 February 1927. TIME's rebuttal to Mustafa Kemal's reaction to US rejection of Laussanne Treaty

The achievement at the fronts transferred to the negotiations at the Conference of Lausanne in 1923. İsmet İnönü was the leading Turkish negotiator at the Lausanne, while Mustafa Kemal was doing the same with the Assembly in Ankara. There were deputies of the Assembly which demanded that peace can not be reached until the Misak-i Milli was established. Through the Treaty of Lausanne, Turkey finally entered a period of peace, despite irredentist opposition in the Assembly and elsewhere on July 24, 1923.

 Kemalist ideology

For the conceptual analysis see Kemalist ideology

The three presidents of Turkey

The nature of the state, its organization and its functions are summarized in Kemalist ideology. The Kemalist ideology is designated as an ideology of modernisation based on realism and the pragmatism is evident.^[21]

Mustafa Kemal was 42 years old when the "Republic of Turkey" was declared on October 29, 1923. At the declaration, the public cheered: "We are returning to the days of the first caliphs".^[22] Mustafa Kemal managed to place Fevzi Çakmak, Kazım Özalp and İsmet İnönü in the important seats which helped him later establish reforms that were impossible to foresee in 1923. The Treaty of Lausanne ended the Turkish Independence war and brought the Turkish independence. However, the war to modernise the country had just started; institutions and constitutions of western states like France, Sweden, Italy, and Switzerland were to be adapted.

Mustafa Kemal was determined not to jeopardise the outcome of the Turkish Independence war after the fall of the Ottoman Empire.^[23] In the first years of the republic, it was not just the old regime that wanted to resurface, new ideologies like communism represented by Nazım Hikmet and his colleagues were surfacing as well. Mustafa Kemal saw the consequences of fascist and communist doctrines in the 1920s and 1930s and rejected both.^[24] In May 1935, followers of these new doctrines faced with the comment "Who is to elect these bullies?" by Mustafa Kemal.^[25] Mustafa Kemal prevented the spread of totalitarian party rule which held sway in the Soviet Union, Germany and Italy.^[25] Mustafa Kemal and Turkish revolutionaries were representing the straightforward spirit of Anatolia as opposed to cosmopolitan Istanbul and its Ottoman heritage.^[26] However, this was performed by silencing of the views and putting the state in the center. Some perceived it as the silencing of opposition, some perceived it as preventing the rule of extremeness to the majority.

Popular sovereignty

Mustafa Kemal public speech in Bursa, 1924

For the conceptual analysis see Kemalist Populism

We learn from Kemal's notes that even before the establishment of the new state (1923), his democracy ideas differed from Ottoman experience and were based on the concept of popular sovereignty. Kemal visualized a parliamentary sovereignty (a representative democracy) where the Parliament is, ultimately, the source of sovereignty, and not the executive power. However, Kemal's activities in reaching his goal were in small steps. What Mustafa Kemal cultivated between 1919-1920 was much more advanced than the Ottoman Empire's experience with the democracy (first constitutional and second constitutional era). Mustafa Kemal promised to have a "direct government by the assembly" in 1920.^[27] Mustafa Kemal defended the idea that the power of constitution (sovereignty) originates from the national assembly (national sovereignty) and not from the absolute monarch of the Ottoman Empire. The assembly solidified Mustafa Kemal's position in the constitution of 1921. Mustafa Kemal took the position that the country needed an immense task of reconstruction and this required the ability to make choices among policies. Idea of "direct government by the assembly" did not survive in this environment. On October 28, 1923, Mustafa Kemal defended the idea that there was a need in establishing a government with a Prime minister along side of President.

Mustafa Kemal presenting the Nutuk at the Assembly, 1927

The activities towards national sovereignty intensified during 1923, as the initial backbone of legislative, judicial, and executive structures were established. For Mustafa Kemal, total independence was not negotiable.^[28] According to him, total independence had three dimensions: economic, civic and religious.

