Mustafa Kemal Pasha: The Ataturk of Turkey

 Mustafa Kemal Pasha

(The Ataturk of Turkey)

    Mustafa Kemal Pasha remains the most loved leader in modern history of Turkey. He is called as the Ataturk meaning the Father of the Nation. He is immensely loved by Turks because he established the Republic in Turkey after First World in early 1920s by overthrowing monarchy. Not only so, he modernized Turkey by introducing reforms.

    He was born in the year 1881 in Salonika in Greece. The name of his father was Ali Riza and that of mother was Zubeyde Hanim. His father was having military background. Hence, Mustafa’s father wanted his son to be a military person. One of the important aspects of Ali Riza’s thinking was that he believed in secular education. Naturally, he sent Mustafa to secular school instead of religious one. It can be said that secular education made deep impact on the mind of young Mustafa. That is why he promoted secular and scientific education after becoming ruler of Turkey and modernised his country by heavily coming down on religious fundamentalists.

    Mustafa Kemal Pasha was attracted towards military service. Hence, after clearing the entrance examination he joined the Secondary Military School in order to pursue a career in armed forces. He was given the title of Kemal by his Mathematics teacher. The meaning of the word Kemal is the Perfect One. Mustafa later on studied in War College and General Staff College.

    Mustafa Kemal Pasha was a nationalist and patriot at core. He loved his country very much and wanted to transform it into modern one. At that point of time Turkey was ruled by Sultans who also used to be the Caliphs of the Muslim world. In order to bring positive changes in Turkey Mustafa Kemal Pasha had played an important role in the establishment of Society for Fatherland and Freedom. He was utterly unhappy with the type of training given to Turkish military. He wanted that Turkish military forces should be given proper modern training like European countries. He had translated the German Military manuals in Turkish language. It showed his intention of modernising Turkish army.

    Kemal Pasha formed the nationalist government at Ankara around 1920. This government of Mustafa Kemal Pasha was rival to that of the one run by Sultan Muhammad VI from Istanbul. At last he was able to force Sultan Muhammad VI to go into exile in the month of November in 1922. Mustafa Kemal Pasha formed the Republic in Turkey on 29 October 1923 formally.

    It would not be an exaggeration to say that Mustafa Kemal Pasha wanted to transform his country totally and bring it to the level of advanced European countries. After coming to power he embarked on a fantastic journey of introducing manifold reforms in Turkey.

Let us discuss the reforms of Kemal Pasha in the forthcoming paragraphs.

    Kemal Pasha realised that there is a need to revamp the administrative set up of the country. It is always difficult for the rulers to provide good governance in the absence of effective administrative system with various layers. This was exactly understood by Mustafa Kemal Pasha. He divided his country into vilayets i.e. provinces, kazas i.e. districts and nahiyas i.e. boroughs. The number of provinces was sixty two and that of districts was four hundred and thirty. This system helped government to reach upto the last person in society. It is evident that this system was having three layers of administration. It could be observed that he not only divided and properly decentralised the administration at province, district and borough level but saw to it that government servants serve the people properly and efficiently.

    He knew very well that until and unless Turkey’s military power is enhanced it would not command the respect from great powers and refrain her enemies to attack her. He trained the armed forces rigorously and disciplined them. Modern weapons were procured. Due attention was given towards modernisation of air force as it was fast emerging as an important wing of armed forces since the First World War. Even artillery was given due attention. For modernisation of armed forces or military funds were sanctioned.

    Turkey was and even today is predominantly Muslim country as the people believing in Islam form majority. Mustafa Kemal Pasha wanted to secularise the country. In 1928 National Assembly declared that Islam was one of the religions in the country paving the way for secularisation of Turkey. He knew quite well that the efforts of modernisation and westernisation of Turkey would not go down well in a religiously conservative country. The conservative Muslim Clergies would have definitely opposed his reforms and some did so as well, that is why Mustafa Kemal Pasha banned the sacred tombs as places of worship. He also made efforts to weaken the position of Clergies. The properties belonging to monasteries were taken over by the state in order to utilise it for providing public facilities. The restrictions were imposed on religious orders.

