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Mustafa Kemal Atatürk

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk ; .
After the Surname Law of 1934, he first appeared as Kemal Atatürk and then as Kamâl Atatürk on his identity documents. See name section}}; ; in this Ottoman Turkish style name, the given name is Mustafa Kemal, the title is Pasha, and there is no family name.}} until 1921, and Ghazi Mustafa Kemal; ; in this Ottoman Turkish style name, the given name is Mustafa Kemal, the title is Ghazi, and there is no family name.}} from 1921 until the Surname Law of 1934}} ( 1881 – 10 November 1938) was a Turkish field marshal and a founding father of the Republic of Turkey, serving as its first president from 1923 until his death in 1938. He undertook sweeping progressive reforms, which modernized Turkey into a secular, industrializing nation. Ideologically a secularist and nationalist, his policies and socio-political theories became known as Kemalism.

Atatürk began his revolutionary career in the Ottoman Empire as a Young Turk when he joined the Committee of Union and Progress, playing an important part in the 31 March Incident. He came to prominence for his role in securing the Ottoman victory at the Battle of Gallipoli (1915) during World War I, although his activity during the concurrent genocides has been debated. Following the defeat of the Ottoman Empire after World War I, he led the Turkish National Movement, which resisted the Empire's partition among the victorious Allied powers. Establishing a provisional government in the present-day Turkish capital Ankara, he defeated the forces sent by the Allies, thus emerging victorious from what was later referred to as the Turkish War of Independence. He subsequently proceeded to abolish the Ottoman sultanate in 1922 and proclaimed the foundation of the Turkish Republic in its place the following year.

As the president of the newly formed Turkish Republic, Atatürk initiated a rigorous program of political, economic, and cultural reforms with the ultimate aim of building a republican and secular nation-state. He made primary education free and compulsory, opening thousands of new schools all over the country. He also introduced the Latin-based Turkish alphabet. Turkish women received equal civil and political rights during his presidency. His government carried out a policy of Turkification, trying to create a homogeneous, unified and above all secular nation under the Turkish banner. The Turkish Parliament granted him the surname Atatürk in 1934, which means "Father of the Turks", in recognition of the role he played in building the modern Turkish Republic. He died on 10 November 1938 at Dolmabahçe Palace in Istanbul, at the age of 57; he was succeeded as president by his long-time prime minister İsmet İnönü.

In 1981, the centennial of Atatürk's birth, his memory was honoured by the United Nations and UNESCO, which declared it ''The Atatürk Year in the World'' and adopted the Resolution on the Atatürk Centennial, describing him as "the leader of the first struggle given against colonialism and imperialism". Atatürk was also credited for his peace-in-the-world oriented foreign policy and friendship with neighboring countries such as Iran, Yugoslavia, Iraq, and Greece, as well as the creation of the Balkan Pact that resisted the expansionist aggressions of Fascist Italy and Tsarist Bulgaria. Provided by Wikipedia