Atatürk was born in 1881
at the Kocakasım ward of Salonika,
in a three storey pink house located on
Upon reaching school age, little Mustafa
started school at the neighborhood classes of Hafız Mehmet Efendi and later, with his father's choice, was
transferred to Şemsi
Mustafa Kemal was
stationed at Tobruk and Derne regions with a group of his friends during the
war which started with the Italian attack on
When the Balkan War started in October 1912,
Mustafa Kemal joined the battle with units from Gallipoli and Bolayır. His
contributions to the recapturing of Dimetoka and
Mustafa Kemal put his
signature under a legend of heroism at Çanakkale during the First World War,
which had started in 1914, and had the Allied Powers admit to the fact that
"Çanakkale is impassable!" On March 18, 1915 when the English and
French navies in an attempt to force their way up the Çanakkale Strait gave
heavy loses, they decided to put units on land at Gallipoli Peninsula. The
enemy forces which landed at Arıburnu on
Mustafa Kemal was stationed at
When, following the
Mondros Armistice, the Allied forces started to take over the Ottoman armies,
Mustafa Kemal went to
Turkish War of Independence started with the
first bullet shot at enemy on
The significant stages
of the Turkish War of
o
Recapturing Sarıkamış,
o
Çukurova, Gazi Antep, Kahramanmaraş,
Şanlıurfa defenses (1919 - 1921)
o
1st İnönü Victory
o
2nd İnönü Victory
o
Sakarya Victory
o
Great Attack,
After the Sakarya Victory, National Assembly
bestowed the rank of marshal on Mustafa Kemal and the Gazi (veteran) title. War
of Independences came to end with the Lausanne Agreement, which was signed on
The National Assembly
which first convened on
Atatürk undertook a series of reforms to
"raise
1. Political Reforms:
o
Abolishment of the office of the Sultan (November 1922)
o
Proclamation of the Republic (
o
Abolishment of the caliph (
2. Social Reforms:
o
Recognition of equal rights to men and women (1926 - 1934)
o
Reform of Headgear and Dress (
o
Closure of mausoleums and dervish lodges (
o
Law on family names (
o
Abolishment of titles and by-names (
Adoption of
international calendar, hours and measurements (1925 - 1931)
3. Legal Reforms:
o
Abolishment of the Canon Law (1924 - 1937)
o
Transfer to a secular law structure by adoption of Turkish Civil Code
and other laws (1924 - 1937)
4. Reforms in the
fields of education and culture:
o
Unification of education (
o
Adoption of new Turkish alphabet (
o
Establishment of Turkish Language and History Institutions (1931 - 1932)
o
Regulation of the university education (
o
Innovations in fine arts
5. Economic Reforms:
o
Abolition of tithe
o
Encouragement of the farmers
o
Establishment of model farms
o
Establishment of industrial facilities, and putting into effect a law
for Incentives for the Industry
o
Putting into effect 1st and 2nd Development Plans (1933-1937), to
develop transportation networks
o According to the Law on
Family Names, the Turkish Grand Assembly gave "Atatürk" (Father of
Turks) as last name to Mustafa Kemal on
Atatürk was elected as the Speaker of the
Grand Assembly on
Atatürk took frequent
trips around the country and inspected locally the works undertaken by the
state, giving directives were problems were faced. As president he was host to
visiting foreign presidents, prime ministers and ministers.
He read his Great Speech, which covers the
War of Independence and the founding of the Republic on 15 - 20 October 1927,
and his 10th Year Speech on
Atatürk led a very
simple private life. He married Latife Hanım on
He donated his farms to the Treasury in 1937
and some of his real estate to municipalities of
He knew French and
German. Atatürk died on
Atatürk,
Becoming Universal With The Triangle of Scientific- Secular-Humanism
Zihni PAPAKÇI
1998
This is the text of the conference held due to the 75th anniversary of
our Republic.