    Mustafa Kemal Pasha knew that in newly emerging modernised and westernised Turkey there would be a need of modern laws and legal system. Hence, decision was made to do away with the age-old religious laws and legal system. In it’s place modern judicial system was introduced and laws were framed on European models. The laws of European countries like Switzerland, France, Italy, Germany, etc. were studied and  modern commercial, criminal and civil laws were introduced in Turkey.

    Reforms in the field of education were considered quite important by Mustafa Kemal Pasha for creating sensitive knowledge society which would receive his reform programme in positive manner. He converted the religious schools called as madrasas into state run secular schools where modern subjects were taught. He instructed the experts to find the way for writing Turkish language in Roman alphabets instead of Arabic script. Institutions for providing legal, administrative and agricultural education were established. Training institutes were started in order to train teachers so that they could teach students properly and appropriately. Efforts were made to see to it that hundred percent children in the age groups of six to sixteen attend the newly modernised secular schools. He also provided scholarships to students who wished to study abroad, especially Europe.

    Both men and women play vital role in the progress made by a country and society. Mustafa Kemal Pasha had understood it very well. Hence, he wanted to ensure the participation of women in the path of modernisaion, westernisation and development of Turkey. In Turkish society women were subjected to various restrictions and exploitation which had resulted into their lower social status. They were also denied the right to proper education. This scenario was reversed by him. Doors of education were equally opened for women. Women were allowed to pursue legal education, become teachers, doctors, nurses, engineers, etc. They were given voting rights from local to national elections. They could now contest the elections for National Assembly and become the Members of Parliament. Polygamy and purdah system was discouraged. Women could start business if they wanted to. Men and women could talk openly and feel free in each other’s company in public places thanks to encouragement given by Mustafa Kemal Pasha.

    Mustafa Kemal Pasha wanted to bring cultural changes in Turkey which he believed would help him to modernise it. Accordingly, western style of dresses were promoted among men and women. He asked people to greet each other in European style such as shaking hands. Even the western music was promoted. He also asked Turkish men to wear European style of caps and hats. Weekly public holiday was shifted from Friday to Sunday. In place of Lunar calendar Solar calendar on European model was introduced in Turkey.

    It was quite clear to Mustafa Kemal Pasha that the reform programme for modernisation and westernisation would not be received well with by the people until and unless economic development was achieved. Proper economic planning and it’s execution was done. Industrialisation was promoted. For motivating industrialists and manufacturers tax concessions and even tax holidays were declared. Farmers were urged to adopt modern techniques of agriculture. They were asked to go for crops like figs, opium, cotton, tobacco, etc. Farmers were encouraged for cattle breeding and sheep rearing which would help them to earn extra income. Various minerals like manganese, mercury, coal, copper, etc. were mined. He gave emphasis on developing infrastructure in order to accelerate the economic development. It included laying down railroads and building highways. He even set up banks in Turkey. Emphasis was given on generating employment opportunities. Appropriate measures were taken to earn income from oil resources of Turkey. These efforts of Mustafa Kemal Pasha paid rich dividends and put Turkey on the path of economic development. If we look at today’s Turkey and its well organised and efficient economy, certainly we need to give credit of it to the initiatives undertaken by Mustafa Kemal Pasha who is aptly called as Ataturk by Turks. Meaning of word Ataturk is Father of Nation.

    While modernising and westernising Turkey, Kemal Pasha gave due attention towards foreign policy as well. He successfully renegotiated with Allied Powers and convinced them to replace Treaty of Severes with that of Treaty of Lausanne. Newly signed Treaty of Lausanne was beneficial to Turkey than that of Treaty of Severes  which was imposed on Turkey by Allies after First World War. With the rise of extremist fascist powers in Italy and Germany Mustafa Kemal Pasha improved relations with Allied Powers like England and France which in turn allowed Turkey to militarise the Straits of Bosporus and Dardanelles and allowed her to control these Straits completely during war time. It was a great diplomatic victory for Turkey. Mustafa Kemal Pasha tried to have peaceful relations with its eastern neighbours like Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan.

    Measured by all means Mustafa Kemal Pasha remains the greatest leader of Turkey. He totally transformed a backward country into modern, western and developed one. This great leader of Turkey died in 1938. His countrymen were highly indebted to him and were in great grief after the death of their beloved leader. It can be apt to say that he made use of his power for promoting Republic in Turkey.