Cyprus-Forum.com

[karma]

One can easily state that Ataturk had achieved the military successes of George Washington, the political savvy of John Adams along the qualities of a Renaissance man such as Jefferson, all of it within less than twentyfive years. Nevertheless, this is an important work that, hopefully, may stimulate further evaluation of Ataturk, who, it may be useful to mention,had been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by the then greek prime minister Elefterios Venizelos, once his foe..
Not withstanding his deprecators acting on misinformation and personal hatred, he deserves to be placed among the greatest achievers of the 20th century

[halil]

One can easily state that Ataturk had achieved the military successes of George Washington, the political savvy of John Adams along the qualities of a Renaissance man such as Jefferson, all of it within less than twentyfive years. Nevertheless, this is an important work that, hopefully, may stimulate further evaluation of Ataturk, who, it may be useful to mention,had been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by the then greek prime minister Elefterios Venizelos, once his foe..
Not withstanding his deprecators acting on misinformation and personal hatred, he deserves to be placed among the greatest achievers of the 20th century

Yes karma ,
We , The Turkish Cypriots that's why have a great respect to him.

Between 1926 and 1930, the Turkish Republic achieved a legal transformation which might have required decades in most other countries. Religious laws were abolished, and a secular system of jurisprudence introduced. The concepts, the texts and contexts of the laws were made harmonious with the progressive thrust of Atatürk's Turkey. " The nation", Atatürk said, " has placed its faith in the precept that all laws should be inspired by actual needs here on earth as a basic fact of national life."

Among the far-reaching changes were the new Civil Code, Penal Code, and Business Law, based on the Swiss, Italian and German models respectively.

The new legal system made all citizens - men and women, rich and poor - equal before the law. It gave Turkey a firm foundation for a society of justice and equal rights.

Social Reforms:
Atatürk's aim was to modernize Turkish life in order to give his nation a new sense of dignity, equality, and happiness. After more than three centuries of high achievement, the Ottoman Empire had declined from the 17th to the early 20th Century: With Sultans presiding over a social and economic system mired in backwardness, the Ottoman state had become hopelessly outmoded for the modern times. Atatürk resolved to lead his country out of the crumbling past into a brave new future.

In his program of modernization, secular government and education played a major role. Making religious faith a matter of individual conscience, he created a truly secular system in Turkey, where the vast Moslem majority and the small Christian and Jewish minorities are free to practice their faith. As a result of Atatürk's reforms, Turkey -unlike scores of other countries- has fully secular institutions.

The leader of modern Turkey aspired to freedom and equality for all. When he proclaimed the Republic, he announced that " the new Turkish State is a state of the people and a state by the people." Having established a populist and egalitarian system, he later observed: "We are a nation without classes or special privileges." He also stressed the paramount importance of the peasants, who had long been neglected in the Ottoman times: " The true owner and master of Turkey is the peasant who is the real producer."
To give his nation a modern outlook, Atatürk introduced many reforms: European hats replaced the fez; women stopped wearing the veil; all citizens took surnames; and the Islamic calendar gave way to the Western calendar. A vast transformation took place in the urban and rural life. It can be said that few nations have ever experienced anything comparable to the social change in Atatürk's Turkey.

Economic Growth

When the Turkish Republic came into being in 1923, it lacked capital, industry, and know-how. Successive wars had decimated manpower, agricultural production stood at a low level, and the huge foreign debts of the defunct Ottoman state confronted the new Republic.

With determination and vigor, Atatürk's Turkey undertook agricultural expansion, industrial growth, and technological advancement. In mining, transportation, manufacturing, banking, exports, social services, housing, communications, energy, mechanization, and other vital areas, many strides were taken. Within the decade, the gross national product increased five-fold.

Turkey's economic development during Atatürk's Presidency was impressive in absolute figures and in comparison to other countries. The synthesis that evolved at that time -state enterprises and private initiative active in both industrial and agricultural growth- serves as the basis of the economic structure not only for Turkey but also in dozen countries.

The New Language
The most difficult change in any society is probably a language reform. Most nations never attempt it; those who do, usually prefer a gradual approach. Under Atatürk's Leadership, Turkey undertook the modern world's swiftest and most extensive language reform. In 1928, when he decided that the Arabic script, which had been used by the Turks for a thousand years, should be replaced with the Latin alphabet. He asked the experts: " How long would it take ?" Most of them replied: " At least five years." " We shall do it," Atatürk said," within five months"

As the 1920s came to an end, Turkey had fully and functionally adopted, with its 29 letters (8 vowels and 21 consonants), has none of the complexities of the Arabic script, which was ill-suited to the Turkish language. The language reform enabled children and adults to read and write within a few months, and to study Western languages with greater effectiveness.

