Mustafa Kemal Ataturk was born in Salonica (today in Greece) in 1881. He is renown as the founder of the
Republic of Turkey.
In 1915, he emerged as a military hero in
Dardanelles during the
Gallipoli campaign, and later became the leader of the Turkish national
liberation struggle started in 1919.
In 1923, as the creator of the new Republic of Turkey, Atatürk established a form of
government that reflected the wishes of the people thru the
Parliament.
Sweeping cultural and socio-political
reforms took place. Between 1926 and 1930, legal changes led the way for
Islamic religious laws to be abolished and a
secular system emerged.
Atatürk initiated a program for
economic development in Turkey, which consisted of
agricultural expansion, industrial and technological advances.
Determined not to stop there, Atatürk undertook the greatest challenge of all, a
reform of the existing language. In 1928, he decided to abolish the Arabic script and incorporated the Latin alphabet with the
Turkish.
With this came the impetus to develop the education of the country's citizens.
Primary education was declared compulsory and great prominence was given to the education of
women.
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk was
President for 15 years, until his
death in 1938, on November 10th. His achievements are a legacy to the modern state of
Turkey and he is considered a pioneer of
national liberation. Today his Mausoleum is in
Ankara.
He was a great defender of the idea of peace at home and in the world. He explained
his ideals about the responsibilities of humankind to each other by
expressing;
Humankind 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.
In 1981, his memory was honored by the United Nations and UNESCO on the occasion of the centennial of his birth. He will be always remembered as saying;
Unless the life of the nation faces peril, war is a crime. 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.
He was not just a
Turkish leader who led his
country's war against aggressors, but also a peaceful son of humankind who sent very important
messages to the other nations about the necessity of a peaceful and mutually respectful co-existence of all nations on the same planet.
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Ismet Inonu was born in 1884 in
Izmir, in the
Aegean region of
Anatolia. His father was Mustantik Resit Bey and mother Cevriye Hanim. On 26th September 1906 he joined the 2nd
Army as a superior captain and became a member of Ittihat ve Terakki party.
Inönü also took place in the Operational Army which stopped the 31st of March incident. During World War I he worked as a division manager in the ministry under the Minister of War Enver Pasha. In 1915 he was appointed to the 2nd Army Chief of Staff desk and promoted to Colonel on December 14th. He served in the 4th Army at the Caucasian frontier.
In 1918 he became War Ministry advisor. On 9th April 1920 he came to
Ankara and was selected as a member of the
Army Command by
T.B.M.M. (Turkey Grand National Assembly).
On 25th October 1920 Ismet Inonu became commander of the Western Frontier and stopped the Cerkez Ethem riot. During the
War of Independence he won the 1st and 2nd Inonu campaigns against the Greeks. At the end of World War I he represented
T.B.M.M. government in the Armistice of Mudanya and at the
Treaty of Lausanne.
On 30th October 1923 Inonu became the first
Prime Minister of
Turkey. After the
death of
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (10th November 1938) he was elected as the
President and carried the title until 14th May 1950.
Between 1950-1960 he stayed in politics as a Parliamenter of
Malatya and the leader of the main opposition
party. Later he was elected as Prime Minister again, 3 times between 1961-1965, total of 10 times and
governed for a total of 16 years and 10 months. On 20th October 1972 he resigned from his party and became a member of the Republics Senate.
Ismet Inonu spoke German, French and English, and had 3 children. Died on 25th of December 1973, today his tomb is in
Ankara, at the Mausoleum of
Atatürk.
One of his sons, professor Erdal Inonu, became also an active politician during the 80's and 90's in various socialist
parties. He passed away on October 31st, 2007.
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Adnan Menderes was one of the
prime ministers of
Turkey between 1950-1960, born in
Aydin in 1899 and
died in
Istanbul in 1961.
Adnan Menderes came from a wealthy family. He studied at the American College in
Izmir until 1916 when he served his
military service. He fought against the invading allied army during the
War of Independence between 1920-1923, after World War I. After the proclamation of the Republic he entered the politics in the
CHP party and was elected a deputy of
Aydin province in 1931. During that time, he was graduated from the Law School of the
University of
Ankara.
In 1946 he formed the Democratic party (DP) together with Mr.
Celal Bayar, one of the first legal opposition
parties in
Turkey, after
Atatürk's party CHP. He became the deputy of
Kutahya province and served for four years. When his party came to power in 1950 during the first free elections in Turkish
history, Menderes became the
Premier. In 1955 he also assumed the duties of foreign minister at the same time. Menderes also won the 1954 and 1957 elections, thus serving as prime minister for 10 years. During his terms, he followed liberal
economic rules, allowing more private enterprises, and hold good relations with both East and West. Also, he miraculously survived a plane crach in 1959 when he and other government officials were flying from
Istanbul to London. He became very popular amongst the public during those years, but at the same time he censored the newspapers and arrested journalists in order to oppress the opposing
political parties, therefore we wasn't liked much by the intellectuals.
On 27th of May 1960 an
army coup under General
Cemal Gürsel toppled the
government and Menderes was arrested. He was charged with violating the
Constitution and trialed in a prison on Yassiada, a small island in the
Princess Islands archipelago off
Istanbul. He was found guilty by the military court and sentenced to death by hanging on the Imrali island at the
Sea of Marmara on 17th of September 1961, along with two other cabinet members who were Mr. Fatin Rustu Zorlu, Foreign Affairs Minister, and Mr. Hasan Polatkan, Finance Minister.
In 1990, after 29 years of his
death, the Parliament cleared of any misconduct of Adnan Menderes and pardoned him. Today, his mausoleum is located next to
Turgut Ozal's mausoleum in
Istanbul. Also, Adnan Menderes
University in
Aydin province and Adnan Menderes Airport in
Izmir are named after him. His son, Mr. Aydin Menderes, served as a deputy in the
Turkish Parliament until the elections in 2002.
Burak Sansal, Official Tourist Guide of Turkey conducting private or small group tours around the country in English and Italian languages.
www.allaboutturkey.com
