The Story Of The Turk Father (Atatürk)

History of istanbul
One of the leaders who touched millions of people hearts is the leader who established what is called now the Turkish Republic, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.
Here is the story of this great leader:

Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, or as some people call him Mustafa Kemal Paşa. a soldier, a statesman, author, the former and the president of the Turkish Republic was born in 1881 in Salonika city, the city that is now called Thessaloniki and located in Greece was once under the rule of Ottoman Empire.

When he was 12 years old, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk was sent to military school and spent his education there and after school, he was sent to the military academy where he became an official soldier. During his education at the military academy, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk was one of the students who proved their intelligence and his teachers always believed in his clear mind and shrewdness. Mustafa Kemal Ataturk graduated in 1905 to start his military life.

Mustafa Kemal Ataturk joined many wars during his military life. In 1911, he joined the war against the Italians in Libya and between 1912-1913 he joined the war against Balkans and played a very important role in securing the Ottoman Turkish victory during the Battle of Gallipoli also known as the dardanelles in World War One.

After the defeat and dissolution of the great Ottoman Empire, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk led the Turkish National Movement which resisted the partition of Turkey’s mainland between allied powers and established a provisional government at the heart of Turkey in Ankara. He was able to defeat the forces that were sent by the allied powers saving his government, this war was later called the war of Independence. Mustafa Kemal Ataturk then continued to defeat what was left from the Ottoman forces in Turkey and in 1923, he officially announced the establishment of the Turkish Republic.

As the first president of the newly established Turkish Republic, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk initiated a strict program of political, economic, and culture reforms to build a modern, progressive nation-state country and yes, he was able to do that. The father of Turks built thousands of schools and made primary education free and compulsory. He replaced the Ottoman Arabic alphabet with latin Turkish Alphabet, and women were given their rights once again.

During his period, the process of Turkicisation was taken very seriously, non- Turkish minorities were pressured to speak Turkish, and people with non-Turkish names and surnames were pressured to change their names to Turkish renditions.

Slowly and a year after year, the Turkish Republic started to create a very important place for itself among the international society under the lead of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk whether in terms of economic, politics, military, and culture. The country stood up again fast and all of Turkish people worked together to build a strong connected nation.

Illness And Death:

Unfortunately, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk was during 1937 rumors about his health getting worse started to appear and in 1938 while he was on a trip to Yalova city, he suffered from serious illness and immediately was sent to Istanbul city for treatment. After several medical tests he was diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver. Ataturk tried his best to spend his last days living the same way he lived but he died on 10 November 1938 in the Dolmabahce palace where he spent his last period of life.

The clock in the bedroom where he died is stopped and still set to the time he passed away which is 9:05 AM.

Ataturk remains were sent to the Ethnography museum of Ankara and in 1953 after 15 years of his death, it was sent to the mausoleum that overlooks Ankara city.

In his will, Ataturk decided to give all of his money to the republican party, and the yearly interests of his funds should go to his sister and her adopted children, fund the education of his dearest friend Ismet Inonu’s children, and the Turkish Language Association.

Mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk in Ankara, Turkey

Mustafa Kemal Ataturk built a very different and unique nation that was and still able to prove itself in the world, a nation that hit high levels of success throughout the years.