mustafa kemal
the bırth of a natıon & a leader
The war in Gallipoli & Dardanelles have also led to the birth of a new nation from the ashes of an exhausted empire & a new leader who would later be accepted as the ''father'' of that newborn nation. That leader was ''Mustafa Kemal'' who was a colonel in Gallipoli front under the command of German General Otto Liman Von Sanders but would be the commander who would change the destint of the war.
Mustafa Kemal had the control of the front after correcting the results of inappropriate analyses and decisions of Von sanders.
Mustafa Kemal - or with the family name given to him by his nation after the law which makes family names compulsory ''Atatürk'' (The father of Turks) - was born at Salonika (now Thessalonika, Greece). After graduating from the military academy in Constantinople (Istanbul), he pursued his military career with the Turkish Army in Syria. A member of the Young Turk revolutionary movement which deposed the Sultan in 1909, he took part in the war of 1911–1912 against Italy in Libya. During the Second Balkan War in 1913 he became the chief of staff of the army in the Gallipoli Peninsula, until posted as military attaché at the Turkish embassy in Sofia, Bulgaria.
Kemal returned to Gallipoli in 1915 as commander of the 19th Division, the main reserve of the Turkish Fifth Army, and was thus on hand to oppose the Anzac landing in April. His superb grasp of strategy and ability to inspire his troops by his reckless bravery in action boosted Turkish morale and proved decisive in thwarting allied plans. Given command of all Turkish forces fighting in the Anafarta sector from Chunuk Bair to Suvla Bay, he was granted the title of Pasha after the August battles there. After commanding in the Caucasus, Kemal was at the head of Seventh Army in Palestine during the final allied offensive which defeated Turkey in 1918.
The Ottoman empire defeated in WWI like the Germans in spite of the victory in Dardanelles & Gallipoli. The lands of the Empire were divided and invaded by English, italians, French and finally Greeks. On May 1919, Atatürk began a nationalist revolution in Anatolia, organising resistance to the peace settlement imposed on Turkey by the victorious Allies. This was particularly focused on resisting Greek attempts to seize Smyrna and its hinterland. Victory over the Greeks enabled him to secure revision of the peace settlement in the Treaty of Lausanne.
In 1921, Atatürk established a provisional government in Ankara. The following year the Ottoman Sultanate was formally abolished and, in 1923, Turkey became a secular republic with Atatürk as its president. He established a single party regime that lasted almost without interruption until 1945.
He launched a programme of revolutionary social and political reform to modernise Turkey. These reforms included the emancipation of women, the abolition of all Islamic institutions and the introduction of Western legal codes, dress, calendar and alphabet, replacing the Arabic script with a Latin one. Abroad he pursued a policy of neutrality, establishing friendly relations with Turkey's neighbours.
In 1935, when surnames were introduced in Turkey, he was given the name Atatürk, meaning 'Father of the Turks'. He died on 10 November 1938.
Unforgettable words of Mustafa Kemal
Mustafa Kemal is also famous with some of his words which looks like the words of an unbelieveable character. One of them was his order to his troops in gallipoli war. he ordered to his officer who was trying to held a hill with his troops hopeleslly, as written below.
''I am not ordering you to attack, I am ordering you to die!''
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Unforgettable words of Mustafa Kemal
The heartfelt speech attributed to Ataturk about Turks and Australians in Gallipoli. This inscription appears on the Kemal Atatürk Memorial, Anzac Parade, Canberra.
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''Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives ... You are now lying in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies 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 faraway countries, wipe away your tears; your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace. After having lost their lives on this land they have become our sons as well.''
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Comments of World leaders About Mustafa Kemal Atatürk
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Gandhi;
''Untill the time when Mustafa Kemal defeat them, I used to think that the God was also English''
John F. Kennedy, President of the United States
''historic achievements, was one of the greatest leaders of this century (20th). He was a towering figure of human ideals. His extraordinary leadership and his military genius accomplished so much for his country; first in battlefields, and then in building his nation, materially and in spirit. He created a modern and sovereign state from the ashes of a defeated empire. He was a great peace-maker, an ultimate reformer and a torch-bearer of freedom. He won not only the heart of his nation but the hearts of the oppressed nations as well. We all miss him.''
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Adolf Hitler
“Atatürk was the first to show that it is possible to mobilize and regenerate the resources that a country has lost. In this respect Atatürk was a teacher; Mussolini was his first and I his second student.” (1938)
“How fast Kemal Atatürk dealt with the priests is one of the most amazing chapters of history!” (1942)
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Bill Clinton, President of the United States
''no doubt that Ataturk is the greatest statesman of this millennium as he is the only leader who succeeded to become the leader of the century, not of the year.''
