Writer : Ali Foroogh Khalatbari

Mustafa Kemal Ataturk Biography

Birthday: May 19, 1881
Nationality: Turkish
Famous: Presidents Revolutionaries
Died At Age: 57
Sun Sign: Taurus
Born in: Thessaloniki
Famous as: Founder of the Republic of Turkey
Spouse/Ex-: Latife Uşşaki (m. 1923–1925)
father: Ali Rıza Efendi
mother: Zübeyde Hanım
siblings: Makbule Atadan
children: Afet İnan, Fikriye Atatürk, Mustafa Atatürk, Nebile Bayyurt, Rukiye
Erkin, Sabiha Gökçen, Ülkü Adatepe, Zehra Aylin
Died on: November 10, 1938
place of death: Istanbul
City: Thessaloniki, Greece

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk was the first President of Turkey until his
death in 1938. He is known for being a leader of Turkey who freed the
country from being controlled by other countries, and later for
starting changes that made Turkey more modern and similar to
Western civilization, mainly Europe and the United States.
Career:
Following his studies, he was drafted as a staff Captain in the Fifth Army based
in Damascus. No sooner he was promoted to the rank of Senior Captain and
eventually Inspector of the Ottoman Railways in Eastern Rumelia
While continuing his service, he became an active member of the Young
Turks, a revolutionary movement of the intellectuals. In 1908, he even went on
to participate in the Young Turk Revolution, which successfully seized power
from Sultan Abdulhamid II and established the constitutional monarchy.
For a period of about 9 years from 1909 to 1918, he held a number of posts in
the Ottoman army. He actively contributed in the Italo-Turkish War from 1911
to 1912 where he fought against Italy and later in the Balkan War from 1912 to
1913.
In 1913, he was appointed as the Ottoman military attache to all Balkan states
and promoted to the rank of Kaymakam (Lieutenant Colonel) in 1914. In the
First World War, he was given the task of commanding the 19th Division.
As a commander of the 19th Division, he became quite famous and was
known all through for his astute sense, bravery and strategic powers. These
capabilities helped him thwart the Allied invasion of the Dardanelles in 1915.
During the battle, he received repeated promotions until the Armistice of
Mudros ended the fighting in 1918. Despite the conclusion of World War I, the
treaty gave the Allies the right to occupy forts that controlled major waterways.
It was then that he organized a resistance movement for complete
independence.
He then engaged himself completely in the Turkish war of Independence. The
Turks engaged in a series of battle against the Greek and Armenian forces until
the Treaty of Lausanne was signed on October 29, 1923, leading to the
establishment of the Republic of Turkey.
 He was appointed as the first president of the Republic of Turkey. In the new
role, he instituted several political, social and economic reforms, banking on the
reputation he had gained from his military background.
His first key step as the president was to secularise the country from being a
Muslim state to a modern, democratic and secular nation-state. He studied and
adapted the Western government structure for the same. He successfully
established a constitution that separated the government from religion and
professed state secularism.
Other than constitutional changes, he brought about a major change in the
social and cultural arena and established the backbone of legislative, judicial
and economic structures.
He eradicated the Arabic alphabet, giving way for the Latin to rule the nation.
He even insisted that no prayers should be made in Turkish and Arabic should
be used instead.
Furthermore, he introduced the Gregorian calendar instead of the Islamic
calendar followed and urged people to accept the westernized ways. He insisted
on wearing western clothes, thus abandoning the sartorial tradition of the
Middle East. He forbade wearing fez hats, turbans and headscarves.
Under his rule, the gender difference ceased to almost zero as he established
equality between the sexes in a legal manner. Women were provided equal civic
and political rights. They were bereft of veiling laws as well.
He established thousands of new schools, providing free and compulsory
primary education. He banned the religious schools and instead appointed the
secular schools which came under the governance of the Ministry of National
Education.
He abolished the Caliphate to reform the political system and promote
national sovereignty. Its powers were transferred to the GNA. Though other
countries debated on confirming or discouraging Turkish nation, they could not
come to a single conclusion.
 His foreign policy rested on his motto of ‘peace at home and peace in the
world’. During his presidency, he resolved all foreign issues in a peaceful
manner, not once using military might to solve problems.
The economic policies under his rule helped develop small and large scale
businesses. During the Great Depression, he established the Central Bank of the
Republic of Turkey, the main purpose of which was to control exchange rates.
He even supervised the first and second five year economic plan.

Awards & Achievements:

The Turkish government bestowed upon him several high-profile decorations
such as Fifth Class Knight Order of the Medjidie, Silver Imtiyaz Medal, Silver
Liakat Medal, Golden Liakat Medal, Second Class Knight Order of Osmanieh,
Second Class Knight Order of the Medjidie, Golden Imtiyaz Medal, First Class
Knight Order of the Medjidie, Gallipoli Star, Medal of Independence and
Murassa Order
Other countries that honoured him include France’s National Order of the
Legion of Honour, Bulgaria’ Commander Grand Cross Order Of Saint Alexander,
Germany’s 1st and 2nd Class Iron Cross, Prussia’s 1st Class Order of the Crown
Prussia, Afghanistan’s Aluyulala Order of Kingdom of Afghanistan and so on.