Thousands of words, and some grammatical devices, from the Arabic and Persian, held a tight grip over Ottoman Turkish. In the early 1930s, Atatürk spearheaded the movement to eliminate these borrowings. To replace the loan words from foreign languages, large number of original words, which had been in use in the earlier centuries, where revived, and provincial expressions and new coinages were introduced. The transformation met with unparalleled success: In the 1920s, the written language consisted of more than 80 percent Arabic, Persian, and French words; by the early 1980s the ratio had declined to a mere 10 percent.

Atatürk's language reform -encompassing the script, grammar and vocabulary- stands as one of the most far-reaching in history. It has overhauled Turkish culture and education.

Women's Rights
Everything we see in the world is the creative work of women."

With abiding faith in the vital importance of women in society, Atatürk launched many reforms to give Turkish women equal rights and opportunities. The new Civil Code, adopted in 1926, abolished polygamy and recognized the equal rights of women in divorce, custody, and inheritance. The entire educational system from the grade school to the university became coeducational. Atatürk greatly admired the support that the national liberation struggle received from women and praised their many contributions: " In Turkish society, women have not lagged behind men in science, scholarship, and culture. Perhaps they have even gone further ahead." He gave women the same opportunities as men, including full political rights. In the mid-1930s, 18 women, among them a villager, were elected to the national parliament. Later, Turkey had the world's first women supreme court justice
In all walks of life, Atatürk's Turkey has produced tens of thousands of well-educated women who participate in national life as doctors, lawyers, engineers, teachers, writers, administrators, executives, and creative artists.

Culture and the Arts

Among the prominent statesmen of the 20th Century few articulated the supreme importance of culture as did Atatürk who stated: " Culture is the foundation of the Turkish Republic." His view of culture encompassed the nation's creative legacy as well as the best values of world civilization. It stressed personal and universal humanism. " Culture," he said, " is a basic element in being a person worthy of humanity," and described Turkey's ideological thrust as " a creation of patriotism blended with a lofty humanist ideal."

To create the best synthesis, Atatürk underlined the need for the utilization of all the viable elements in the national heritage, including the ancient indigenous cultures, and the arts and techniques of the entire world civilization, past and present. He gave impetus to the study of the earlier civilizations of Anatolia - including Hittite, Phrygian, Lydian, and others. Pre-Islamic culture of the Turks became the subject of extensive research which proved that, long before their Seljuk and Ottoman Empires, the Turks had already created a civilization of their own. Atatürk also stressed the folk arts of the countryside as the wellspring of Turkish creativity
The visual and plastic arts (whose development had been arrested by some bigoted Ottoman officials who claimed that the depiction of the human form was idolatry) flourished during Atatürk's Presidency. Many museums were opened. Architecture gained new vigor. Classical Western music, opera and ballet as well as the theater took impressive strides. Several hundred "People's Houses" and the " People's Rooms" all over Turkey gave local people and youngsters a wide variety of artistic activities, sports, and other cultural affairs. Book and magazine publication enjoyed a boom. Film industry started to grow. In all walks of cultural life, Atatürk's inspiration created an upsurge.

Atatürk's Turkey is living proof of this ideal - a country rich in its own national culture, open to the heritage of world civilization, and at home in the endowments of the modern technological age.

Peace at Home, Peace in the World


"Mankind is a single body and each nation a part of that body. We must never say 'What does it matter to me if some part of the world is ailing?' If there is such an illness, we must concern ourselves with it as though we were having that illness."

