Biography of Atatürk

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Mustafa Kemal ATATÜRK
FOUNDER AND THE FIRST PRESIDENT OF THE TURKISH REPUBLIC

Atatürkwas born in 1881 at the Kocakasım ward of Salonika, in a three storypink house located on Islahhane Street. His father is Ali Rıza Efendiand his mother Zübeyde Hanım. His paternal grandfather, Hafız AhmedEfendi belonged to the Kocacık nomads who were settled in Macedoniaduring the XIV - XV th centuries. His mother Zübeyde Hanım was thedaughter of an Old Turkish family who had settled in the town ofLangasa near Salonika. Ali Rıza Efendi, who worked as militia officer,title deed clerck and lumber trader, married Zübeyde Hanım in 1871.Four of the 5 siblings of Atatürk died at early ages and only onesister, Makbule (Atadan) survived, and lived until 1956.

Uponreaching school age, little Mustafa started school at the neighborhoodclasses of Hafız Mehmet Efendi and later, with his father's choice, wastransferred to Şemsi Efendi School. He lost his father in 1888 whereupon he stayed at the farm of his maternal uncle for a while andreturned to Salonika to complete his studies. He registered at theSalonika Mülkiye Rüştiye (secondary school) and soon transferred to themilitary Rüştiye. While at this school, his math teacher, also namedMustafa, added "Kemal" to his name. He attended the Manastır MilitarySchool between 1896 - 1899 and later the Military School in İstanbulfrom which he graduated in 1902 with the rank of lieutenant. He laterentered the Military Academy and graduated on January 11, 1905 with therank of major. Between 1905 - 1907 he was stationed in Damascus withthe 5th. Army. In 1907 he was promoted to the rank of "Kolağası"(senior major) and was posted with the III rd Army , which wasstationed in Manastır. He was the Staff Officer of the "Special Troops"(Hareket Ordusu) which entered İstanbul on April 19, 1909. He was sentto Paris in 1910 where he attended the Picardie manuevers. In 1911 hestarted to work at the General Staff Office in İstanbul.
MustafaKemal was stationed at Tobruk and Derne regions with a group of hisfriends during the war which started with the Italian attack onTripoli. He won the Tobruk battle in 22 December 1911 against theItalians. On March 6, 1912 he was made the Commander of Derne.
Whenthe Balkan War started in October 1912, Mustafa Kemal joined the battlewith units from Gallipoli and Bolayır. His contributions to therecapturing of Dimetoka and Edirne were considerable. In 1913 he wasassigned to Sofia as a military attache. In 1914, while still at thispost, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel. His term as anattache ended in January 1915. By that time the First World War hadstarted and the ottomon Empire was inevitably involved. Mustafa Kemalwas posted to Tekirdağ with the assignment of forming the 19thDivision.
Mustafa Kemal put his signature under a legend ofheroism at Çanakkale during the First World War, which had started in1914, and had the Allied Powers admit to the fact that "Çanakkale isunpassable!" On March 18, 1915 when the English and French navies in anattempt to force their way up the Çanakkale Strait gave heavy loses,they decided to put units on land at Gallipoli Peninsula. The enemyforces which landed at Arıburnu on 25 April 1915 were stopped by 19thDivison under Mustafa Kemal's command at Conkbayırı. Mustafa Kemal waspromoted to the rank of colonel after this victory. English forcesattacked at Arıburnu once more on 6-7 August 1915. Mustafa Kemal, asthe Commander of the Anafartalar Forces won the Anafartalar Victory on6-7 August 1915. This victory was followed by the victories ofKireçtepe on August 17, and the Second Anafartalar Victory on August21. Turkish nation who lost about 253.000 men at battle, had managed toemerge in honour against the Allied forces. Actually the fate attrenches changed when Mustafa Kemal addressed his soldiers with thewords "I am not giving you an order to attack, I am ordering you todie!"
Mustafa Kemal was stationed at Edirne and Diyarbakır afterthe Çanakkale wars and was promoted to the rank of lieutenant generalon 1 April 1916. He fought against the Russian forces and recapturedMuş and Bitlis. Following short assignments at Damascus and Khallepo,he came to İstanbul in 1917. He traveled to Germany with VahdettinEfendi, the heir to the throne. He became sick after this trip and wentto Vienna and Karisbad for treatment. He returned to Khalleppo on 15August 1918 as the Commander of the 7th army. At this front, he foughtsuccessful defence wars. He was appointed as the Commandar of YıldırımArmies one day after the signing of the armistice at Mondros. When thisarmy was disbanded, he came to İstanbul on November 13, 1918 andstarted to work at the Ministry of Defence.
When, following theMondros Armistice, the Allied forces started to take over the Ottomanarmies, Mustafa Kemal went to Samsun on May 19, 1919 as 9th ArmyInspector. With the circular he published on 22 June 1919 at Amasya, hedeclared that " The freedom of the nation shall be restored with theresolve and determination of the nation itself" and called the meetingof the Sivas Congress. He convened Erzurum Congress during 23 July - 7August 1919 and Sivas Congress during 4 - 11 September 1919, thusdefining the path to be followed towards the freedom of the motherland.He was met with great enthusiasm in Ankara on 27 December 1919. Withthe initiation of the Turkish Grand National Assembly on 23 April 1920,a significant step was taken on the way to establishing the TurkishRepublic. Mustafa Kemal was elected as the head of the nationalassembly as well as the head of the government. The Grand NationalAssembly started to put into effect the necessary legislative measuresso as to enable the Independence War to come to a successfulconclusion.
