FATHER OF THE TURKS
"Biography of ATATURK"
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk was a Turkish nationalist leader and founder and first president of the Republic of Turkey.
Atatürk had an ordinary childhood, during his childhood and youth success, it became clear that he would be a good soldier and politician. Mustafa Kemal Atatürk was born in Salonika in 1881, in what was then the Ottoman Empire (Nowadays his birthplace is now known as Thessaloniki, in Greece). His father was Ali Riza Efendi and his mother was Zübeyde Hanim. Ali Riza Efendi worked in various occupations such, a military officer, a deed officer and for some time a timber merchant. Zübeyde Hanım was a housewife. Atatürk had five siblings, but four siblings died at an early age. Only his sister Makbule Atadan survived and lived until 1956. He started to study at “Hafız Mehmet Efendi” Local School. Then, he transferred to “Şemsi Efendi” School at his father’s instigation. He lost his father in 1888 due to intestinal cancer. He started his military life with a military school at the age of twelve at “Askeri Rüştiye” Secondary School. He graduated from secondary school and then, he attended “Manastır Askeri İdadisi” Military High School in 1893. After he graduated from the Military High Scool, he went to Military Academy and he graduated from the Military Academy in 1905 as a captain (Turkish News, 2012; Wikipedia, 2017).
Atatürk performed various missions in the army and he became a successful soldier and commander until the end of his life. Ataturk, who spent most of his fighting life in wars, was always successful in these missions and wars. During the First World War (WWI), he served as the Division Commander in the Battle of Çanakkale (Gallipoli). From 1916, he served as an Army Commander on the East and South fronts. He was one of the forces that saved Bitlis and Muş from enemy invasion. He served on the Palestinian and Syrian fronts. Following the Moudros Armistice, upon the occupation of a large part of the Anatolian lands by allied powers according to the provisions of the Treaty of Sevres, the last Ottoman Sultan Vahdettin sent him to Ankara, which was not occupied (Itzkowitz, 2020).
Atatürk went to Samsun on May 19, 1919, and started the Turkish national struggle. The Amasya Circular gathered the Sivas and Erzurum Congresses. He resigned from the military mission in Ankara, Turkey. On April 23, 1920 convened the Grand National Assembly and he was elected the President of the Turkish Grand National Assembly (Republic of Turkey Ministry of Culture and Tourism, 2014). In 1921, He assumed the post of Commander-in-Chief and fought for the liberation of Anatolia from the Greek occupation. He won the battle of Sakarya. On September 19, 1921, the Turkish Grand National Assembly gave him the title of “Marshal” and “Ghazi”. On August 26, 1922, the invaders launched the Great Offensive against Greek forces. Five days later, he won the Commander-in-Field Battle on August 30, 1922. After the Lausanne Peace Conference, he was re-elected as president by the Grand National Assembly of Turkey and then he led the Turkish War of Independence and signed the Treaty of Lausanne on July 24, 1923, which made Turkey a Republic. He founded the Republic of Turkey on October 29, 1923 (New World Encyclopedia, 2016).
Atatürk was elected its first president in 1923 and ushered in reforms and politics that modernized Turkey. He made political reforms, economic reforms, social reforms, legal reforms, and educational reforms and policies for the development of the Republic of Turkey. These reforms were a series of political, legal, religious, cultural, social, and economic policy changes designed to be a secular, modern nation-state by Atatürk. Many other changes were made by Atatürk and his administration. For example; the transition to multi-party political life in parliament, women's rights, surname law, co-education and education of girls, the assent of the new Latin alphabet, establishment of banking and industry system, gender equality, civil independence, Republic (representative democracy), abolition of Sultanate, etc. (Wikipedia, 2018).
Atatürk lived an ordinary life as in his childhood. He spent most of his life in wars and government affairs. In his personal life, he always engaged in state affairs and devoted his life to the development of his country. He was briefly married to Latife Uşaklıgil between 1923 and 1925 (The Biography.com, 2019). During his lifetime, Atatürk adopted thirteen children: a boy and twelve girls. Of these, the most famous is Sabiha Gökçen, Turkey's first female pilot and the world's first female fighter pilot. In 1934, he introduced surnames in Turkey, and he took the last name Ataturk, which means "Father of the Turks." He died on November 10, 1938, from cirrhosis of the liver (BBC History, 2015).
Mustafa Kemal Ataturk was a revolutionary who helped
establish the Republic of Turkey. He was Turkey's first president and his
reforms modernized the country (Wikipedia, 2018). He
laid the foundations of modern Turkey and he left a legacy of the Republic of
Turkey to the Turkish youth.
