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LEARNING ABOUT HOME<o:p></o:p>When I was born, I was simply called Mustafa. My family was middle-class, Turkish-speaking and Muslim. We lived in the town of Salonika, in what was then the Ottoman Empire. (It is now known as Thessaloniki in modern-day Greece.)<o:p></o:p>As a young boy, I went to a religious school, which was what my mother wanted. But later, my father put me in a private school that was not connected to religion. And at the age of 12, I moved to a military secondary school.<img src="https://cdn.builder.io/api/v1/image/assets%2Fb3b13b7f131f44b8b9040dab74852379%2F7d49c56527154109a257369b470ec127" alt="" style="width: 401.603px; height: 255.969px;"> <o:p></o:p>I studied hard and my mathematics teacher gave me the name ‘Kemal’, which means ‘the perfect one’, so I became known as Mustafa Kemal. <o:p></o:p>I learned that the Turkish homeland had been invaded by many different cultures. Over time, the Greeks, the Romans and now the Ottomans, had all imposed their customs, languages, laws and religions upon us.<o:p></o:p>MILITARY MISSION<o:p></o:p>In 1899, I went to the War College in Istanbul. I liked the freedom and sophistication of the city. At the age of 24, I finished college with the rank of Captain. <o:p></o:p>In 1911, I went to fight in the Ottoman army. But malaria and problems with my eyes meant I had to leave and get treatment in Vienna.<o:p></o:p>When war in Europe broke out in 1914, the Ottoman Empire, which had lost almost all of its territory in Europe and Africa, sided with Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The next year, I helped stop a large force of British and French troops from taking Istanbul. As a result, I was promoted from Colonel to Brigadier-General and sent to fight in eastern Turkey, Syria and Palestine.&nbsp;POLITICAL LEADER<o:p></o:p>However, we lost the fight. The once proud Turks were now ruled by British, French and Italians in their own land. I soon found myself at the head of an army looking to fight back. The Turkish National Movement was founded, and I signed a document declaring independence. We were determined to fight. <o:p></o:p>We made Turkey a republic and I was elected its first president. This put me in control and I set about transforming Turkish society.<img src="https://cdn.builder.io/api/v1/image/assets%2Fb3b13b7f131f44b8b9040dab74852379%2F4a2ad8599475451a9ef01c8beebd8015" alt="" style="width: 386.075px; height: 494.906px;"> <o:p></o:p>The Ottoman Sultan&nbsp;was encouraged to leave and to help our country to become more modern, I banned men from wearing the fez. The fez was seen as a symbol of the Ottoman grip on people, and I insisted that it was to be replaced by Western hats only.<o:p></o:p>I also felt that religion was holding us back from new, modern ideas that I saw being practised in European countries. So, I closed Islamic courts, which meant marriage, divorce, inheritance and other family matters were no longer decided by religious authorities.<o:p></o:p>Turkey finally became a secular&nbsp;state in 1928.<o:p></o:p>BUILDING A COUNTRY<o:p></o:p>Thousands of schools were built and education for all was provided for free by the government. We decided to replace Arabic with a new Turkish language using the Latin alphabet. I went into villages with chalk and a blackboard to show people how it worked.&nbsp;&nbsp; <o:p></o:p>I also wanted Turkish women to be educated at the same level as men. I gave women the right to vote and the right to stand in local and national elections. Equal rights for women were introduced in 1926.<img src="https://cdn.builder.io/api/v1/image/assets%2Fb3b13b7f131f44b8b9040dab74852379%2Fb82f2075d0904ff2b1b239dc22225bf3" alt="" style="width: 399.737px; height: 292.125px;"> <o:p></o:p>In 1935, 17 women were elected to the Grand National Assembly. This marked a historic change in our country.<o:p></o:p>I worked hard to develop our country. Weekends used to be from Friday to Saturday. I changed that to Saturday and Sunday. I replaced the old Arabic system for measurements with the metric system. And I introduced a new surname law, which is how I got the surname ‘Atatürk’ meaning ‘father of the Turks’. <o:p></o:p>My life’s work was to create a new Turkish identity, and to set us on a modern pathway. Change takes a lot of effort, enthusiasm and determination, but it also takes an open mind.<o:p></o:p>GLOSSARY<o:p></o:p>Ottoman Empire – the Turkish Empire, established at the end of the 13th century. It had greatly reduced by the 19th century and collapsed after the First World War.<o:p></o:p>Sultan – the term refers to a sovereign ruler.<o:p></o:p>Secular – not connected with religious or spiritual matters and not subject to or bound by religious rule.<o:p></o:p>Fez – a flat-topped conical red hat with a black tassel on top, worn by men in some Muslim countries (formerly the Turkish national head dress).<o:p></o:p>LEGACY AND RECOGNITION<ul><li>Mustafa Atatürk was the founder and first president of the modern country of Turkey. He helped bring an end to the Ottoman Empire, which had ruled for more than 500 years.&nbsp;</li><li>Mustafa Atatürk studied and worked hard to become not only a brave military leader but a strong and respected political leader as well.</li><li>He introduced many reforms that brought about social and cultural change, which helped Turkey become a more modern society.</li><li>His strong views on the importance of education helped expand education for everyone, particularly for women. He also pushed for women’s right to vote.</li><li>Although Mustafa Atatürk is considered the founder of modern-day Turkey, not everyone thinks highly of him. He often crushed opposition to his reforms and policies with an authoritarian hand.</li><li>There are many places and structures dedicated to him, including Istanbul’s Atatürk International Airport, the Atatürk Olympic Stadium, Atatürk Dam and the Atatürk Bridge.</li><li>Atatürk memorials are everywhere in Turkey. There are countless statues of him, his portrait is in almost every home and place of business, and his image appears on postage stamps and banknotes.&nbsp;</li><li>To mark the 100th anniversary of Mustafa Atatürk's birth, the Atatürk Centennial was declared in 1981 by the United Nations and UNESCO. Atatürk is the only person to receive such recognition by UNESCO.</li></ul>IMAGE CAPTIONS AND CREDITS<o:p></o:p>Monastir Military High School, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons<o:p></o:p>Portrait of Atatürk in uniform, onbekende Turkse tekenaar, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons<o:p></o:p>Turkish women with a picture of Atatürk, Nationaal Archief, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons<o:p></o:p><div> </div>

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