Mustafa Kemal Ataturk is probably the most important person in the history of modern Turkey and revered by numerous Turks similarly to how George Washington is viewed in the United States.
He was primarily a soldier in the Ottoman Army, serving with distinction in the Italo-Turkish War, Balkans Wars, World War I, and the Turkish War of Independence. He is particularly famous for his leadership of the Ottoman forces in the Battle of Gallipoli and successfully preventing the ANZAC forces (Allies) from establishing a foothold along the Bosporus.
After the First World War, he joined with the Young Turks, the Turkish revolutionary organization committed to overthrowing the Ottoman Sultanate and quickly rose in the ranks to become one of its leaders. Although the Young Turks were also responsible for the Armenian Genocide in 1915-1917, Ataturk served primarily in Eastern Thrace (Gallipoli and Edirne) and therefore had limited involvement in the genocide.
The Treaty of Versailles effectively dismembered the Ottoman Empire, leaving them with the territory now occupied by the modern state of Turkey. However, much of that state was in a French, British, or Italian sphere of influence, making the Ottoman Empire sit on the precipice of Western colonization. Ataturk led the remainder of the Ottoman Empire in a war against this quasi-colonization of Turkey. This war, called the Turkish War of Independence, resulted in Turkey preventing the development of these spheres of influence. He then turned the army on the Ottoman sultans and realized the Young Turk dream of establishing the modern Republic of Turkey.
He then became the First President of Turkey from 1923-1938 (when he died) and began to modernize the country in new and innovative ways, making the country more Westernized. Many Turks consider these improvements to have directly led to Turkish success as a country where most of the Islamic World is significantly poorer or sustained only by oil riches. Mustafa Kemal made the following reforms to modernize Turkey while he was a president:
Ataturk became the president of Turkey when the country became a republic and a new government was instituted.
Ataturk
In Istanbul, Turkey
Led by Kemal Ataturk, Turkey became a modern secular nation and westernized immensely.
Ataturks reforms in turkey led him to ?
No
Kemal Ataturk changed part of Turkey\'s laws to be able to bring about much needed reforms.
Ataturk Airport is the main international airport that serves the area of Istanbul, Turkey. The airport opened in 1924 on the European side of Istanbul and was named Ataturk in 1980 in honour of the first president of Turkey.
Mustafa Kemal Ataturk
Mustafa Kamal Ataturk
Kemal Ataturk
ataturk