It was cool to be in Türkiye on November 10, the anniversary of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk’s death, the founder of the Republic of Türkiye. There were ceremonies all over the nation including in a plaza a few blocks from our hotel in Izmir. Atatürk was born in Salonika, the sister city of Izmir, and is a stronghold in the country for his legacy of secularism, independence, and freedom. At 9:05 AM on this day, sirens and horns sound for two minutes to commemorate his legacy. I do not know much about him, but he really set Türkiye up for success in the future. He was way ahead of his time with his ideas of equal rights for women, social justice, and a government that focused on economic growth and cultural modernization. You can still feel this spirit in Izmir. It was rare to see a woman with a head scarf during my week in the city.
Attürk is famous for the slogan “Peace at Home, Peace in the World and “Unless a country’s future is in danger, war is murder.” He became known for leading the Turks to victory in World War I in the Battle of Gallipoli in 1915. ANZAC Day in Australia commemorates that day and it is interesting for me to see it from the victorious side this time. The Ottoman Empire ended after World War I and Atatürk stopped the winning Allies side from carving up Turkey. He defeated them and formed the Turkish state with the capital in Ankara, abolishing the Sultanate of the Ottomans and forming a secular state.
He was amazing with the huge number of reforms he brought to the new nation. Women were allowed to vote, minorities could speak their languages at home, free and compulsory school for all, changing Turkish to the Latin alphabet, etc. He died young, at my current age of 57. What a life he lived and he certainly is not forgotten in Turkiye, especially Izmir. Banners, posters, and memorials to him are everywhere. I would like to read a bit more about him. I wonder how he would have dealt with the current president Erdogan and his conservative, religious movement in Türkiye.
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