Kemalist ideology has a universal structure with the triangle of
"Scientific - secular - humanism". This triangle is an expression of
modern civilization as well as the synthesis of the Turkish Revolution,
Atatürk: "What is Turkish Revolution? Turkish Revolution involves a
change much more comprehensive than the meaning of revolution that the word
puts forward." (Ankara School of law Inauguration Speech, April 1925)
In this context, it is an unchanging reality for Atatürk that Science
and the tools that bring life and strength into existence in an international
area can only exist in a modern civilization. Thus, liking Atatürk means liking
an idea, this idea emerging within the Turkish revolution and Atatürk's
personality is revealed within the ideas of modern civilization.
BEING SCIENTIFIC WITHIN THE TRIANGLE OF BEING SCIENTIFIC - SECULARISM – HUMANISM
What we understand from the expression of modern civilization is science
and trust in its power. This science in which we trust is not mystic,
scholastic, and metaphysical; it is the science giving birth to 21st century's civilization.
Apart from the East, where they have not developed for many valuable centuries,
half of the West has remained awake; the concept of science has for centuries
been used in deceitful areas. Until Renaissance numerous words empty of meaning
were called as science in the
What is science? Science is the process of producing knowledge in a
dialectical structure without depending on any dogmas. Nature and social facts
can only be explained with science. Only science offers civilization to the
mankind. And since science has an international character it is a necessity of
being universal, Atatürk's saying "The best guide in life is
science", i.e. Science is the real guide in life and it puts forward the
importance of it.
Atatürk, who never ever made concessions from science and rationalism behaviour,
also said the following about this subject: "I do not leave behind any
passages of the Koran, any dogmas, any stereotyped rules as a moral heritage.
My moral heritage is science and reason. My successors will verify that as we
confront the formidable and rooted obstacles, though we may not completely
reach our aims, we never ever make concessions and always be led by reason and
science. Time passes rapidly. Even the understanding of happiness and
unhappiness of nations and societies, people change.
In such a world to claim that you lay down provisions which are never to
be changed is to deny the development of science. What I want to do and achieve
for the Turkish nation is self-evident. From now on, if the ones who want to
adopt me accept the guidance of reason and science on this axis, then they will
be my moral successors.
(Söylev ve Demeçler Gen. Kur. Başk. Yayınları, M.E.B. Basımevi) (Speeches and
Declarations - Chief of General Staff Publications, Ministry of National
Education Publishing House)
The ideas against science are against modern civilization, against
Atatürk, against the ones who like Atatürk, liking Atatürk means having
confidence in science and in its power, liking Atatürk means being scientific.
SECULARISM
WITHIN THE TRIANGLE OF SCIENTIFIC - SECULAR – HUMANISM
The foundation store of the Great Turkish Revolution is secularism.
It is only after we move from a religious community in the
So as to make us return once again to the religious community era, they
try to blur minds with some opposition and show that the revolutionary life,
the ongoing regime is going in a direction which conflicts with religion. They
try to spread their ideas, which will cause them to regress and be deceived.
To achieve this they want to abuse the most dignified feeling namely the
religious feelings and attack secularism. It is necessary to display obviously
how nonsense such ideas are and thus show that the unnecessary sorrows they try
to rouse in people's minds are vain.
The feeling of religion is a subject of the human beings and the
societies made up of human beings, since human beings are a living thing to think
and feel. In this context, you cannot look for anything like religion in
nature. Then we can say that feelings and ideas particular to religion exist
only among human beings and in social life where they live.
According to this we can classify actions with regard to people into
three.
- religious
actions;
- irreligious
actions;
- Non-religious
actions.
For example worshipping is a religious; humiliating worship is an
irreligious; walking or drinking water, or speaking is a non-religious action.
And secularism is within the scope of the third action.
To make it clearer first of all let's think with what kind of title
shall we consider the living thing called human beings: human being as a single
person or people living together or people of a nation.
In this case the issue of religion should be considered
- in
the single person as "in the individual"
- in
"society" where people come together
- in
the "state" which executes sovereignty to establish public order
1) Let's
consider the society first: Because if we are to take any issue concerning
human, since we cannot think of human outside society the issue of religion is
striking as it concerns the society. That is why there has not been any
irreligious society throughout history among all the societies that have come
up to now. The life of society is composed of the combination of many
institutions like language, writing, military service, economics, religion,
ethics, aesthetics, science, philosophy.