 Economic independence

For the conceptual analysis see National economy

Mustafa Kemal defended the position that a democracy cannot be formed without economic independence. The efforts towards economic independence began before the establishment of the Republic. Mustafa Kemal began working on the abolishment of capitulations during the Conference of Lausanne. Mustafa Kemal was adamant that the capitulations, all unequal concessions to foreigners and minorities, and all outside interference had to go.^[28] Mustafa Kemal locked the Conference of Lausanne until the French and Italian economic demands changed.^[29]

 Civic independence

The second dimensions was the civic law, he said: "We must liberate our concepts of justice, our laws and our legal institutions from the bonds which, even though they are incompatible with the needs of our century, still hold a tight grip on us"^[30] The leading legal reforms instituted by Mustafa Kemal included the complete separation of government and religious affairs and the adoption of a strong interpretation of the principle of laïcité in the constitution. This was coupled with the closure of Islamic courts and the replacement of Islamic canon law with a secular civil code modeled after Switzerland and a penal code modeled after the Italian Penal Code.

 Caliphate

The third dimension was the position of Caliph. Mustafa Kemal wanted to integrate the powers of Caliphate into the powers of Assembly, and his initial activities began January 1, 1924.^[31] Mustafa Kemal acquired the consent of İnönü, Çakmak and Özalp before abolition of the caliphate. March 1, 1924 at the assembly; "The religion of Islam be elevated by ceasing to be a political instrument, as had been the case in the past."^[32] The next coming days the assembly moved the powers of Ottoman Caliphate into itself (see Abolishment). Mustafa Kemal's only involvement to the rest of this process came at a speech days after, which he said "There is no need to look at them as something extraordinary."^[33] On March 3, 1924, the institution of caliphacy was abolished and its powers within Turkey were transferred to the Grand National Assembly.

Political system

For the conceptual analysis see Political reforms and Legal reforms

The basic structure of a democracy; elections, assembly, government with a PM and president was established under the Mustafa Kemal's leadership. The political system was based on the single party politics. The only party was the Republican People's Party ("Cumhuriyet Halk Fırkası" in Turkish) which was founded by Mustafa Kemal in September 9, 1923. The extent of his leadership is sometimes questioned. There are historians who claim that Mustafa Kemal did not promote democracy, yet as his biographer notes "Between the two wars, democracy could not be sustained in many richer and better-educated societies. Atatürk's enlightened authoritarianism left a reasonable space for free private lives. More could not be expected in his lifetime."^[34] Kemal speaking about the political system in 1933 claimed that "Republic means democratic administration of the state. We founded Republic, reaching its tenth year it should enforce all the requirements of democracy as the time comes." ^[35]. As in other reform areas, which was imposed through non-democratic methods to develop a democratic Republic, Mustafa Kemal was a realist regarding the limits of the sustainable development.

 Multiparty periods

Mustafa Kemal responding to an "arzuhal" (request), 1930

Mustafa Kemal's cultural revolution caused opposition. In 1925 to ease the social tensions another party was seen as a chance. Mustafa Kemal asked Kazım Karabekir to establish the Progressive Republican Party as an opposition party in the assembly, and the first two party era began. The party's economic program suggested liberalism as contrast to state socialism. The party's social program was conservatism as contrast to modernism. Leaders of the party strongly supported the Kemalist revolution in principle but had different opinions on the cultural revolution and secularism.^[36]

After some time, the new party was taken over by people Atatürk considered fundamentalists. In 1925, partly in response to the Shaikh Said Rebellion of Shaikh Said Piran, the Maintenance of Order Law was passed, giving Atatürk the authority to shut down subversive groups. Soon after the Shaikh Said rebellion, the Progressive Republican Party was disestablished under a new law, an act Mustafa Kemal claimed was necessary for preserving the Turkish state. The closure of the party was seen by some later biographers, such as Harold C. Armstrong, as an act of dictatorship.^[37]

Mustafa Kemal giving the opening speech at the 1935 RPP congress

On August 11, 1930, Mustafa Kemal decided to try a democratic movement once again. He assigned Ali Fethi Okyar to establish a new party. In Mustafa Kemal's letter to Ali Fethi Okyar, laicism was insisted on. At first, the brand-new Liberal Republican Party succeeded all around the country. But once again the opposition party became too strong in its opposition to Atatürk's reforms, particularly in regard to the role of religion in public life. Finally Ali Fethi Okyar abolished his own party and Mustafa Kemal never succeeded in democratising the parliamentary system. He sometimes dealt sternly with opposition in pursuing his main goal of democratizing the country.

