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He
was born in 1881 (probably in the spring) in Salonica, then an Ottoman
city, now in Greece. His father Ali Riza, a customs official turned
lumber merchant, died when Mustafa was still a boy. His mother Zubeyde,
a devout and strong-willed woman, raised him and his sister. First
enrolled in a traditional religious school, he soon switched to a modern
school. In 1893, he entered a military high school where his mathematics
teacher gave him the second name Kemal (meaning perfection) in
recognition of young Mustafa's superior achievement. He was thereafter
known as Mustafa Kemal.
In
1905, Mustafa Kemal graduated from the War Academy in Istanbul with the
rank of Staff Captain. Posted in Damascus, he started with several
colleagues, a clandestine society called "Homeland and Freedom" to fight
against the Sultan's despotism. In 1908 he helped the group of officers
who toppled the Sultan. Mustafa Kemal's career flourished as he won his
heroism in the far corners of the Ottoman Empire, including Albania and
Tripoli. He also briefly served as a staff officer in Salonica and
Istanbul and as a military attache in Sofia.
In
1915, when Dardanelles campaign was launched, Colonel Mustafa Kemal
became a national hero by winning successive victories and finally
repelling the invaders. Promoted to general in 1916, at age 35, he
liberated two major provinces in eastern Turkey that year. In the next
two years, he served as commander of several Ottoman armies in Palestine,
Aleppo, and elsewhere, achieving another major victory by stopping the
enemy advance at Aleppo.
On
May 19, 1919, Mustafa Kemal Pasha landed in the Black Sea port of Samsun
to start the War of Independence. In defiance of the Sultan's government,
he rallied a liberation army in Anatolia and convened the Congress of
Erzurum and Sivas which established the basis for the new national
effort under his leadership. On April 23, 1920, the Grand National
Assembly was inaugurated. Mustafa Kemal Pasha was elected to its
Presidency.
Fighting on many fronts, he led his forces to victory against rebels and
invading armies. Following the Turkish triumph at the two major battles
at Inonu in Western Turkey, the Grand National Assembly conferred on
Mustafa Kemal Pasha the title of Commander-in-Chief with the rank of
Marshal. At the end of August 1922, the Turkish armies won their
ultimate victory. Within a few weeks, the Turkish mainland was
completely liberated, the armistice signed, and the rule of the Ottoman
dynasty abolished.
In
July 1923, the national government signed the Lausanne Treaty with Great
Britain, France, Greece, Italy, and others. In mid-October, Ankara
became the capital of the new Turkish State. On October 29, the Republic
was proclaimed and Mustafa Kemal Pasha was unanimously elected President
of the Republic.
Atatürk married Latife Usakligil in early 1923. The marriage ended in
divorce in 1925.
The account of Atatürk's fifteen year Presidency is a saga of dramatic
modernization. With indefatigable determination, he created a new
political and legal system, abolished the Caliphate and made both
government and education secular, gave equal rights to women, changed
the alphabet and the attire, and advanced the arts and the sciences,
agriculture and industry.
In
1934, when the surname law was adopted, the national parliament gave him
the name "Atatürk" (Father of the Turks).
On
November 10, 1938, following an illness of a few months, the national
liberator and the Father of modern Turkey died. But his legacy to his
people and to the world endures. |