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Franklin D. Roosevelt, President of the United States
''with the Foreign Secretary of Russia, I asked him, to his opinion, who was the most remarkable statesman in Europe; without hesitation, he said the most remarkable statesman in Europe was Ataturk, the President of Turkey.''
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Winston Churchill, British P.M.
''If Ataturk had lived today the world would have been a more interesting place. When, in 1915, during our ill-fated Dardanelles campaign fate brought us across in Gallipoli we immediately knew that we were up against a military genius and a formidable strategist. Soon he emerged as a noble warrior. Later he proved himself as a genuine peace-maker and a consummate statesman as well.''
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Sir Charles Townshend: British General
''I conducted interviews with fifteen Kings and Presidents. I cannot remember one single incident in which I was as excited and impressed as when I interviewed Ataturk. He is very intelligent and a polished gentleman, he has a captivating personality with enormous power of spirit.''
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Albert Francois LeBrun, The French President
''extraordinary work that Ataturk achieved in the military and the civilian spheres with his sound rational and foresight are unequaled, and they will leave their imprints in the history of mankind.''
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David Ben Gurion, Israeli P.M.
''Without any doubt, Ataturk was one of the greatest leaders of the 20th century. He left indelible marks in our times as an ultimate statesman and a preeminent reformer. On the military side, he was a peerless strategist and a victorious commander with exemplary foresight, courage and heroism. He emerged in Turkey, and the Turkish nation must be proud of having produced such an exceptional son.''
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General De Gaulle, French Head of State
''Rest in peace great Ataturk! The flame you kindled burns brilliantly and continues to light our world. And your footprints in history are indelible for those who wish to follow them. ''
General Douglas MacArthur
''I don’t know any other person in history who combined military genius and human ideals in his person as brilliantly as Ataturk did. I was fortunate to meet and interview that extraordinary leader in person. Today, I cherish my memories of him fondly and dearly. At this time I look forward to meet him again.''
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D. Lloyd George, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
''The centuries rarely produce a genius. Look at this bad luck of ours, that great genius of our era was granted to the Turkish nation.''
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Emanullah HAN (Afghan King)
''He was not only a great man for Turkey, but he was also a great leader for the Eastern People.''
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Kurt G. Kiesinger, Prime Minister of the Federal Republic of Germany
'' am the child of a generation that knows closely Turkish-German friendship. At an early age I saw a man's heroism's, the services he carried out and the self-sacrifices he undertook for his country. This man was Mustafa Kemal. Today I comprehend even better that this person was a great statesman. He was great, because he used all his courage for his nation, his country to save his homeland at an unlucky moment. He was great, because he directed his nation towards the absolute necessity of adjusting them to the necessities of history. He was great, because he always knew how to defend suitable limits and he did not go beyond the limits that would put his work into danger. Courageousness and his own courageousness was intelligent enough as well to be able to draw the limits.''
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Eleutherios Venizelos, Prime Minister of Greece
''In the life of a nation it is very seldom that changes to such a radical degree were carried out in such a short period of time... Without a doubt, those who have done these extraordinary activities have earned the attributes of a great man in the complete sense of the word. And because of this, Turkey can be proud of itself.'' (October 31, 1933)
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Jawaharlal Nehru, Prime Minister of India
''Kemal Atatürk or Kemal Pasha by which name we knew him in those times, was my hero during my youth. I was very moved when I read about his great reforms. I met with great praise the general efforts made by Atatürk on the course of modernizing Turkey. His dynamism, undauntedness and unawareness of fatigue created a great effect on people. He was one of the builders of the modern age in the orient. I continue to be among his greatest admirers.''
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Vladimir llyich LENIN, Leader of the Russian Revolution
''Mustafa Kemal was not a socialist. But it can be perceived that he is a good organizer, with great understanding, progressive, with good thoughts and an intelligent leader. He is carrying out a war of independence against those plunderers. I am believing that he will break the pride of the imperialists and that he will beat the Sultan together with his friends.'' ( 1921 )
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Nikita S. Khrushchev, President of the Soviet Union
''We are indebted to him for the birth of the first republic in the Near and Middle East. This Republic showed the way for the wars of national freedom for many nations. Under Atatürk's administration, Turkey's international authority advanced and his country started to play an important role in world politics.''