 Economic policies

For the conceptual analysis see Economic reforms

Mustafa Kemal supported large scale government subsided industrial complexes, such as Sümerbank, increasingly after the Great Depression

Mustafa Kemal instigated economic policies not just to develop small and large scale businesses but also to create social strata that were virtually non-existent during the Ottoman Empire. However, the primary problem of state (Kemalist state politics) was the lag in the development of political institutions behind social and economic change.^[38]

Activities regarding the economy included the establishment of many state-owned factories throughout the country for agriculture, machine, and textile industries, many of which grew into successful enterprises and became privatized during the latter half of 20th century. Atatürk considered the development of a national rail network as another important step for industrialization, and this was addressed by the foundation of Turkish State Railways in 1927, setting up an extensive rail network in a very short timespan.

State intervention, 1923-1929

As part of his "full independence" program, he supervised economic developments

Mustafa Kemal and İnönü promoted state projects. Their goal was to knit the country together, eliminate the foreign control of the economy, and improve communications. Istanbul, a trading port with international foreign enterprises, was deliberately abandoned and resources channeled to other cities.^[39] The choices that Mustafa Kemal made on economic policies were reflection of the realities of its time; Anatolian economy was based on agriculture, with primitive tools and methods; roads and transportation facilities were far from sufficient; management of economy was inefficient. Turkish State Railways, and banks like Sümerbank and Etibank were founded.

The Great Depression, 1929

The Great Depression was very hard on Turkey. The young republic found itself in crises: the country could not finance essential imports; its currency was shunned; zealous revenue officials seized the meager possessions of peasants who could not pay their taxes.^[39] Mustafa Kemal faced with the same problems all the countries faced: political upheaval. The Liberal Republican Party came out with a liberal program and proposed that state monopolies should be ended, foreign capital should be attracted, and that state investment should be curtailed. Mustafa Kemal supported İnönü's point of view. "It is impossible to attract foreign capital for essential development — İnönü". However, the effect of free republicans felt strong and state intervention was replaced with moderate state intervention, which was not close to capitalism; but a form of state capitalism. One of Mustafa Kemal's radical left-wing supporters, Yakup Kadri Karaosmanoğlu (Kadro movement (The Cadre)), claimed that Mustafa Kemal found a third way between capitalism and socialism in his Marxist journal.^[40]

Reforms

Main article: Atatürk's Reforms

Mustafa Kemal capitalized on his reputation as an efficient military leader and spent his following years, up until his death in 1938, instituting a variety of wide-ranging and progressive political, economic, and social reforms, transforming Turkish society from seeing itself as a group of Muslim subjects of a vast Empire into defining itself as the citizens of a modern, democratic, and secular nation-state.

President Ataturk of the Sovereign Turkish State leaving the Parliament Building after a meeting

Atatürk's reforms were regarded as being too rapid by some. In his quest to modernize Turkey, he effectively abolished centuries-old traditions by means of reforms to which much of the population was unaccustomed but nevertheless willing to adopt. In some cases, these reforms were seen as benefiting the urban elites rather than the generally illiterate inhabitants of the rural countryside,^[41] where religious sentiments and customary norms tended to be stronger. In particular, Atatürk's strict religious reforms met with some opposition, and they continue to generate a considerable degree of social and political tension to this day. In the future, political leaders would draw upon dormant forces of religion in order to secure positions of power, only to be blocked by the interventions of the powerful military (as in 1960 when Prime Minister Adnan Menderes was overthrown by the military),^[42] which has always regarded itself as the principal and most faithful guardian of secularism.

Kurds criticize Atatürk for disregarding their cultural distinctions in pursuing a Turkish national identity. See Atatürk and the Kurds for more details.

