Turkish Reform Under Mustafa “Ataturk” Kemal: a Review on the Six Arrows of Kemalism

A religion’s “rules” must stay between the devout people only as taboos; implication of sect into the legislation system and governance not only threatens the wellbeing of country’s own citizens, but it also prevents any kind of brain drain into the country which is an essential source of progression for any community. Therefore, governments should only be serving for the well being of the citizens, peace and democracy among the country; the youth should embrace the values United Nations strictly recognizes and be aware that it is best when the religion is separated from governance. Secularism must be recognized which is a case only possible if there is a massive change in the governments of these religious countries; citizens must be informed about inconveniences caused by religious laws more frequently since the censorship in media is extremely common in these

Ataturk and Reza Shah had a large influence on the governments of Turkey and Iran by secularizing and westernizing each. This secularization has had a distinct role in shaping the language, education, religion and government of both Turkey and Iran. Their end goals were to create a powerful and prevalent world powers that is distinct. Comparing the two countries, there were many similarities between each reformation, but each is distinct in certain aspects.

The Ottoman Turks emerged on the periphery of the Byzantine Empire and the Saljuk Turks. Under a Turkish Muslim warrior named Osman, raids were conducted in western Anatolia on Byzantine settlements and a vast number of Turks were united under his banner. Those Turks who flocked to Osman's banner and followed him into the history books came to be called the Ottomans. The word Ottoman, fits these Turks well as it roughly translates from Turkish as "those associated with Oman."

Economy was greatly influenced by religion in the Ottoman Empire. The Millet System was created. In this system, non-Muslim people were considered subjects of the empire but weren´t subjects to the Muslim faith or law.

The Ottoman Empire, during its peak, was one of the largest and most powerful empires in the world, where the empire lasted from the fourteenth century until the early twentieth century. The Ottoman Empire stretched from North Africa, Arabs states, and the Balkan. However, just like any great empire, the Ottoman Empire would eventually experience significant problems and potentially lead to its decline as a great power in the European and Asian continent. In order to combat the decline of the empire and bring back their strength in comparison to the European powers, the Ottomans started a period of reform, known as the Tanzimat (1839 – 1876), which means reorganization in Turkish. There were major reforms developed for the empire, but whether they were truly effective is still debated.

4). In 1913, “three of the Young Turks helped to gain control of Turkey’s government via a coup” (UHRC, par. 10). They wanted to create a “great and eternal land called Turan with one language and one religion” (UHRC, par. 10).

The Ottoman Empire was actually known as “the sick man of Europe” because of its constant military and territorial losses, and the Young Turks felt it was their duty to save it. Some Young Turks wanted to keep the empire out of foreign control “through democracy… and modernization; [but] other Young Turks were intent on creating a more unified Turkish state with a Turkish national identity and a unified Turkish language and culture.” By 1908, the Young Turks had officially gained power over the Ottoman Empire. The formal name for the Young Turk’s political organization was the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP). The CUP had enough power to force the sultan to give the empire a constitutional government. After about a year, the sultan was removed from power and a younger and much weaker sultan was placed in power. Even though that sultan was weak, he still had supporters and people in high political offices; so, the Young Turks still overthrew him in a violent coup d’état in 1912. The Young Turks believed that that line of sultans had led to the downfall of the Ottoman Empire and they wanted to raise it back up. Once the Young Turks aka CUP was in power, everyone could see that their division in ideals was going to lead them into a place of turmoil. Some wanted democracy and others wanted a dictatorship. The group in favor of a dictatorship eventually won. This group lasted from about 1913-1918. The Young Turks believed in secularism, which means they wanted

Ever since the 4th Century CE, the Armenian state claimed Christianity as their official religion. Even after Islam was founded in the 7th century CE and became the state religion in all of the countries surrounding Armenia, the Armenians still held onto the Christian faith. Since Christianity was a religious minority at the time, Armenians were viewed as “infidels”, and were disposed to unjust treatment as a result. They experienced hardship, religious persecution, discrimination, and abuse. Armenians began to pay higher taxes and had very few political and legal

