The Turkish Holy Trinity: Allah, Muhammad and Atatürk

If you ever go to Turkey you will notice that in almost every restaurant, barbershop and cafe there is a picture of a man on the wall. He usually wears a black top hat, sometimes he has a moustache, and is dressed in either a suit or in a military uniform. But who is he?

He is Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founding father of the modern Turkish state. He is the man who managed to create the Turkish state that we know today out of the dying Ottoman Empire. He managed to save the territories of modern Turkey from foreign occupation and transform the “sick man of Europe” into a modern, functional and secular state. His 15-year presidency managed to transform an archaic oriental state into a modern and prosperous state with a western look.

I won’t go into detail about his life, because it would probably bore you, but it is important to know that had a successful career in the Ottoman army, taking part in many battles, being one of the Turkish commanders who defended Gallipoli in World War I. After the defeat of the empire in World War I, he formed a separate government in Ankara and opposed the harsh terms of the peace treaty imposed by the allies. With his troops he fought and won the Turkish War of Independence, confronting Greece, Armenia, France, the United Kingdom, Italy and the remnants of the Sultan’s government. After many hard battles, the foreign troops withdrew from Turkey, and on October 29, 1923, Atatürk proclaimed the Turkish republic, being elected its first president.

Atatürk understood that if the Turkish state did not detach itself from the Arab world and from mixing religion and the state, it would remain the “Sick man of Europe”. So he began Turkey’s modernization process, defined by the struggle with the Islamic oriental system that had its roots  in Ottoman society for hundreds of years. Atatürk’s main goal was to achieve secularism and separate the church from the state.

Atatürk implemented a massive set of social, economic, religious and cultural reforms meant to develop the country and put it on a trajectory towards the West.

First, he banned Ottoman dress and fez hat, encouraging Turks to wear Western-style clothing. He abolished the institution of the caliphate, adopted a new Latin-inspired alphabet, and made the transition to the Gregorian calendar. He broke ties with the Arab world. In addition to these, he gave women the freedom to choose whether they want to wear a veil in public or not and allowed girls and boys to study together at school. He also started a massive literacy and schooling program and made schooling more accessible to everyone, something that was facilitated by changing the twisted Arabic alphabet with the new Turkish alphabet.

Economically, a process of industrialization and the construction of countless railways and roads began, which led to economic growth and greater confidence of foreign investors. Apart from social and economic reforms, he also reformed the internal legislative framework by abolishing Islamic Sharia laws and implementing civil and legislative codes massively inspired by those of Western Europe.
This led to the emancipation of women and the reduction of the discrepancy between men and women. The new legislation was also helpful to create equal grounds and started to sanction forms of abuse

His reforms changed Turkey profoundly, and although they were met with serious opposition from conservative Turks and the clerics, Atatürk never wavered from them. They began to develop the state, led to massive economic development and planted the seed of democracy in Turkey. And perhaps most importantly they set a precedent in the Eastern world. Atatürk created a secular Muslim state where women are considered equal to men, religion is firmly separated from public life and the system of government is a democratic republic.

Atatürk was for Turkey the strong man with a modernizing vision, a vision that he had the strength and determination to implement, even if sometimes this determination took the form of some rather authoritarian tendencies. Atatürk’s ultimate goal was always to create a modern, secular and democratic Turkish republic. And although he always wanted Turkey to be a pluripartite, democratic state, this would have been impractical and risky at the time. It could lead to chaos and there was a high risk that the reforms failed. Therefore, during Atatürk ‘s presidency, Turkey was a one-party state.

Of course, there were also moments when Atatürk did/allowed some very morally questionable actions. We are speaking about moments like the burning of the Greek and Armenian neighbourhoods of Izmir (arson followed by massacres and looting committed by his troops against the inhabitants of those neighbourhoods) or the execution of former collaborators to destroy a potential opposition. Although no evidence has been found that he was involved in the arsons and massacres in Izmir, it would have been impossible for him not to have been at least aware of what took place and to have given his tacit approval.

In conclusion, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk was the visionary leader who, through a set of drastic reforms, managed to transform Turkey from a backward, poor and Muslim-dominated state into a secular democratic republic on its way to prosperity. His reforms managed to fundamentally change the country, and his leadership made Turkey what it is today.

The significance of the things he did explains the portraits everywhere. Turks have a real cult for Atatürk, respecting him and hanging his picture everywhere. The essential detail is that this cult is not imposed by anyone, it arose from the sincere appreciation that Turks have for Mustafa Kemal, the man who just as his name says, is the “father of the Turks “. This is a name he received in 1934, when after the adoption of the reform of surnames, the parliament granted him the name “Atatütk”, meaning “father of the Turks “.

A partly strange, partly-impressive Atatürk-related event takes place in Turkey every year. On November 10th at 9:55 the sirens sound to commemorate Atatürk’s passing, then all people stop whatever they are doing and hold a moment of silence in memory of their leader. Everything stops, including traffic, the people get out of their cars and stand straight for a minute. After this minute passes and the sirens stop, and then people go about their business as if nothing happened.