 Cultural revolution

See also: Atatürk's Reforms and People of Turkey

Mustafa Kemal visiting Pertek People's Houses

The first public mention of the Mustafa Kemal's program to implement cultural revolution came at the Bursa speech. "A nation which does not practice science, such a nation, one must admit has no place in the high road of civilization. But our nation with its true qualities deserves to become and will become civilized and progressive."

Mustafa Kemal capitalized on his reputation as the nations father to institute a variety of wide-ranging reforms transforming Turkish society from seeing itself as a group of Muslim (Ottoman Muslim Millet) subjects of a vast Empire into defining itself as the citizens of a modern, democratic, and secular nation-state; the "People of Turkey".

Educational reforms

For the conceptual analysis see Educational reforms

Mustafa Kemal's idea of national development was all-encompassing, see Educational reforms. Besides general education, he was interested in forming a background (skill base) in the country through adult education. In a Bursa 1925, Mustafa Kemal asked to train waiters in providing the table service, which this training should cover etiquette and economics".^[43] His adult education ideas find its way in People's Houses. Turkish women were taught not only child care, dress-making and household management, but also the tools which they can use to become part of general economy.

 Modernization of education

Mustafa Kemal invited John Dewey in the summer of 1924 in order to receive advice that would provide ideas for reforms and recommendations benefiting the Turkish educational system to propel it towards a modern educational establishment ^[44]. The Ottoman Language written in Arabic script and with an important Arabic and Persian loan vocabulary was the dominant lingua franca amongst the literate who represented so little as 10%^[44] of the population. Dewey notes that roughly three years were necessary to learn to read and write in Arabic scipt on an elementary level with rather strenuous methods^[44]. Kemal initiated his reforms to enhance public literacy. With his campaign for reform in the alphabet, a sane initiation of socio-cultural transformation was at stake, while citizens need a basic level of literacy^[44] to assume roles in public life. The creation of the new Turkish alphabet in Latin script by the Language Commission (Dil Encümeni) at the initiative of Atatürk^[44] was the token of a firm desire to improve the miserably low literacy rate. The Turkish alphabet was decreed on 24 May 1928, and by 15 December of that year the first Turkish newspaper appeared in the new typescript. Kemal also promoted the new teaching and learning methods in elementary education in which Dewey takes a place of honor as Dewey's "Report and Recommendation" for the Turkish educational system at the time was a paradigmatic recommendation for an educational policy of developing societies moving towards modernity.^[44]. Another important part of Atatürk's reforms encompassed his emphasis on the Turkish language and history, leading to the establishment of Turkish Language Association (Türk Dil Kurumu aka TDK) and Turkish Historical Society (Türk Tarih Kurumu aka TTK) for research on Turkish language and history, established between 1931–2. The fast adoption of the new alphabet was the result of the combined effect of opening the People's Community Homes (Halk Evleri) throughout the country and the active encouragement of people by Atatürk himself with many trips to the countryside to teach the new alphabet. The literacy reform was also supported by strengthening the private publishing sector with a new Law on Copyrights and congresses for discussing the issues of copyright, public education and scientific publishing.

Unification of education

Kemal modernized the old medrese education^[44]. Kemal changed the classical Islamic education with a vigorously promoted a reconstruction of educational institutions along the line of an enlightened pragmatism^[44]. Kemal's new educatinal (unifed) system designated a responsible citizen as well as a useful and appreciated member of the society^[44].

 Social reforms

For the conceptual analysis see Social reforms

Mustafa Kemal's women's social integration program; Teaching knitting to integrate women into economy

It is evident from his personal journal that Mustafa Kemal began to develop the concepts of his social revolution very early. Mustafa Kemal constantly discussed with his staff on issues like abolishing the veiling of women and integration to females to social life and developed conclusions. In November 1915, in his journal "The social change can come by (1) educating capable mothers; knowledgeable about life; (2) giving freedom to women. (3) A man can change, his morals, thoughts, and feelings by leading a common life with a woman as there is an inborn tendency towards the attraction of mutual affection.^[45]" wrote.

Mustafa Kemal with his Panama hat.