The more developed the society is, the more will be the institutions
making up the society and they will exist independent of religion and change
and make progress as time goes by. The more underdeveloped the social life will
be, the more religious clothes members of these
institutions will wear.
As a result the religious institution will be left alone in society.
Then, the whole life of the society would remain unchanged without making any
progress.
However in developed social lives since religion is accepted just like the
other institutions as the one making up the society, it is perceived just like
all the other institutions. When the case is like that, the concept of religion
takes the position it should take together with the other institutions in the
formation of national identity and the national existence appears. Otherwise,
the social life would be totally concerned with religion as we experienced in
All the institutions making up the national existence are secular.
For example, language is one of the social institutions is secular.
Namely it has nothing to do with religion. Language is the tool by which the
individuals in the society speak to and get on with one another and exchange
their thought and feelings. This tool is secular since it is an earthly matter.
Despite that, as Arabic was the main element of the Ottoman Turkish, Ottoman
language was given a religious identity. Because of that Ottoman Turkish was
primarily based on Arabic grammar. Thus, Turkish was suppressed under Arabic
grammar and deprived of development. The Great Turkish Revolution freed Turkish
from this pressure and let it gain its own identity and independence. Then
liking Atatürk means liking the Turkish language and improving it. Liking
Atatürk means knowing that the Turkish language is one of the biggest
institutions forming our national existence. Again ethics as one of the social
institutions is secular! We say that ethics is the totality of all the rules
arranging the relations among the individuals of the society. Since these
relations are facts of ethics, they change from society to society and time to
time. As facts of ethics are based on relations among individuals, they are
peculiar to the world and are changeable since they are in a state of
formation. If so, ethics cannot be dependent on religious a rule, which never
change, that is why some philosophers claim that when ethics is dependent on
religion, ethics would become looser as religious feelings became looser, so
ethics cannot be dependent on religion. At this point we can say that ethics is
secular.
Law, as a public institution is also secular. Law is a whole of rules,
which puts in order the affairs according to rights and justice. It varies
according to nations and ages. In fact, there are some people who believe
religious rules within the law just as/like it was in the
Writing as a public institution is also secular. It is the symbolic
means of communication. Atatürk preferred the Latin alphabet because it was the
easiest for the Turkish Language Structure and open to the universe.
The other institutions such as women, family, philosophy, economy and
military are secular too.... As the society gets more civilized similar
institutions arise to satisfy the new needs. They are secular too.
2) The
government in secularism: The institution called government organizes the world
affairs of a society. Thus, the government is in charge of the order in society
and it's secular too. In other words, the law which will be made to put the
society in order has nothing to do with religion. That's why, the government
comes ahead with no religion, it is a secular
institution. Secularism is a contemporary attitude of the government.
3) The
individual: Every individual is free to choose his religion and to have his
conscience. As a result of this he can't interfere with other people's thinking
or belief.
Secularism which is an important principle in society is a great
phenomenon of 20th century so the Turkish Reform has adopted this principle for
the life in democracy; but some people who make use of the tolerance of
democracy want religion to have power over public institutions making excuses
such as living together, keeping our identity. The real aim of those people is
to convert the republic into a religious position, as it happened in the middle
ages. To love Atatürk is to love secularism. To love Atatürk is to be loyal to
secularism.
HUMANISM
What is humanism? It covers all the values important to human beings and
all the work done for the benefit of the society. In this context humanism is
equal to freedom.
The meaning of this concept was clear in the remarks of Atatürk at a
reception held in honor of the Romanian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Antenesku
on
"We should regard all mankind as one body and every nation as one
of its organs. A pain on a finger hurts all the other organs. Only this thought
will prevent us from selfishness. When permanent peace is needed international
measures should be taken, which will make life better.
Worldwide happiness should replace hunger and oppression.
