Atatürk, the
founder and first President of the Turkish Republic, died on 10th November 1938
at 9.05am. No, I haven’t been studying
for a citizenship exam or researching for a book about him; it is impossible to
live here and not know these things as every year on this day he is remembered
all over the country, firstly by a siren which blasts for two minutes starting
at 9.05 – and stops even the traffic on the Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge in
İstanbul, then by all manner of ceremonies and performances. This year, for example, a few thousand people
queued in İzmir hoping to be selected as one of the 2,400 people who would
create a ‘living portrait’ of Atatürk.
The strength of
feeling, both pride in his achievements and sorrow at his untimely death (at
the age of just 57), is amazing with even young children proclaiming their love
for him. It used to seem strange to me
the extent to which he is remembered so long after his death; that was before I knew very much about him.
Actually the
strange thing is how he has been ‘forgotten’ in other countries. Here are some of the things said about him:
‘The name of
Atatürk reminds mankind of the historical accomplishments of one of the
greatest men of this century’ JOHN
F KENNEDY 1963
‘During a conversation with the Foreign Affairs Minister of the Soviet
Union, Litvinov, I asked him who was, according to him, the most valuable and
remarkable statesman of Europe. He replied that, the most valuable and
interesting leader in the world was the President of the Turkish Republic,
Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.’
FRANKLIN D ROOSEVELT 1928
‘The death of Atatürk, who
saved Turkey during the war and revived the Turkish nation, is not only a loss
for his country, but it is also a great loss for Europe .’
WINSTON
CHURCHILL 1938
To put it simply, without
Atatürk there would be no modern Turkey.
As the Ottoman Empire declined, the weak leadership sided with the
Germans in the first World War. After
their defeat, the Turkish people were desperate and demoralised and the Allies
were ready to take control of the area.
Atatürk, who after distinguishing himself as a military leader had resigned
from the army in disgust at the direction the leaders were taking – escaped
from British- occupied İstanbul to Samsun (on the Black Sea), from where he
began his campaign to rally the masses to fight for their lands.
After victory and the formation
of the Turkish Republic, he became its first President. The vast range of political and social
reforms he implemented include creating a secular state where religion and
politics were quite separate, giving women equal rights (in the mid 1930s 18
women were elected to parliament) and changing the alphabet (from Arabic to Latin). Here are a few more facts about him:
·
He led the 9th division to victory over the
Allied Forces at Gallipoli in 1915
·
He adopted a number of children (though he was
married for a short time he had no biological children) including Sabiha Gökçen
who became the world’s first female fighter pilot
·
He was fair-haired and blue-eyed and was a very
stylish dresser
Atatürk was by all accounts a
charismatic and visionary leader. Too
bad there haven’t been many more of them in Turkey since then! But I still
wonder why he didn’t get a mention during my 16 years of education in
Britain. Oh well…here’s the new statue
of him in Fethiye (in the ceremonial square in front of the cultural centre).