Turkish War of Independence started with the firstbullet shot at enemy on 15 May 1919 during the Gerek occupation ofİzmir. The fight against the victors of the First World War who haddivided up the Ottoman Empire with the Treaty of Sevres signed on 10August 1920, initially started with the militia forces called Kuva-yiMilliye. Turkish Assembly later initiated a regular army and achievingintegration between the army and the militia, was able to conclude thewar in victory.
The significant stages of the Turkish War of Independence under the Command of Mustafa Kemal are
•   Recapturing Sarıkamış, Kars and Gümrü
•   Çukurova, Gazi Antep, Kahramanmaraş, Şanlı Urfa defenses (1919 - 1921)
•   Ist İnönü Victory
•   IInd İnönü Victory
•   Sakarya Victory
•   Great Attack, Battle of the Chief Commander and the Great Victory
Afterthe Sakarya Victory, National Assembly bestowed the rank of marashal onMustafa Kemal and the Gazi (veteran) title. War of Independences cameto end with the Lozanne Agreement, which was signed on 24 July 1923.Hence, there were no longer any obstacles to create a new nation onTurkish soil which Treaty of Sevre had torn to pieces leaving Turks anarea the size of 5-6 provinces.
The National Assembly which firstconvened on 23 April 1920 in Ankara was the first clue to the TurkishRepublic. The successful management of the War of Independence by thisassembly accelerated the founding of the new Turkish State. On 1November 1922, the offices of the Sultan and caliph were severed fromone other and the former was abolished. There was no longer anyadministrative ties with the Ottoman Empire. On 29 October 1923,Turkish Republic was formally proclaimed and Atatürk was unanimouslyelected as its first President. On 30 October 1923, the firstgovernment of the Republic was formed by İsmet İnönü. Turkish Republicstarted to grow on the foundations of the twin principles "Sovereignty,unconditionally belongs to the nation" and "peace at home, peace in theworld,"
Atatürk undertook a series of reforms to "raise Turkey tothe level of modern civilization" which can be grouped under fivetitles
1. Political Reforms
•   Abolishment of the office of the Sultan (November 1922)
•   Proclamation of the Republic (29 October 1923)
•   Abolishment of the caliph (3 March 1924)
2. Social Reforms
•   Recognition of equal rights to men and women (1926 - 1934)
•   Reform of Headgear and Dress (25 November 1925)
•   Closure of mausoleums and dervish lodges (30 November 1925)
•   Law on family names (21 June 1934)
•   Abolishment of titles and by-names (26 November 1934)
•   Adoption of international calendar, hours and measurements (1925 - 1931)
3. Legal Reforms
•   Abolishment of the Canon Law (1924 - 1937)
•   Transfer to a secular law structure by adoption of Turkish Civil Code and other laws (1924 - 1937)
4. Reforms in the fields of education and culture
•   Unification of education (3 March 1924)
•   Adoption of new Turkish alphabet (1 November 1928)
•   Establishment of Turkish Language and History Institutions (1931 - 1932)
•   Regulation of the university education (31 May 1933)
•   Innovations in fine arts
5. Economic Reforms
•   Abolution of tithe
•   Encouragement of the farmers
•   Establishment of model farms
•   Establishment of industrial facilities, and putting into effect a law for Incentives for the Industry
•   Putting into effect Ist and IInd Development Plans (1933-1937), to develop transportation networks
Acccordingto the Law on Family Names, the Turkish Grand Assembly gave "Atatürk"(Father of Turks) as last name to Mustafa Kemal on 24 November 1934.
Atatürkwas elected as the Speaker of the Grand Assembly on 24 April 1920 andagain on 13 August 1923. This was a position equal to that of thepresident as well as the prime minister. Republic was proclaimed on 29October 1923 and Atatürk was elected as the first President. Electionsfor President were renewed every four years according to theConstitution. In 1927, 1931 and 1935 Turkish Grand Assembly againelected Atatürk as the president.
Atatürk took frequent tripsaround the country and inspected locally the works undertaken by thestate, giving directives were problems were faced. As president he washost to visiting foreign presidents, prime ministers and ministers.
Heread his Great Speech, which covers the War of Independence and thefounding of the Republic on 15 - 20 October 1927, and his 10th YearSpeech on 29 October 1933.
Atatürk led a very simple private life.He married Latife Hanım on 29 January 1923. They took many trips todifferent parts of the country together. This marriage lasted until 5August 1925. A great lover of children he adopted girls named Afet(İnan), Sabiha (Gökçen), Fikriye, Ülkü, Nebile, Rukiye and Zehra and ashepperd boy named Mustafa. He also took two boys called Abdurrahim andİhsan under his protection. He provided for the futures of thesechildren who survived.
He donated his farms to the Treasury in1937 and some of his real estate to municipalities of Ankara and Bursa.He divided his inheritance among his sister, his adopted children andto the Turkish History and Language Institutions. He enjoyed books andmusic as well as dancing, horse riding and swimming. He was extremelyinterested in Zeybek dances, wrestling and the Rumelia folk songs.Games of billards and backgammon gave him great pleasure. He valued hishorse Sakarya and his dog Fox . He had a rich library. He used toinvite statesman, scholars and artists to dinners where the problems ofthe country were discussed. He was particular about his appearence andenjoyed dressing well. He was also a lover of nature. He used tofrequent the Atatürk Forest Farm and join in the work.
He knewFrench and German. Atatürk died on 10 November 1938 at 9.05 A.M atDolmabahçe Palace, defeated by the liver ailment he was suffering from.He was taken to his temporary place of rest at the Ethnograpy Museum inAnkara on 21 November 1938. When the mausoleum was completed, he wastaken to his permanent rest place with a grand ceremony on 10 November1953.