Between the 16th and 18th century a power shift began to occur between Christian Europe and the Turkish Empire. Turkey, being one of the most successful, thriving and longest lasting empires of the world, began to deteriorate in the shadow of the rising European powers. The late 18th century saw Europe ascending as a leading world power. This paper will argue two of the major reasons that contributed to the shift of power from the dominant Turkish Empire to Europe. Firstly, after the death of Sultan Suleiman in 1566, the Turks failed to advance militarily while the Christian empires, who had already advanced far ahead, underwent significant military advancement. Secondly, the policy of a Sultan being chosen for quality and character was replaced with a new policy of inheritance, which contributed to the rise of unskilled and incompetent Sultans running the empire, further contributing to the decline of the Turkish Empire.

In April 1915 the Ottoman government decided to diminish the civilian Armenian Population. The persecutions were varying, as it was on a curve with high intensity until 1923. In 1923, the Ottoman Empire was gone from existence, and was replaced by the Republic of Turkey. The Armenian population in 1915 was about two million, and by 1918, about 1 million people have died, while hundreds of thousands had become homeless and stateless refugees. By the year 1923, the Armenian population of Anatolian Turkey was gone. The Ottoman Empire was controlled and led by the Turks. The Turks had conquered and seized lands from across West Asian, North Africa, and Southeast Europe. While the overall Ottoman government was controlled in Istanbul (Constantinople), and was headed by a sultan who wanted absolute power.

One of the most tragic metamorphoses in modern history was the process, from 1908 to 1914, that transformed the seemingly liberal Young Turks into extreme chauvinists, bent on creating a new order and eliminating the ‘Armenian Question’. The Young Turks originally emerged prior to the 1908 revolution as a constitutionalist movement against the autocratic regime of Sultan Abdul Hamid II, and subsequently governed the Ottoman Empire between 1908 and 1918. Inspired by Western ideology and French democracy, the Young Turks had adopted

So when Mustafa Kamal (Ataturk) began to form a Turkish nation state, it was not clear what constituted a Turk but soon, Kurds were considered as Turks and a policy aiming at the detribalization and assimilation of the Kurds was adopted… The Turkish government's pursuit of full assimilation has led to the proscription of publications of any book, newspaper, or other material in the Kurdish language. Moreover, there has also been an instance of arrests of entertainers for singing songs or performing in Kurdish.

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (March 12, 1881 - November 10, 1938), Turkish soldier and statesman, was the founder and first President of the Republic of Turkey. He was born in the Ottoman city of Selânik (now Thessaloniki in Greece), where his birthplace is the Turkish Consulate and is also preserved as a museum. In accordance with the then prevalent Turkish custom, he was given the single name Mustafa. His father, Ali Riza (Efendi) was a customs officer who died when Mustafa was a child, his mother was Zübeyde (Hanim).

During the mid to late 1800’s, Turkey lost many pieces of land by losing the war in 1829, and the Russo-Turkish Wars. Turkey lost Algeria and Tunisia to France, and Cyprus and Egypt to the United Kingdom. However, Cyprus and Egypt remained part of the Ottoman Empire until 1914. During the 1890’s a group of students and military officers secretly banded together and opposed Sultan Abdülhamit’s strict policies. The most influential group of these people was the Committee of Union and Progress. In 1908, members of this group revolted against Abdülhamit in order to force him to reinstate a constitutional government. This group made Abdülhamit surrender his throne in 1909. In 1914, the newly reinstated Ottoman Empire joined World War I on the side of the Central Powers. In 1915, the Allies tried to gain control of the

After the Treaty of Sevres, the Allies took control of vital forts near the waterways; this would endanger the security of the country. In 1919, Mustafa Kemal organized resistance against those forces, especially the Greek. In 1923, The Treaty of Lausanne was signed, and the Republic of Turkey was established, with Mustafa Kemal as its first president. During his presidency, he strived to keep Turkey neutral in global affairs, and modernize the country, socially and industrially. When last names were introduced to Turkey, he adopted the last name, “Ataturk,” meaning “Father of the Turks,” soon after.