As an ordinary soldier born at the near end of the 18th century, Mustafa Kemal is bound to lead an illustrious life as he became a prime mover of numerous reforms in a nation dominated by an empire that existed for eight centuries. Indeed, this soldier has surpassed what is ordinary because made a great difference by paving the way for the Turkish people to be freed from the chains of the Ottoman Empire. For his noble achievements, Mustafa Kemal was given the title of “Ataturk” which meant “Father of the Turks” and his memory will forever be embedded in Turkey’s history. Unfortunately, Ataturk’s greatness is still marred by controversy because his vision is still being intensely debated until today.
Born in 1881 in Selanik (Now in Thessalonika, Greece – at that time, Selanik was still in the boundaries of the Ottoman Empire), Mustafa Kemal was exposed to a mixture of cultures from Selanik and Istanbul, where he was raised as a child. Being born from a father who is a minor official who later turned into a timber merchant, young Mustafa Kemal was sent to study in a military school when he was 12 years old. During those times, the Ottoman Empire was ruled by an authoritarian sultan named Abdülhamid II and he was earlier exposed to all inequities of all regulations being imposed on the people. Later on, he studied at the War College in Istanbul between 1899 and 1904 — in a time when a growing number of Ottoman intellectuals and officers—collectively known as the Young Turks—were becoming increasingly disillusioned with the state of the empire under Abdülhamid II. This was the time when Mustafa Kemal found himself involved in revolutionary plots to overthrow the sultan. Appointed to serve in Syria in 1905, he returned to Selanik in 1907, where he was active in the Ottoman Freedom Society and the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP). Mustafa Kemal played only a minor role in the Young Turk Revolution of July 1908, but as a junior officer, he was an active member of the Operational Army that marched on Istanbul in April 1909 to suppress a counterrevolution that aimed to restore power to Abdülhamid II.
Closely working with people whose goals were to instigate change in their nation, the decadence of the Ottoman Empire ended as Mustafa Kemal established the Republic of Turkey with his friends in 1923. He became the first president of Turkey and Mustafa Kemal ruled Turkey for fifteen years until his death in 1938. Although fifteen years was too short to establish new changes, as the first President of Turkey, Ataturk embarked upon major programs that supported political, economic, social, educational, legal, and cultural reforms that forever changed how Turks lived their lives until this very day. However, these reforms were seen as Westernization movements or modernization of their constitution and some critics do not have faith in his vision as a leader. Although Mustafa Kemal intended to employ his advocacies that advance the interests of the Turkish people, his vision of necessary changes was unpalatable to some opposing parties because it can overturn some major political interests in Turkey. Primarily, the new ideology of secularism and transformation of the old Turkish traditions were two main movements that Ataturk focused on and it was seen to be breaking the norms that most traditional Turkish people are holding dear. It later turns out that Ataturk’s plans were unacceptable to some people – that until now, it is still subject to some arguments being made in the Turkish nation until this very day.
Secularism is the idea that separates state matters from religion. This idea first occurred during the modernization movements in Ottoman Empire by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. Upon the beginning of the secularization of Turkey, people who were living with the rules of the Muslim religion for eight centuries must accept the secular system because it was made into a major government policy. Upon the establishment of the new government policies, the rules of the secular state were instantly criticized by many opposing parties and have been continually being debated at present. One side of the Turkish nation supported the movements of Ataturk and this action was under the name of “Kemalism”, while the other side of the Turkish nation supported the traditional religious rules to be maintained. Because of the strength of the opposing parties, the political inclinations of people were divided because the opposing parties are accusing Ataturk of downplaying their traditional religious beliefs for political purposes. In reality, the situation grew worse because some other politicians are using this situation to advance their political motives by supporting traditional religious rules.
In this case, we could see that the Turkish nation is facing a huge dilemma because it is divided by the movements that were sparked by the reforms made by Ataturk. People who support Ataturk are speaking against the people who support religious involvement in the government. As a result, the situation had become a fundamental debate in the Turkish nation at present. In my belief, there never has been a day that newspapers do not talk about the two opposing sides of the secularism issue. Unfortunately, this might be the cause why the development of Turkey as a nation has been debilitated because of the opposing parties that disagree most of the time. I think that Turkey can become one of the most promising nations in terms of development, if not for the misunderstanding between the opposition that hampers the gains of the whole nation. For Turkey to become globally competitive, rapid development entails unity and not division. When a nation is divided, key development gains are hampered because both parties will keep on advancing their interests and preventing others to suggest viable reforms. To be global, there should be peace in the country, so that more investors will be encouraged to pour in their investments because they have confidence in the government. Yet, Turkey is still arguing about the age-old reforms made by Ataturk and using them to promote political advantages against the opposition, while other countries are venturing into space travel and global initiatives.
In addition to the issue of secularism, the transformation of Ottoman tradition is another movement of Ataturk that is also being questioned. When we say the transformation of Ottoman tradition, it covers a wide range of changes in laws on family names, abolition of the Ottoman Sultan office, the proclamation of the Republic, abolition of the use of the Persian alphabet, and the proclamation of the Roman alphabet as an official alphabet and many more. The idea of abolition of the use of the Persian alphabet is the biggest step in the Westernization movement. After the movement, all the books which were written in the Persian alphabet will be burned down, thrown away, or be abandoned to read. This situation has put the Turkish nation 10 years backward as the people do not enough books to read and the children were not able to learn. In my belief, the Turkish people lost important pieces of information that were written in the Persian alphabet. Also, the Turkish nation lost its intellectuals because the number of people who can read and write was reduced significantly from eighty percent to ten percent. On the other hand, this movement was good preparation to become a more Western country. Although the decision was very abruptly made, this vision by Ataturk has enabled the Turkish people to use the same alphabet that is widely used in Western countries. Communication is a vital tool to become a global country and this knowledge will empower future Turkish children to become aware of what’s going on around the world through their understanding of the language of the Western world. I gained this advantage because I did not have to learn the new alphabet, unlike Asians in the USA.
Although the revolution led by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk has been faced with much criticism until today, it cannot be denied that Ataturk has a good sense of vision for the development of Turkey as a modern nation. Mustafa Kemal Ataturk said: “If you want to bring change in nation, you must eradicate the past.” This is the prime reason why Ataturk destroyed all the books made in the Ottoman Empire. Although there are more subtle ways of pushing on his beliefs, his intention is still noble and what matters most is that the Turkish nation is slowly realizing the detriments of Ataturk’s sudden actions. Many people disagreed with the actions made by Ataturk because the Ottoman Empire existed for 800 years and losing all the information about that empire in one day is like losing a country’s identity. All parts of history, whether good or bad, should be left in the books and the memory of the people because it is where the youths can learn why Turkey turned out to be what it is now. We all can learn from the past and we can surely learn about not doing the same mistakes committed by Ataturk during his presidency. On the issue of secularism, religion will always be a sensitive issue to talk about because some people will always oppose it. In this case, the opposing parties should find ways in agreeing to terms where both can have what they want. Even Ataturk is not perfect and he made some mistakes during his rule, but he gave us Turkey’s independence by saving our lands from enemies. In this case, the opposing parties should make a compromise for the sake of the nation and they should forget their vested interests. Turkey has suffered so much in the past and it is time for our nation to move forward as one by being united and upholding the great legacy that Ataturk has bestowed upon us.