Fez symbolized the tie to the past to Mustafa Kemal.^[46] He was determined to force its abandonment and finalize a series of dress reforms which its history starts by Mahmud II.^[46] Like the Mahmud II, and other Ottoman reformists, fanaticism and reaction had raise obstacles in his path.^[46] Mustafa Kemal first made the hat compulsory to the civil servants.^[46] After most educated adapted the hat of their own free will, in 1925 Mustafa Kemal used the "Panama hat" during his public appearances to one of the most conservative towns in Anatolia, to explain the hats were the headgear of civilized nations.

Mustafa Kemal regarded the fez (in Turkish "fes", which Sultan Mahmud II had originally introduced to the Ottoman Empire's dress code in 1826) as a symbol of feudalism and banned it, encouraging Turkish men to wear European attire. Notwithstanding the Islamic prohibition against the consumption of alcoholic beverages, he encouraged domestic production of alcohol and established a state-owned spirits industry. He was known to have an appreciation for the national beverage, rakı, and enjoyed it in vast quantities.^[47]

In Mustafa Kemal's world there was no dualism. He enforced his ideas to full extent. According to Mustafa Kemal a progressive nation also was progressive in understanding its belief system. Mustafa Kemal commissioned the translation of Quran into Turkish and he himself read it in front of the public in 1932.^[48]

The reforms instituted legal equality between the sexes and the granting of full political rights to women on December 5, 1934, well before several other European nations.

 

Arts

Opening the State Art and Sculpture Museum in Ankara.

Mustafa Kemal believed in the supreme importance of culture; "Culture is the foundation of the Turkish Republic"^[55] he told. His view of culture included both his own nation's creative legacy and what he saw as the more admirable values of world civilization, and he put an emphasis on humanism above all. He once described modern Turkey's ideological thrust as "a creation of patriotism blended with a lofty humanist ideal".

In 1934, upon Mustafa Kemal's order, Semiha Berksoy played the leading role in "Özsoy" (composed by Adnan Saygun), the first ever Turkish opera work, staged at the People's House in Ankara.^[56]

To assist in the creation of such a synthesis, Atatürk stressed the need to utilize the elements of the national heritage of the Turks and of Anatolia, including its ancient indigenous cultures as well as the arts and techniques of other world civilizations, both past and present. He emphasized the study of earlier civilizations, foremost of which being the Sumerians, later founding a SumerBank in Turkey, as well as other Anatolian civilizations such as the Hittites, Phrygians, and Lydians. The pre-Islamic culture of the Turks became the subject of extensive research, and particular emphasis was laid upon the fact that, long before the Seljuk and Ottoman civilizations, the Turks had had a rich culture. Atatürk also stressed the folk arts of the countryside as a wellspring of Turkish creativity.

The visual and the plastic arts, whose development had on occasion been arrested by some Ottoman officials claiming that the depiction of the human form was idolatry, were highly encouraged and supported by Atatürk, and these flourished in the new Turkish republic. Many museums were opened; architecture began to follow modern trends; and classical Western music, opera, and ballet, as well as the theatre, also took greater hold. Several hundred "People's Houses" and "People's Rooms" across the country allowed greater access to a wide variety of artistic activities, sports, and other cultural events. Book and magazine publications increased as well, and the film industry began to grow.

 Last days, 1937-1938

During 1937, indications of Atatürk's worsening health started to appear, and while he was on a trip to Yalova during the beginning of 1938 he encountered serious illness. After a short period of treatment he spent in Yalova, an apparent improvement with his health was observed, but his condition again worsened following his journeys first to Ankara, and then to Mersin and Adana, in relation to the political developments regarding the status of the Republic of Hatay. Upon his return to Ankara in May, he was recommended to go to İstanbul for recovery and treatment, where he was at last diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver.

During his time in İstanbul, he made an effort to keep up with his regular lifestyle for a while, heading the Council of Ministers meeting, working on the Hatay issue, and hosting the King Carol II of Romania during his visit in June. He stayed onboard his newly arrived yacht Savarona until the end of July, after which the status of his health again worsened and he moved to a room arranged for him at the Dolmabahçe Palace. On his will written on September 5, 1938, he donated all of his possessions to the Republican People's Party, bound to the condition that, through the yearly interest of his funds, his sister Makbule and his adopted children will be looked after, the higher education of the children of İsmet İnönü will be funded, and the Turkish Language Association and Turkish Historical Society will be given the rest.

