Evening star., 1924-03-28
THE NEW TURKEY OF ANGORA
BY CONSTANTINE 4. CHEKREZL
ID.
Commissioner Of to

7 ciAl and political system of Turkey.
ALI these are but signs Of the times,
probably matters of form. But to
strike at the very foundation OF the
Islamic tradition. is somewhat per
picking. II not stunning. 1t is all the
more bafYiing because the generation
and its leaders that deposed Abdul
ance of the sacred Mohammedan law
are the same ones that swept away
khahph and khaliphate without any
ceremony. And the whole situation
becomes a well-nigh unanswerable
enigma In the face OF the united out
cry emitted by the Moslem world at
the impious action of the grand as
sembly of Angora. Without any COM
junction or fiinching, Turkey has cut
herself adrift from the rest of Islam,
leaving it to worry alone about the
spiritual headship Of Mohammedan-
ism.
One would naturally wonder, then,
as to what was in the back of the
minds of the Angora leaders when
they took such dizzy leap in the
dark, as Disraeli might have said.
What, for instance. are the forces
that impelled them to such startling
resolutions?
To be sure, and in the light again
OF what we already know about
Turkish mentality, there is little
doubt Sbut that the abolition of the
khaliphate and the renunciation of
the Islamic tradition is only a bold
In power. That element is known
to be whole centuries ahead of the
supine Turkish people. And the
mentality OF that radical element is a
composite tumble of the most be-
wildering and contradictory ideas OF
the eighteenth. nineteenth and twen-
tieth centuries. Rampant bolshevism
and extreme nationalism, militant
theoDphism and duh agnOsticism,
| rank materialism and self-exulting
idealism, are but few of the "isms" of
our prolific age that form the in
gradients OF the mental arcumula-
ton Of the present-day Turkish lead
er. And what bettor illustration Of
the working Of this jungled mental
ity than the fact that at the very
time of the solemn abolition OF tine
1slanic tradition hundreds of Chris
tians are induced or forced TO en-
brace the faith OF Mohammed?
More than that, the men of An
hobnobbing and kowtowlng with
1.enin, Trotsky and the rest Of their
comrades. are fndulging in the in
spring sensation of re-enacting in
Turkey the Impressive scenes OF sne
French revolution. The fact is that
the greater part OF the meager Turk
ish literature is made up of transla-
tions OF French revolutionary BOOKS
Voltaire, d Alembert, Rousseau. Mon
tesouicu Robespierre, Marat. Dan
ton arc deities enshrined in the brain
case of the cultured" Turkish gen
tlsman. And the abolition OF the
khaliphate is but the negative couh-
terpart of the installation Of the Wor-
ship of Reason.
Eut behind this disordered medley
of disjoin,ed distractions there is one
grand causa causAns which inspires
every action and motion of the con-
trolling group in the grand assembly
of Angora-the triumphant birth OF
Turkish nationalism. The delirious
worshipers of the new divinity are
drinking avidly in its invigorating
radiation. The western world Is
growing gray with nationalisrn. when
reborn Turkey is cutting her hrst
! teeth on it. And nothing is to be
denied to this glorious infant; every
thing is to be subjected TO its august
whims and caprfces.
1t is too early yet TO see what the
ignorant and profoundly religious
| masses OF Turkey would have to say
in regard 10 these changes. The
populace is probably too stunned by
protest 1t may take some time for
the full significance OF the change to
sink in. Shall we take as the first sign
Of reaction the fact that all the mem
bers of the cabinet, but one. have failed
to be re elected?
Yet, Mustafa Kemal. and his party,
will be able to eventually rid the
Turk ish masses of their turbulent re-
lIgious fervor by striking at the root
of the evil by such acts as the aboli-
tion of the anomalous sacred law
which may or may not be his imme-
diate -object-the western world may
, disgrace he heaped on the heads Of
its diplomats. both at the MudaniG
armistice conference and at the more
solemn peace conference of Lausanne.
To use a favorite watchword of
! n we'll known American editor:
Look for interesting developments is