Mustafa Kemal Atatürk

Kemal Atatürk (or alternatively written as Kamâl Atatürk, Mustafa Kemal Pasha until 1934, commonly referred to as Mustafa Kemal Atatürk; 1881 – 10 November 1938) was a Turkish marshal and statesman who was the first President of Turkey from 1923 to his death in 1938. 

He started changes that founded the Turkish nation state based on social and economic nationalism, which was modern and similar to Western civilization (such as the French model of secularism called laïcité).

Atatürk was born under the name Mustafa in 1881. His birthplace was in Salonika, Macedonia (now Thessaloniki, Greece). Salonika was then part of the Ottoman Empire. He took the name Kemal as a schoolboy and Atatürk (which means Father of the Turks) when he was president. His father's name was Ali Rıza Efendi. His mother's name was Zübeyde Hanım. He also had a sister, whose name was Makbule (Atadan). He joined the Ottoman army and became an army officer and the most successful general officer of the empire in World War I, fighting in Gallipoli where he successfully defended the peninsula against British and French attacks.

The Ottoman Empire was defeated by the Allied powers in World War I and the empire was subsequently and carved up and partitioned by several major powers. Many territories of the Ottoman Empire including those in Anatolia were to be given to Britain, France, Italy, Greece and Armenia. While the Ottoman Empire was collapsing after the war, Atatürk quickly fled the capital Istanbul right before the Allied occupation of the city and went to Ankara where he organized a Turkish resistance army to fight against the invaders and kick them out of Anatolia. After defeating the armies which had invaded Anatolia and expelling them in September 1922, he marched into Istanbul as a liberator in January 1923 where he had created a nationalist Turkish movement that created the new, secular Republic of Turkey. This meant that the country's government was no longer led by hereditary or religious leaders. Visitors to Turkey are often surprised by the importance given to Atatürk in Turkey.

Few countries have such a person in their history. He was a successful military commander, later established a unitary republic based on a constitution and put in place changes that set Turkey on the road to becoming a new and developing nation. He inspired many later leaders like Amānullāh Khān, Reza Shah Pahlavi, Adolf Hitler, Habib Bourguiba, Gamal Abdel Nasser, Sukarno, and John F. Kennedy.

His six principles still serve today as a sign post for establishing a democratic government:
 Republicanism: Replacing the hereditary monarchy with an elected parliament.
 Nationalism: Citizens working together with pride in a common interest.
 Secularism: Separating religion from government and the guarantee of freedom of religion and conscience in society.
 Populism: The equality of all citizens before the law.
 Statism: An economic system combining private enterprise with government-funded monopolies of large industries.
 Revolutionism: The basis of the other five principles. According to the needs of the society, innovations that are required by the age and science are made as soon as possible.

Notes

References

Other websites 
Brief biography at Ataturk.com
A description and gallery about him
Ataturk.net

Videos

 

1881 births
1938 deaths
Deaths from cirrhosis
Disease-related deaths in Turkey
Nationalists
Presidents of Turkey
Thessaloniki
Speakers of the Parliament of Turkey