Funeral

Mustafa Kemal's funeral arriving to Ethnography Museum, 1938

Atatürk died, at age 57, at the Dolmabahçe Palace on November 10, 1938. It is thought that he died of cirrhosis of the liver.^[57] Ataturk's funeral called forth both sorrow and pride in Turkey, and seventeen countries sent special representatives, nine contributed with armed detachments to the cortege.^[58]

On November 1953, Mustafa Kemal's remains were taken from the Ethnography Museum of Ankara by 138 young reserve officers in a procession that stretched for two miles including the President, the Premier, every Cabinet minister, every parliamentary deputy, every provincial governor and every foreign diplomat while 21 million Turks stood motionless all over the Turkey at the same time.^[59] One admiral guarded a velvet cushion which bore the Medal of Independence, the only decoration Ataturk ever wore. The Father of the Turks finally came to rest at the Anitkabir. An official noted: "I was on active duty during his funeral, when I shed bitter tears at the finality of death. Today I am not sad, for 15 years have taught me that Ataturk will never die."^[59]

His lifestyle had always been strenuous. Alcohol consumption during dinner discussions, smoking and very long hours hard at work with little sleep, and working on his projects and dreams had been his way of life. As the historian Will Durant had said, "Men devoted to war, politics, and public life wear out fast, and all three had been the passion of Atatürk."

Family and personal life

Dancing with the adopted daughter Nebile at her wedding on January 17, 1929

Mustafa Kemal married only once. He married Latife Uşaklıgil on January 29, 1923. The marriage lasted until August 5, 1925. His wife's western education, fluency in several languages and her never wearing the veil is believed to have inspired Atatürk's policies to convert Muslim Turkey into a modern secular state.^[60] The circumstances of their divorce remain a closely guarded secret in Turkey, although it is believed that Usakligil had no patience for Atatürk's drinking habits or his late-night soirees.^[60][61] A 25-year old court order banned the publishing of his former wife's diaries and letters, which described the circumstances of their failed marriage. Upon expiration of the court order, the head of the Turkish History Foundation, where the letters are kept since 1975, said Latife Usakligil's family had demanded that the letters remain secret.^[60]

Atatürk adopted his daughters Afet (İnan), Sabiha (Gökçen), who later became the first female combat pilot in the world, Fikriye, Ülkü, Nebile, Rukiye, Zehra and his son Mustafa.^[62] Additionally, he had two children under his protection, Abdurrahim and İhsan. Out of the 5 siblings of Atatürk, four died at early ages and only his sister Makbule (Atadan) survived, living until 1956.

In times of leisure, he mainly enjoyed reading, horse riding, chess, and swimming. He was very interested in dancing, taking pleasure in waltz on almost every opportunity, as well as the traditional Zeibek folk dances. He also had an appreciation of Rumelian folk songs. He attached importance to his horse Sakarya and his dog Fox. Atatürk was fluent in French and German, and maintained a rich personal library of books on politics, history, chemistry, and linguistics.

 Publications

Here is a list of selected publications:

• "Tâbiye Meselesinin Halli ve Emirlerin Sureti Tahririne Dair Nesayih"

• "Takımın Muharebe Talimi", published in 1908 (Translation from German)

• "Cumalı Ordugâhı - Süvari: Bölük, Alay, Liva Talim ve Manevraları", published in 1909

• "Tâbiye ve Tatbikat Seyahati", published in 1911

• "Bölüğün Muharebe Talimi", published in 1912 (Translation from German)

• "Zabit ve Kumandan ile Hasbihal", published in 1918

• "Nutuk", published in 1927

• "Vatandaş İçin Medeni Bilgiler", published in 1930 (For high school civic classes)

• "Geometry", published in 1937 (For high school math classes)

His daily journals and military notes during Ottoman Empire period were published as a collection. There is another collection which covers the period 1923-1937 and indexes all the documents, notes, memorandums, communications (as a president) under multiple volumes titled Atatürk'ün Bütün Eserleri.