People of the world should be educated against greed and jealousy.
"These remarks of Atatürk express the perfect structure for
contemporary civilization in humanism. In this context contemporary civilization
means the belief in human beings and labor. There should be no thought of
humiliating and despising people, considering weakness, as a virtue can be
reconciled with the concept of contemporary civilization. We are against all
ideas that do not believe in human power, which is something, Atatürk
appreciated. All his speeches are based on this concept. Contemporary civilization
has emerged from the tendency to people. To love Atatürk means to believe in
human power.
Humanism means the love for mankind. Humanism has emerged from a belief
in equality, freedom and respect for people. Atatürk, one of the greatest men
of the 20th century, who always longed for peace in his country and in other
countries as well, and wanted people to love others instead of harming them. To
love Atatürk is to love mankind.
The concept of humanism leads to the respect for human rights, which is
an aspect of the contemporary civilization. Civilization requires equal rights
for everyone and destroying the difference between the weak and powerful. The
belief in human power requires the love and the respect for mankind. Atatürk
made many social efforts in this direction and that's what he desired for
people. A society where human rights do not exist can never be civilized.
To love Atatürk is to respect human rights.
The concept of humanism can be defined as the evaluation of work.
Associations who can't assess manpower deserve being disregarded. Atatürk, who
said "Happiness is the right of those who work."
(The newspaper 'Vakit'- 1923 - issue 1835) was
a leader who had faith in this belief. The belief in human power requires the
evaluation of labor manpower, has created the contemporary civilization. To
love Atatürk is to appreciate work.
What role does a human have in humanism? A human being adopts a natural
law and the best aims. In this context, natural laws assist mankind. So human
beings are the master of the universe. To love Atatürk is to love people.
Contemporary civilization in humanism helps the nation develop. Those
who disregard it have no role in contemporary civilization. Contemporary civilization
is the way of life which considers future, looks forward and makes progress. It
has no contact with the past. Those who miss the past may go back but can never
prevent a society from going forward_ this is Atatürk's understanding of social
evolution. To love Atatürk is to make progress.
Humanism has virtues. All the speeches and declarations of Atatürk
consider virtues. Atatürk said, "Our real struggle is to come the first
with high virtues in the entire world," (The newspaper Cumhuriyet dated
3rd August 1923) to love Atatürk is to be virtuous.
ATATÜRK, GETTING UNIVERSAL WITHIN THE TRIANGLE OF SCIENTIFIC -
SECULARISM –
HUMANISM
The aim of the reforms of Atatürk is for human beings to live with
regard to ideals based on humanism and to do the best to live satisfactorily.
These Reforms of Atatürk have become universally recognized and they provided
encouragement to make progress.
The Reforms of Atatürk have put forward their own existence in order to
assimilate the West. This contribution has made mankind aware of his own
existence by means of rationalism and humanist virtues.
It has made Turkish society, in an eastern country; go into an evolution
period of mankind, that's why it is an important and special contribution. This
has also proved that a society which isn't Western could be as creative as the
West.
Thanks to the Reforms of Atatürk, The Turkish Republic has broken the
material and spiritual chains of the Scholastic thought, after years of theoretical
structure it has become a democratic and secular country in a short time, all
the dogmatic values have been wiped out and there has been a unique action with
humanist and rationalism virtues.
Nations which aren't Western are in a worse stage compared to
We can say that in a theoretical regime, where people can't be free due
to religious pressures, they should appreciate most active / effective
political method in Kemalizm getting universal. In the near future, Kemalizm
will be engraved in history which is the nightmare of theocratic regime.
You, the citizens of Atatürk's
You can go up to the sky if you have the
concept of contemporary civilization, but why should you be in the sky? What
use is that thought if it never comes down the sky? It will wither among the
clouds. The thought should meet the societies on earth. You, too, come down! Meet
the people, the society and go towards mankind. Mankind waits for the Universal
Atatürk. Mankind waits for you, who have aimed at freedom, equality, love,
human rights, happiness and progress. I see the Universal Atatürk in your eyes,
I love you.