Who was Ataturk? Atatürk was a ruthless missionary who eventually turned Turkey into a modern country. Atatürk also laid the foundation for modern-day Turkey as we know it. How did Atatürk grow from an ordinary boy to a super reformer?
Mustafa Kemal
Sighing and groaning, the Bandirma enters the port of Samsun, the northern Turkish city on the Black Sea, on May 19, 1919. It is spring, but there is a strong wind, and the ship has difficulty heading straight to shore. On board is 38-year-old Mustafa Kemal. With his blond hair, blond mustache and blue eyes, he stands out among the dark-skinned inhabitants of Anatolia, the peninsula on which most of Turkey is located. What brings this general so far into the province?
Officially, Mustafa was sent to put down the uprisings against the sitting Ottoman sultan. Once he arrived, he saw an opportunity to promote his long-cherished plans for a modern Turkey. He unites the rebel forces and forces the sultan to give more power to the people. That is the very beginning of his rule, which will keep Turkey in its grip until 1938. During that time, Mustafa abolished, among other things, the sultanate, the headscarf and the Arabic alphabet. Like a father, he raises the Turks according to the Western model. That is why he gave himself the title Atatürk, ‘father of the Turks’ in 1934.
He wants to be perfect
The blond general was probably born in November 1881 in present-day Thessaloniki (Greece), which belonged to the Ottoman Empire. This ran roughly from the present-day Balkans to the eastern border where Iran now begins. Together with a government of friends and relatives, the Ottoman sultan headed this great empire. Mustafa’s parents were of humble origins. Father first earned a living as a customs officer and later as a timber merchant. The story goes that the father hung a sword above his descendant’s cradle, a sign that his son wished for a military career. Indeed, Mustafa decided at a young age that he wanted to join the army. He goes to the cadet school in his hometown. Mustafa wants to be the best in the class. That’s why his math teacher nicknames him Kemal (‘the perfect one’).
In his teenage years, Mustafa begins to become interested in politics. In the local café he discusses the position of the sultan with fellow students. Large amounts of raki, a strong Turkish aniseed drink, make the tongues loose and sharp. ‘Our confidence in the sultan is completely undermined. We note that the army is losing its effectiveness and prestige. Fearing the sultan, our people are immersed in hopeless oriental resignation’, Ali Foead, friend and fellow student of Mustafa, writes on his notepad. The soldiers-in-training announce their radical innovation ideas in the school newspaper. Their ideal? The ‘enlightened’ French republic, with its democracy and equal rights for everyone.
Mustafa wants more
During the drinking parties, Mustafa comes into contact with members of the so-called ‘Young Turks’. This resistance movement wants a popularly elected parliament to involve citizens in the state, and a constitution. But that doesn’t actually go far enough for Mustafa. The young soldier wants a total overhaul of Turkey according to the Western model: the separation of religion and state, patriotism (nationalism), democracy and economic innovation. But Mustafa feels that the time is not right for such big changes. And so he joined the Young Turks in 1907. He befriends people who have similar ideals as him. And Mustafa studies a cartload of books about modern politics and the Western world. The modernization of Turkey slowly becomes a personal ambition that Mustafa will not let go of. But first the new captain has other tasks ahead of him. Mustafa had to fight on behalf of the sultan and his government during a series of wars, including the war against the Italians, two Balkan wars and the First World War (1914-1918). These conflicts revolve around territory. Because the Ottoman sultan is so weak, Italy, Serbia, Bulgaria, Montenegro and Greece in particular are trying to nibble at the Ottoman borders. On the battlefield, Mustafa does good business for his country. As a reward, he quickly rises in the army. But in the meantime his criticism of the sultan increases. Mustafa believes he is making wrong war decisions. The absolute low point was the treaty of 1914, with which the sultan sided with the Germans during the First World War.
Loser is weakened
When Mustafa Kemal arrives by ship in Samsun (Anatolia) in 1919, the signatures that put an end to the First World War have just dried. There is unrest in the Ottoman Empire, which emerged from the battle as a loser. The position of the sultan and his government, who have worked closely with the Germans, has been further weakened. The Ottoman Empire is placed under the authority of Great Britain and France. The dissatisfaction of the population and some senior military officers is growing: why did the sultan allow this to happen? Other countries and population groups are also trying to benefit from the situation. For example, the Greeks want to take Smyrna (now Izmir), and the Armenians demand their own state in the east. Mustafa, still a general in the service of the Ottoman army, officially comes to Anatolia to control the rebels. But in the meantime he has a completely different, secret agenda. Mustafa is not going to suppress the rebel groups, he is going to talk to them. Probably because the underground resistance group of the Young Turks asked him to take charge of the resistance. Mustafa wants nothing more than that!
Sultan gives a push
When the Sultan gets wind of Mustafa’s ‘resistance activities’, he immediately recalls his general to Istanbul. He in turn sends a letter of resignation to the sultan. Although he is now officially no longer a general, Mustafa continues to have the support of his fellow generals and men. In fact, other rebel army units also join him. They want to get rid of the sultan and the allied threat. And to begin with: elections for a people’s parliament.
The sultan feels cornered and finally agrees to general elections for parliament. Until then, this included acquaintances from the sultan’s circle. But the British put an end to this in 1920. At that moment, the new ‘people’s parliament’ is installed alongside the government of the weakened sultan. Chairman? Mustafa. He feels that the opportunity to modernize his country is now close. And so he continues the rebellion. The sultan himself then adds some fuel to the fire. He signs the Treaty of Sèvres with the allied countries. This would mean that the empire would lose a lot of territory. Mustafa writes: ‘The Treaty of Sèvres is a death sentence, so fatal for the people that we do not want its name to be spoken by anyone who calls himself our friend.’ A two-year war of independence follows. In it, Mustafa, together with a large part of the army, fights against the sultan and the Allies. He is waging the battle from the city of Ankara, central Anatolia, where the brand new parliament also resides. There is stiff resistance from Istanbul, from the Allies and especially from the Greeks, who send army units to the area. But the ‘Ankara Regime’ remains intact and is gaining popularity.
Leader is logical
The final blow came in 1921. Then the people’s parliament passes a law stating that it itself is the only legal and executive power. This is actually equivalent to taking over all government tasks. The sultan fled the country a few months later. As leader of the largest party in parliament, Mustafa will be in charge of those government tasks. The state of Turkey was founded in 1923. Mustafa Kemal becomes the first president of this new republic. The blond general, once a rioter in a provincial café, has completed part one of his mission. He can now start the second part, and make Turkey a modern country. His very first feat? Ankara will become the new capital of the country. Because Mustafa wants to rule far away from the Ottoman palaces in Istanbul, in the heart of the territory where he started his victory march on May 19, 1919.
And now…?
What is Atatürk’s legacy in today’s Turkey? First of all, the super reformer has always remained a mythical figure for the Turks. Portraits of the ‘man who made Turkey a modern country’ still hang in all public buildings. Yet not all his ideas survived the 20th century. For example, his economic policy (dirigisme) was abandoned by later governments. And in protest against the headscarf ban, some women are wearing a headscarf on the street again. There are also political parties that rely on Islam. Another legacy of Atatürk is the Kurdish problem in Turkey. Because of their own culture they want some form of autonomy. But the Turkish governments after Atatürk have always stuck to his statement: anyone who lives on Turkish territory is a Turk.