A military hero who had won victory after victory against many foreign invaders, Atatürk knew the value of peace and, during his Presidency, did his utmost to secure and strengthen it throughout the world. Few of the giants of the modern times have spoken with Atatürk's eloquence on the vital need to create a world order based on peace, on the dignity of all human beings, and on the constructive interdependence of all nations. He stated, immediately after the Turkish War of Independence, that "peace is the most effective way for nations to attain prosperity and happiness." Later as he concluded treaties of friendship and created regional ententes, he affirmed: " Turks are the friends of all civilized nations." The new Turkey established cordial relations with all countries, including those powers which had tried a few years earlier to wipe the Turks off the map. She did not pursue a policy of expansionism, and never engaged in any act contrary to peaceful co-existence. Atatürk signed pacts with Greece, Rumania and Yugoslavia in the Balkans, and with Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan in the East. He maintained friendly relations with the Soviet Union, the United States, England, Germany, Italy, France, and all other states. In the early 1930s, he and the Greek Premier Venizelos initiated and signed a treaty of peace and cooperation.
In 1932, the League of Nations invited Turkey to become a member. Many of Atatürk's ideas and ideals presaged the principles enshrined in the League of Nations and the United Nations." As clearly as I see daybreak, I have the vision of the rise of the oppressed nations to their independence... If lasting peace is sought, it is essential to adopt international measures to improve the lot of the masses. Mankind's well-being should take the place of hunger and oppression... Citizens of the world should be educated in such a way that they shall no longer feel envy, avarice and vengefulness."
In recognition of Atatürk's untiring efforts to build peace, the League of Nations paid tribute to him at his death in November 1938 as " a genius international peacemaker".
In 1981, on the occasion of the Centennial of his birth, the United Nations and UNESCO honored the memory of the great Turkish Statesman who abhorred war - " Unless the life of the nation faces peril, war is a crime," - and expressed his faith in organized peace:" If war were to break out, nations would rush to join their armed forces and national resources. The swiftest and most effective measure is to establish an international organization which would prove to the aggressor that its aggression cannot pay."

His creation of modern Turkey and his contribution to the world have made Atatürk an historic figure of enduring influence.

[kurupetos]

I agree with you Halil. Here is the epilogue of this nice thread>>>

[Nikitas]

Venizelos multiplied the territory of Greece, bringing most of the areas historically inhabited by Greeks into the national fold, he modernised the civil service, did for Greece pretty much what Attaturk did for Turkey.

WE DO NOT CELEBRATE HIM IN CYPRUS!

NOW DO YOU GET IT?

Neither Attaturk nor Venizelos were Cypriots and their achievements do not touch Cypriot life.

How about looking for some Cypriot to honor, like Yannos Kranidiotis who put us in the EU almost single handed. You named any streets after him? Of course not, after all, he was only a Cypriot.

[halil]

Sirens were sounded exactly at five minutes past nine this morning, the time when Ataturk passed away at Dolmabahce Palace in Istanbul on the 10th of November, 1938.

The first ceremony in Lefkosa(North Nicosia) took place in front of the Ataturk Monument, where wreaths were laid, a minute’s silence observed and the flags pulled down to half-mast in memory of the late Turkish Leader.

The ceremony ended with the signing of the special book.
The second ceremony of the day was held at the Ataturk Cultural Centre in Lefkosa.(North Nicosia)

Ceremonies were also held in schools and cultural centers in Lefkosa and across the TRNC.

Meanwhile, an exhibition, titled `Anitkabir in North Cyprus` will be inaugurated this afternoon to mark the 70th anniversary of the death of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.

The exhibition at the Ataturk Cultural Centre in Lefkosa will be opened by President Mehmet Ali Talat.

45 art works – which will be on display - were brought to the Republic within the framework of a project by the journalist-writer Vecdi Altay with the support of the Cyprus Turkish Airlines.

A film depicting the life of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk will be screened before the opening of the exhibition.

[BirKibrisli]

This is all they are doing our poor island.

Am I seeing things????? What has happened to you on the road to Damascus,Nil??? A train wreck????

[denizaksulu]

This is all they are doing our poor island.

Am I seeing things????? What has happened to you on the road to Damascus,Nil??? A train wreck????

Sees the light

[BirKibrisli]

This is all they are doing our poor island.

Am I seeing things????? What has happened to you on the road to Damascus,Nil??? A train wreck????

Sees the light

Hope the light will not change back to Red???
We might have another True Cypriot-in- the- making...
Tell Miltiades his Club is growing fast...I will be the caretaker in his absence,but he should hurry back...

[denizaksulu]

This is all they are doing our poor island.

Am I seeing things????? What has happened to you on the road to Damascus,Nil??? A train wreck????

Sees the light

Hope the light will not change back to Red???
We might have another True Cypriot-in- the- making...
Tell Miltiades his Club is growing fast...I will be the caretaker in his absence,but he should hurry back...

I am sure he is reading these lines already. He might listen to you.

[Nikitas]

And the connection of Cyprus with Attaturk is what exactly, to warrant all the ceremony? Does anybody know?