Mustafa Kemal Ataturk and the Foundation of Turkish Republic

 

On October 23, 1923, the National Assembly formally established the Turkish Republic, and on October 29, 1923, the National Assembly chose Kemal Pasha (Kemal Ataturk) as its first president. On April 20, 1924, the National Assembly passed a constitution. In March 1925, the Turkish parliament passed the Law on the Preservation of Order (Takrir-i Sukun Kanunu), which resulted in the arrest of approximately 7,500 people for pro government activities and the death of 660 people.

Background

Aeolian and Ionian Greeks populated Anatolia's coast around 1200 B.C. The Greek colonists established a number of significant cities, including Miletus, Ephesus, Smyrna (present-day Izmir), and Byzantium (that later became Constantinople, now Istanbul).

The Seljuk Turks began to overrun mediaeval Armenia and the eastern areas of Anatolia in the second half of the 11th century. In 1071, the Seljuks destroyed the Byzantines at the Battle of Manzikert, launching the Turkization of Armenia and Anatolia.

Mustafa Kemal Ataturk established the Turkish Republic in 1923, abolishing the Ottoman dynastic and theocratic system of Sultanates and Caliphates. The new republic was parliamentary, secular, and democratic.

Turkey joined the United Nations in 1945 and then the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in 1952. Turkey conquered northern Cyprus in 1974 to avert a Greek takeover; relations remain tense.

The Establishment of the Turkish Republic

The Turkish Grand National Assembly (TGNA) was inaugurated in Ankara on April 23, 1920, laying the groundwork for the Republic of Turkey. It was the first effort toward establishing a new state in Anatolia, the roots of which were planted by the Turkish Nationalist War of Liberation headed by Mustafa Kemal, later came to be known as Ataturk - father of Turks. The Turkish national liberation fight began on May 19, 1919, and culminated on October 29, 1923, with the liberation of Anatolia from foreign control, international acknowledgment of modern Turkey's borders by the Treaty of Lausanne, as well as the establishment of the Republic of Turkey.

The TGNA conducted its first session when practically the whole Ottoman Empire was subjugated. Patriotic movements grew up across Anatolia as the Ottoman government failed to confront that occupation. The last outrage that triggered the entire resistance movement was the siege of Izmir by invading Greek soldiers and the repulsions they inflicted against the Turkish people. This resistance quickly intensified into an independence struggle led by Mustafa Kemal, a young Ottoman military soldier at the time. Mustafa Kemal's validation for establishing a new legislative body for the resistance movement was made possible by the Allied conquest of Istanbul and the dissolution of the Ottoman Parliament.

On October 13, 1923, Ankara was recognized as the capital of the new Turkish Republic and soon after the Assembly's convening, it became the center of the Turkish national struggle. Mustafa Kemal was appointed as the first Assembly president. His introductory statement hints at the Assembly's objectives. He set the stage for the Republic of Turkey to displace the Ottoman Empire by declaring "no supreme authority over the assembly." The Turkish Assembly formed a national army and repelled the Allies. It established a secular, democratic Republic under Mustafa Kemal Ataturk's inspirational leadership.

Atatürk abolished the Islamic Caliphate, which affected Islam. There was no other caliph would be elected elsewhere. Atatürk secularized education, encouraging non-religious primary and secondary schools for girls and boys.

Atatürk dissolved Islamic courts and introduced secular civil law in 1926. Finally, Atatürk introduced a new Latin alphabet to replace the conventional Arabic script used for written Turkish.

Turkish War of Independence

In April 1919, Atatürk reorganized the ragged Ottoman Army to maintain internal security. Instead, he formed a nationalist revolutionary movement. In the month of June, he released the Amasya Circular, warning of Turkey's independence.

The prediction of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk proved to be correct. In August 1920, France, Britain, Greece, Armenia, the Kurds, and an international force in the Bosporus Strait signed the Treaty of Sevres for the partition of Turkey. Only a little state around Ankara would be Turkish. Atatürk and Turkish nationalists rejected this scheme which means that the war was at home.

Britain dissolved Turkey's parliament and forced the sultan to sign up his privileges. Atatürk held new elections and installed a separate parliament with himself as speaker. Which became to be known as the Turkey’s Grand National Assembly. The Grand National Assembly (GNA) initiated the War of Turkish Independence when the Allies attempted to divide Turkey under the Treaty of Sevres.

The GNA army, led by Atatürk, defeated the neighboring powers repeatedly during 1921. By October, Turkish nationalist troops drove the occupiers from the peninsula. Either achieve independence or die! In Erzurum, Mustafa Kemal told his colleagues.

Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, Founder of the Republic of Turkey

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk formed the Turkish Republic in 1923. From 1923 to 1938, Atatürk was the first president of the country. He oversaw the implementation of various reforms that made modern Turkey possible.

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk was born in Salonica, Ottoman Empire, in 1881. (now Thessaloniki, Greece). While some accounts claim that his father Ali Riza Efendi was of Turkish nomad descent, others claim that he was of Albanian ancestry. Ali Riza Efendi was a woodsman and local politician. Zubeyde Hanim, Mustafa's blue-eyed Turkish or Macedonian mother, could read and write. Mustafa grew up secular despite Zubeyde Hanim's wishes. Only Mustafa and Makbule Atadan survived childhood.

Mustafa attended religious school when he was young. His father let him shift to the secular Semsi Efendi School. At age 7, Mustafa's father passed away. At the age of 12, Mustafa chose to take the admission exam for an army high school without asking his mother. He attended Monastir Army High School and Ottoman Military Academy. Mustafa graduated and entered the army in January 1905.

Atatürk joined the Ottoman Army as a captain after years of training. Until 1907, he served in Damascus' Fifth Army. He moved to Manastir, now Bitola, in Macedonia. He suppressed the Kosovo Albanian insurrection in 1910. His military reputation grew during the 1911-1912 Italo-Turkish War. Even though they fought hard, Italy beat the Ottomans. In October 1912, the Ottoman Empire signed the Treaty of Ouchy, which gave the provinces of Tripolitania, Fezzan, and Cyrenaica to Italy.

Death and Legacy of Ataturk

Because of his vital role in building and guiding Turkey's new independent state, Mustafa Kemal received the title Atatürk, which means "grandfather" or "forefather of the Turks." At the age of 57, on November 10, 1938, Atatürk passed away as a result of cirrhosis of the liver, which was caused by excessive intake of alcohol. 

Atatürk built the modern Turkish state during his period in the army and his 15 years as president. While his ideas are still contested today, Turkey remains one of the twentieth century's success stories, thanks in great part to Atatürk's reforms.

A Timeline of Kemalist Reforms:

• On November 1, 1922: Ottoman Sultan's office abolished.
• On October 29, 1923: Declaration of the Turkish Republic.
• On March 3, 1924: Abolition of the office of Caliphate held by the Ottoman Caliphate.
• On November 25, 1925: Headwear and clothing change.
• On November 30, 1925: Convents and dervish lodges close.
• On March 1, 1926: The adoption of a new penal code.
• On October 4, 1926: The adoption of a new civil code.
• On November 1, 1928: Introduction of the new Turkish alphabet.
• On June 21, 1934: Adoption of the law on family names.
• On November 26, 1934: The elimination of titles and nicknames.
• On December 5, 1934: Voting and election rights for women.
• On February 5, 1937: Incorporation of the secularism principle in the constitution.

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