Ataturk Anecdotes



K. Ataturk

I came across something that made me smile today.  It is about Mustafa Kemal Ataturk (1881 - 1938), the highly revered Turkish revolutionary leader and first preseident of the Turkish Republic (1923 - 1938), making Turkey the modern country it is today.  The honour the Turks have for him amazes me, as many youths have "K. M. Ataturk" permenently tatooed onto their forearms in large swirly black letters (can you imagine someone proudly wearing the current Prime Minister's name on their arm as a fashion statement?!!!), momuments of Ataturk adorn every nook and cranny, cars are decorated with "Ataturk" bumper stickers, every office, shop and place of work will have at least one portrait of the infamous leader by each desk, not forgetting homes ...  the memorials are endless.  But it goes much further than all this suerficiality, deeply embedding itself into the heart and mind of the Turkish nation. 

One friend and colleague said something interesting to me one day as I complained that the 1m x 2m portrait of Ataturk staring at me from behind with piercing blue beady eyes that always seemed to look at me wherever I went in the office, and with an unnaturally white (faded and sun bleached) face creeped me out a little. He said that life without Ataturk's intervention would be so much different in ways I would never understand as a non Turk as it was not my history he changed, not my ancestors' way of life he influenced or my human rights improved.  Maybe one day I should write a blog about Ataturk's influences and investigate how deep this really is embedded in the Turks.


Anyway - back to what made me laugh. As part of his bid to modernize Turkey, Kemal Ataturk decreed that his countrymen should adopt Western-style dress and declared;

"The civilized, international dress is worthy

and appropriate for our nation and we will wear it," he declared.

"Boots or shoes on our feet, trousers on our legs,

shirt and tie, jacket and waistcoat.

And, of course, to complete these, a cover with a brim on our heads.

I want to make this clear. This head-covering is called a 'hat.' "
 



Having cuddles with Ataturk
while sitting on a bench in Side

Did you know...?
Soon after this declaration, the Turkish fez was banned (1925) (see video below), as was the headscarf for Muslim women. Indeed, to this day, women in Turkey are forbidden from wearing headscarves in schools, parliaments and other government buildings.

Take 10mins to watch this summary of Ataturk's life and how he reformed a whole country.

... ENJOY ...