 Legacy

 Peace at home, peace in the world

Atatürk hosting a reception at the USSR Embassy in Ankara, on November 7, 1927

Mustafa Kemal said; "What particularly interests foreign policy is the internal organization of the state. It is necessary that foreign policy should agree with the internal organization”. He eternalized this view with "peace at home, peace in the world". He worked to establish his vision, which this was evident in his funeral.^[58]. This was not a random choice as Mustafa Kemal's foreign policy was extension of the domestic needs of the newly established state; internal organization (stability) of this new republic was dependent to the foreign policy. In achieving this goal; Mustafa Kemal hosted visits of many foreign monarchs and heads of state to Ankara and Istanbul including, in chronological order, King Amanullah Khan of Afghanistan (May 1928), Prime Minister of Hungary Count István Bethlen (October 1930), King Faisal I of Iraq (June 1932), Prime Minister Eleftherios Venizelos of Greece (October 1932), King Alexander I of Yugoslavia (October 1933), Shah Reza Pahlavi of Persia (June 1934), King Gustav V Adolf of Sweden (October 1934), King Edward VIII of the United Kingdom (September 1936), King Abdullah I of Jordan (June 1937), and King Carol II of Romania (June 1938). Many of the visits meaningfully coincided with the Republic Day, October 29, the anniversary of the declaration of the new Turkish Republic by the Turkish Grand National Assembly, in 1923.

Mustafa Kemal participated in forging close ties with the former enemy, Greece, culminating in a visit to Ankara by Greek premier Eleftherios Venizelos, in 1932. Venizelos even forwarded Atatürk's name for the 1934 Nobel Peace Prize,^[63] highlighting the mutual respect between the two leaders. Atatürk was visited in 1931 by General Douglas MacArthur of the United States, during which the two exchanged their views on the state of affairs in Europe which would eventually lead to the outbreak of World War II. MacArthur expressed his admiration of Atatürk on many occasions and stated that he "takes great pride in being one of Atatürk's loyal friends".^[64]

 Turkey

Anıtkabir, the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, in Ankara, Turkey

His successor, İsmet İnönü, fostered a posthumous Atatürk personality cult which has survived to this day, even after Atatürk's own Republican People's Party lost power following democratic elections in 1950. Atatürk's face and name are seen and heard everywhere in Turkey: his portrait can be seen in all public buildings, in schools, in all kinds of school books, on all Turkish banknotes, and in the homes of many Turkish families. It is common even after so many years, in addition to commemorative ceremonies on November 10, at 09:05 a.m. (the exact time of his death), many vehicles and people will pause for one minute in remembrance all over the country at the same instant.

He is commemorated by many memorials all over Turkey, like the Atatürk International Airport in Istanbul, Atatürk Bridge over the Golden Horn (Haliç), Atatürk Dam, Atatürk Stadium, and Anıtkabir, the mausoleum where he is now buried. Giant Atatürk statues loom over Istanbul and other Turkish cities, and practically any larger settlement has its own memorial to him. In 1981, the Turkish Parliament issued a law (5816) outlawing insults to his legacy or attacks to objects representing him.

Atatürk sought to modernize and democratize the new Turkish Republic from the remnants of the Ottoman Empire. In his quest to do so, Atatürk had implemented far-reaching reforms, the consequence of which has led Turkey towards Accession of Turkey to the European Union today.

Worldwide

In 1981, the centennial of Atatürk's birth, the memory of Atatürk was honored by the United Nations and UNESCO by declaring it The Atatürk Year in the World and adopting the Resolution on the Atatürk Centennial.

There are several memorials to Atatürk internationally. He has a statue in Havana, Cuba; Atatürk Memorial in Wellington, New Zealand (which also serves as a memorial to the ANZAC forces that died at Gallipolli), the Atatürk Forest in Israel, the Atatürk Memorial in the place of honour on ANZAC drive in Canberra, Australia and the Atatürk Square in Rome. He also has a road named after him in the heart of Islamabad in Pakistan, Ataturk Avenue, is one of the busiest and well-known streets of the city.