(1881, Thessaloniki, (now Greece)- November 10, 1938, Istanbul) Founder of the modern republic of Turkey.
His original name was Mustafa Kemal, and the honorary title "Atatürk" was bestowed upon him as late as 1934, by the Grand National Assembly, and means "Father of the Turks".
Atatürk's achievements were many, but most were formed after clear Western ideals. Atatürk believed that the traditional way of running Muslim countries had outlived itself, and that Turkey's chances of surviving the future as well as gaining new strength would only be achieved through adopting principles from the European countries, which at that time had outdistanced Turkey in all fields.


His reforms included imposing regulations that hindered the use of central elements in the Oriental clothing style, introduction of the Latin alphabet for Turkish, reduction of the centrality of Islam in Turkish public life, equality of all citizens regardless of religion, emancipation of women and regular education of the masses. He introduced a political system that took many elements from Western systems, but he never allowed political pluralism, allowing only his own Republican People's party.
Atatürk's governmental structure had a unicameral parliament, an administration that had to answer for the quality of its achievements, as well as an effective bureaucracy. What was intended to become modern Turkey was defined from 6 principles:

Republicanism
Nationalism
Populism
Statism (State control over the basic means of production, where the banks were used as the administrative body)
Secularism
Revolutionism
The price of Atatürk's modernization was principally felt by his political rivals, which he had removed from power by 1926, when Kemal had them accused of assassination conspiracy. Atatürk's Turkey was never established as a democracy, but it relied heavily on the allegiance from the bureaucracy, and the country's wealthy citizens.
The other victim of Atatürk was the traditional way of governing Islam. Islam ceased to be the state religion, and the Caliphate was abolished, an institution of great symbolic importance for many Muslims inside and outside the former Ottoman empire.


" Mankind is a single body and each nation is a part of that body. We must never say 'What does it matter to me if some part of the world is aliasing?'. If there is such an illness, we must concern ourselves with it as though we were having that illness." M. Kemal Atatürk.

Briefly, he is ...

an exceptional reformer.

the leader of the first struggle given against colonialism and imperialism.

the remarkable promoter of the sense of understanding between peoples and durable peace between the nations of the world.

a leader working all his life for the development of harmony and cooperation between peoples without distinction of color, religion and race.




"Those heroes that shed their blood
and lost their lives...
You are now lying in the soil of a friendly country,
therefore ret in peace.
There is no difference between the Jonnies
and the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side.
Here in this country of ours...
You, the mothers,
who sent their sons from far away countries
wipe away your tears.
Your sons are now lying in our bossom
and are in peace.
After having lost their lives on this land they have
become our sons as well."

Mustafa Kemal ATATURK

ANZAC Memorial, 1934.



"This nation has never lived without independence. We cannot and shall not live without it. Either independence or death." M. Kemal Atatürk.

i was at madame tussards with my boyfriend the other day, and his face when he saw Ataturk was so funny, he littrely ran towards him saying 'look, theres Ataturk, Ataturk!'

"I ask the world civilizations: Is this civilization, can people responsible for savage actions speak in the name of humanity, of civilization, of individuality?

What do they want to undertake in our country? The minorities were rich and peaceful. They were all getting along like brothers. Who made them murderers?

Izmir is Turkish.

Those who consider this nation incapable will learn."

(p.30, ibid. Inan, p.88)


he also give message for today.

It was in 1923 that "the hero of the Turks" created a republic out of an
antiquated empire. From 1923 to his death on November 10, 1938, in just 15
years, he introduced sweeping reforms to modernize the nation: Arabic
writing was replaced with the Latin alphabet; government and education were
separated from religion; the legal system was overhauled on the basis of
European models; women were given equal rights under the law; hats replaced
the traditional headgear and women were discouraged from wearing the veil.
A vast transformation took place especially in urban life: Turkey's cultural
life embraced many aspects of Western civilization, technology and arts,
including opera, ballet, sculpture. Schools and universities, too, became
Westernized.

really ... who is ataturk? thanks for info dude

i memorized it..but it was not bad for our lovely turkish learners...they need dis

i like the title much who is ataturk??? like a joke

Atatürk gibi büyük bir insan onun gibi bir dahii varmidir acaba bu yerzüzünde??Eğer Atatürk olmasaydi şimdi bizler kimbilir kimlerin kölesi olacaktik.gerçi şÃ¶yle bir bakarsan zaten Türkiye su anda herkezin kölesi haline gelmiş durumda.bir Ataturk'un yasadigi donemlerimize bak birde bugunumuze??ne komik hale gelmisizde haberimiz yok.annemin bir sözü var eğer Atatürk biraz daha yaşasaydi biz almanlara işci olarak değil almanlar bize işci olarak gelirdi der hala! düşÃ¼ndükce çok doğru maalesef.biz yeni nesil annemin babamin neslinin neler çektigini gurbet ellerde bilemeyiz çünki biz yaşamadik,yaşasakta onlarin çektiği zorluklarla karşilaşmadik.belki sadece yabanci düşmanliğini çekiyoruz hala yurtdişinda nerede olursak olalim.ve yurtdisinda yasayipta hic yabanci dusmanligiyla karsilasmadigini soyleyenler yalan soyluyor.bizim yabancilara kucak actigimiz gibi biz heryerde oyle sicak karsilanmiyoruz maalesef!! sadece fikrimi soyleyeyim dedim bu konuda nerden basladim nerde bittim goruyormusunuz icim dolmus yani!!!

ataturk gercektende ileri goruslulugu,cesurlugu,gercek bir politikacı olması,askeri dehasıyla son yuzyılın en buyuklerinden biriydi..ve onun turk milletinin evladı olması buyuk bir şanstı bizim için...yeni yepyeni bir sayfa actı..

ama arkadaslar..onun silah arkadaslarını,cephede onun onunden olume kosan sehitleri,onun yanıdaki diger asil turk subaylarını da unutmayalım...canakkale savası kamutanı ataturk'un bile emir aldıgı paşamızın adını hiç birimiz bilmeyiz..

beni uzen şey egitim sitemimizden dolayı herseyin yarım yamalak,sadece ustunden gecilerek ogretilmesi...ve hiz arastırıcılıga yonlendirilmemesi insanların... bizler sadece papagan gibiyiz ogretilenleri mırıldanıp duruyoruz...

ataturk istikbal goklerdedir demiş..biz hala bu sozu yanlış anlayıp sagdan soldan ucak ithal etmeye calısıyoruz...

i thought that all posts had to be in english...

Some shorter texts which are easier to understand could be in Turkish only. If the text is longer like the one above it could have the translation as well. If a text is in Turkish and doesnt have the Turkish characters I think it doesnt serve any educational purpose. If you are writing in Turkish at least use Turkish characters and keep the sentences simple by avoiding difficult and less common words and writing in short sentences.

If you don't have a Turkish keyboard you can use the buttons on top that appear when you type any forum message.