Mustafa Kemal lessened the influence of Islam in education and public affairs. He replaced Moslem holy laws with European laws in Turkey, He urged that Turkish men doff their traditional fezzes in favor of Western hats.
He tried to persuade Turkish women to remove their veils. He told them to stop “cringing like animals” when men looked at them in the streets.
One of Kemal’s most important reforms and one of his last concerns is the confusing matter of Turkish names.
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE: Origin of Turkish
For centuries, Turks had followed the Arab practice of using only a given name and sometimes a father’s name Mahmud,” son of Ahmed, for instance.
The Trouble Was, Turkey had a great many Mahmuds and Anmeds and it was some times difficult to tell who was who So, in 1935, Kemal asked his countrymen to maintains one family name in the Western manner that is counterparts to Smith and Jones.
Mustafa Kemal himself dropped his Arab name, Mustafa, and became known as he Ataturk the new name meant “Kemal, Father of The Turks.”
If another man had taken that name, it would have been a healthiness boast. For Ataturk, it was a simple statement of fact. More than anyone else, he had been responsible for the founding of modern Turkey, More than anyone else, he had inhaled its spirit When he died in 1938, he left behind a people both happier and healthier then he had found them.
This day Mustafa Kemal now called Ataturk remains a Turkish hero without equal
With the end of the war, the empire collapsed into ruins. The Allied powers occupied the city of Istanbul, and the greeks , with Allied aid, invaded other Ottoman areas. Cities and countryside’s fell into total chaos, and some Turk looked to the military, as the only means of restoring order, All the while, many military officers talked openly of forming the Turkish people of the Ottoman empire into one nation.
These officers needed leadership. Proud, ambitious Mustafa Kemal could offer it. In 1920 Mustafa Kemal became a National Congress man and named president of a temporary government.
in the next two years Kemal’s influence spread steadily across his country. Finally, in 1923, he and his supporters created the Republic of Turkey.
Though Kemal claimed to be heading a Democracy he actually ruled with an iron hand. No sooner did he enter office then he started rebuilding Turkey doing it from the ground up.
Hospitals, roads, and power plants were built. New schools were constructed and staffed. A man who had always wanted “to be somebody” had become “some body, and now he was getting something done, Kemal enjoyed being powerful, but he always used his power to do what he thought best for his people.
Perhaps his hardest job was breaking with many customs developed during the existence of the Ottoman Empire.
CONCLUSIONS
Kemal lessened the infiuence of Islam in education and public affairs. He replaced Moslem holy laws with European laws. He urged that Turkish men doff their traditional fezzes in favor of Western hats.
He tried to persuade Turkish women to remove their veils. He told them to
stop “cringing like animals” when men looked at them in the streets.
One of Kemal’s most important reforms and one of his last concerned the confusing matter of Turkish names. For centuries, Turks had followed the Arab practice of using only a given name and sometimes a fathers name Mahmud,” son of Ahmed, for instance.
Trouble Was, Turkey had a great many Mahmuds and Anmeds and it was sametimes difficult telling who was who So, in 1935, Kemal asked his countrymen to do a one family names in the Western manner
