Atatürk, Mustafa Kemal

Atatürk, Mustafa Kemal ( ‘Father of the Turks’) (b. 12 Mar. 1881, d. 10 Nov. 1938). Founder and President of the Republic of Turkey 1923–38 Born in Saloniki, he became an officer in the army of the Ottoman Empire, and soon began to concern himself with his country's internal divisions and weaknesses. He participated in the Young Turk Revolution of 1908, and distinguished himself in the defeat of the Italian army at Tripoli (1911), and as the defender of the Dardanelles in World War I. In 1919, he became army commander in Anatolia. There, at the port of Samson on the Black Sea, in May 1919, he began his campaign to liberate the country from continuing Allied military control and Greek occupation in the west. In the following months he rallied the various movements for Turkish liberation around his leadership, so that on 23 April 1920 he was able to convene a Turkish Grand National Assembly, which elected him Chairman and head of government.

His victorious army reclaimed the Greek-occupied areas in Asia Minor in 1922. In 1923 he concluded the Treaty of Lausanne, whereby Turkey's European possessions were extended, international control of Istanbul ended, and its control over Asia Minor and parts of Armenia confirmed. He then dissolved the Ottoman Empire and proclaimed the Republic of Turkey. In the fifteen years of his rule, he carried out a remarkable programme of ‘Westernization’. The Roman alphabet replaced Arabic writing, the state became exclusively secular, monogamous marriages were introduced, and education was secularized. In foreign policy, he committed his country to international neutrality. He strengthened the new state through reforms in army and administration, but twice failed to introduce a multi-party democracy, as he discovered that this would produce a majority for those parties which opposed his reforms and thus threaten his state. His energy, drive, and authority ensured that his reforms created a lasting foundation for the Turkish state. In 1934 he was given the title ‘Atatürk’ by the Turkish Grand National Assembly.