Secularism in Turkey: Kemal Ataturk
Mustafa Kemal Ataturk (1881-1938) was a nationalist and the founder of the republic of Turkey. Ataturk or “Father of the Turks” was the first President of the Republic of Turkey. Born in the Ottoman Empire, one of the largest Muslim empires of the modern era, Ataturk attended a military academy and served in the Ottoman army. In 1919, Ataturk led a nationalist revolution in Anatolia and resisted the peace settlement imposed by the Allied forces at the end of the First World War. Through the efforts of Ataturk and the Young Turks, the Ottoman sultanate was abolished and the nation of Turkey was founded. Ataturk created a secular and westernized nation. Separating religion from politics, Ataturk transformed Anatolia. He emancipated women, westernized Turkish legal codes, introduced European styles of clothing, replaced Arabic script with Latin script, introduced surnames and forbade the wearing of the fez, a traditional Turkish hat. Ataturk truly was the father of modern Turkey.
Primary Source: Mustafa Kemal Ataturk’s “Speech on the Occasion of the Tenth Anniversary of the Republic,” October 29, 1933
“We have accomplished great things in a short period of time. The greatest of these is the Turkish Republic which is based on Turkish heroism and on our great Turkish culture…We are determined and obliged to accomplish more and greater things…We shall attempt to raise our national culture above the level of contemporary civilization. Therefore, we think and shall continue to think not according to the lethargic mentality of past centuries, but according to the concepts of speed and action of our century. We shall work harder than in the past. We shall accomplish greater things in a shorter time. We have no doubt that we shall succeed in them as well; because the character of the Turkish nation is worthy and noble, the Turkish nation is industrious and the Turkish nation is intelligent.”
Questions:
1: Who was Mustafa Kemal Ataturk? ________________________________________________________________________
2: What changes did Ataturk implement in Turkey? ________________________________________________________________________
3: According to the primary source, why did Ataturk want to modernize Turkey? ________________________________________________________________________
4: How did a secular, modern Turkey differ from the Ottoman Empire? ________________________________________________________________________
5: According to the primary source, what is the “greatest accomplishment”? ________________________________________________________________________