|
|
Atatürk's Life
Atatürk was the founder and the first President of the Republic of Turkey. Atatürk stands as one of the world's few historic figures who dedicated their lives totally to their nations. The founder of the Turkish Republic and its first President, stands as a towering figure of the 20th Century. Among the great leaders of history, few have achieved so much in so short period, transformed the life of a nation as decisively, and given such profound inspiration to the world at large.
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (1881-1938) was born in 1881 in Salonika (Selanik), then an Ottoman city, now in Greece.
|
|
His father's name was Ali Rıza Efendi. His father was customs official turned lumber merchant, died when Mustafa was still a child. His mother's name was Zübeyde Hanım. His mother, a devout and strong-willed woman, raised him and his sister. For his primary education, he went to the school of Şemsi Efendi in Salonika.
|
|
|
But Mustafa lost his father at an early age. He had to leave school. Mustafa and his mother went to live with his uncle in the country. His mother brought him up. Mustafa worked on the farm but his mother began to worry about his lack of schooling. It was finally decided that he should live with his mother's sister in Salonika. First enrolled in a traditional religious school, he soon switched to a modern school. In 1893, he entered a military high school where his mathematics teacher gave him the second name Kemal (meaning perfection) in recognition of young Mustafa's superior achievement. He was thereafter known as Mustafa Kemal.
He entered the Military Middle School in Salonika. In 1895, after graduating from the Military Middle School, Mustafa Kemal entered the Military High School in Manastir. After successfuly completing his studies at the Manastir Military School, Mustafa Kemal went to İstanbul and on the 13th of March 1899 he entered the infantry class of the Military Academy. (Harbiye Harp Okulu) After finishing the Military Academy, Mustafa Kemal went on to the General Staff College in 1902. On the 11th of January, 1905, Mustafa Kemal graduated from the War Academy in Istanbul with the rank of Staff Captain. Posted in Damascus, he started with several colleagues, a clandestine society called "Homeland and Freedom" to fight against the Sultan's despotism. In 1908 he helped the group of officers who toppled the Sultan. Mustafa Kemal's career flourished as he won his heroism in the far corners of the Ottoman Empire, including Albania and Tripoli. He also briefly served as a staff officer in Salonica and Istanbul and as a military attache in Sofia.
In 1915, when Dardanelles campaign was launched, Colonel Mustafa Kemal became a national hero by winning successive victories and finally repelling the invaders. Emerging as a military hero at the Dardanelles, he became the charismatic leader of the Turkish national liberation struggle in 1919. Promoted to general in 1916, at age 35, he liberated two major provinces in eastern Turkey that year. In the next two years, he served as commander of several Ottoman armies in Palestine, Aleppo, and elsewhere, achieving another major victory by stopping the enemy advance at Aleppo.
On May 19, 1919, Mustafa Kemal Pasha landed in the Black Sea port of Samsun to start the War of Independence. In defiance of the Sultan's government, he rallied a liberation army in Anatolia and convened the Congress of Erzurum and Sivas which established the basis for the new national effort under his leadership. Mustafa Kemal Pasha was elected to its Presidency. He blazed across the world scene in the early 1920s as a triumphant commander who crushed the invaders of his country. Following a series of impressive victories against all odds, he led his nation to full independence. On April 23, 1920, the Grand National Assembly was inaugurated.
Fighting on many fronts, he led his forces to victory against rebels and invading
armies. Following the Turkish triumph at the two major battles at Inonu in Western
Turkey, the Grand National Assembly conferred on Mustafa Kemal Pasha the title
of Commander-in-Chief with the rank of Marshal. At the end of August 1922, the
Turkish armies won their ultimate victory. Within a few weeks, the Turkish mainland
was completely liberated, the armistice signed, and the rule of the Ottoman
dynasty abolished.
In July 1923, the national government signed the Lausanne Treaty with Great Britain, France, Greece, Italy, and others. In mid-October, Ankara became the capital of the new Turkish State. On October 29, the Republic was proclaimed and Mustafa Kemal Pasha was unanimously elected President of the Republic.
|
|
Atatürk married Latife Usakligil in early 1923. The marriage ended in divorce in 1925.
The account of Atatürk's fifteen year Presidency is a saga of dramatic modernization. With indefatigable determination, he created a new political and legal system, abolished the Caliphate and made both government and education secular, gave equal rights to women, changed the alphabet and the attire, and advanced the arts and the sciences, agriculture and industry.
In 1934, when the surname law was adopted, the national parliament gave him the name "Atatürk" (Father of the Turks).
|
|
He put an end to the antiquated Ottoman dynasty whose tale had lasted more than six centuries - and created the Republic of Turkey in 1923, establishing a new government truly representative of the nation's will.
As President for 15 years, until his death in 1938, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk introduced a broad range of swift and sweeping reforms - in the political, social, legal, economic, and cultural spheres - virtually unparalleled in any other country.
His achievements in Turkey are an enduring monument to Atatürk. Emerging nations admire him as a pioneer of national liberation. The world honors his memory as a foremost peacemaker who upheld the principles of humanism and the vision of a united humanity. Tributes have been offered to him through the decades by such world statesmen as Lloyd George, Churchill, Roosevelt, Nehru, de Gaulle, Adenauer, Bourguiba, Nasser, Kennedy, and countless others. A White House statement, issued on the occasion of "The Atatürk Centennial" in 1981, pays homage to him as "a great leader in times of war and peace". It is fitting that there should be high praise for Atatürk, an extraordinary leader of modern times, who said in 1933: "I look to the world with an open heart full of pure feelings and friendship".
Atatürk made frequent tours of the country. While visiting Gemlik and Bursa, Atatürk caught a chill. He returned to Istanbul to be treated and to rest. But, unfortunately Atatürk was seriously ill. At. 9.05 on the 10th of November 1938, following an illness of a few months, the national liberator and the Father of modern Turkey died. But he attained immortality in the eyes of his people. Since the moment of his death, his beloved name and memory have been engraved on the hearts of his people. As a commander he had been the victor of many battles, as a leader he had influenced the masses, as a statesman he had led a successful administration, and as a revolutionary he had striven to alter the social, cultural, economic, political and legal str ucture of society at its roots. He was one of the most eminent personalities in the history of the world. His legacy to his people and to the world endures. History will count him among the most glorious sons of the Turkish nation and one of the great leaders of mankind.
|
|
Atatürk's body was re-interred in this splendid mausoleum in 1953.
