Who is mustafa kemal pasha

Unlike its Arab neighbors, the Turks managed to build a secular state. The main contribution to it was made by Mustafa Kemal, later called Ataturk, i. The role of Ataturk in the history of Turkey was especially pronounced and acute in connection with the realities of today, when the process of reviewing unilateral assessments of the most important events in world history is under way.

In the new and modern history of Turkey, there is no historical personality comparable to the personality of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the creator and first president of the Turkish Republic. A lot of scientific works and works of art, which reflect the life and work of this talented commander, politician, and statesman, are devoted to him.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the great Ottoman Empire came very close to its decline. Its disappearance from the map of the world was only a matter of time. What will happen next, few people imagined in the empire itself, and in the rest of the world. He did not create a monarchical state but a republic.

The person of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk causes fierce controversy among Muslims. Some believe that he is the savior of the Turkish nation while others accuse him of the collapse of the caliphate and the struggle against Islam. The path of a young ambitious officer a small official, born in the family of a small officer, in the highest command of the Sultan's army, was possible thanks to personal courage, determination, mastery of the art of political intrigue, and the talent of a leader capable of rallying like-minded people, confronting the opposition, and leading a national movement.

It can be said that the appearance of such a person in the history of Turkey was due to the world processes of the early 20th century. The empires disintegrated - Austro-Hungarian, Russian, Ottoman, and national states appeared on the map. The lost territories of the Ottoman Empire and the metropolis itself became the objects of the attacks by the imperialist governments of European countries.

Just like Soviet Russia and Turkey, since , it has been intervened. In the west, entire regions were almost simultaneously occupied by France, England, Italy, and Greece.

Turkey could disappear from the map of the world if the country's military and political forces were not consolidated as an alternative to the helpless Sultan's court and the government of the High Porte, dependent on the interventionists. Moreover, the peculiarity of the situation in the Ottoman Turkey was the status of the Sultan-Caliph - not only as head of state, but also as spiritual leader of Muslims.

Therefore, the leader who headed the national liberation movement should, in his activity, in no less extent than to the armed resistance to the interventionists and political opponents, pay attention to the education of his people, and explain the reasons why the Sultan Caliph will not be able to provide independence for his country.

Ghazi Mustafa Kemal Pasha was born in in the city of Thessaloniki, owned by the Ottoman Empire, in the family of a small timber merchant, former customs officer Ali Riza-effendi and his wife Zyubeyde-khanim.

His exact date of birth is unknown for certain; Kemal Pasha himself celebrated his birthday on maturity on May 19 - the day of the beginning of the struggle for Turkish independence. At the age of twelve, Mustafa Kemal Pasha entered the preparatory military school in Thessaloniki, and, in , was enrolled in a military school in the Macedonian Bitola.

In , Mustafa, who showed great ability for military affairs, entered the Ottoman Military College in Istanbul. After several months in prison, the young officer was exiled to Damascus, but he did not refuse critical thoughts about the regime existing in the Ottoman Empire. In , when Dardanelles campaign was launched, Colonel Mustafa Kemal became a national hero by winning successive victories and finally repelling the invaders.

Promoted to general in , at age 35, he liberated two major provinces in eastern Turkey that year. In the next two years, he served as commander of several Ottoman armies in Palestine, Aleppo, and elsewhere, achieving another major victory by stopping the enemy advance at Aleppo. In defiance of the Sultan's government, he rallied a liberation army in Anatolia and convened the Congress of Erzurum and Sivas which established the basis for the new national effort under his leadership.

On April 23, , the Grand National Assembly was inaugurated. Mustafa Kemal Pasha was elected to its Presidency. Fighting on many fronts, he led his forces to victory against rebels and invading armies. At the end of August , the Turkish armies won their ultimate victory. Within a few weeks, the Turkish mainland was completely liberated, the armistice signed, and the rule of the Ottoman dynasty abolished. He launched a programme of revolutionary social and political reform to modernise Turkey.

These reforms included the emancipation of women, the abolition of all Islamic institutions and the introduction of Western legal codes, dress, calendar and alphabet, replacing the Arabic script with a Latin one. Abroad he pursued a policy of neutrality, establishing friendly relations with Turkey's neighbours. He died on 10 November Search term:. Read more. This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets CSS enabled.