Mustafa Kemal Atatnrk, Father of the Turks

The ideals toward which Atatnrk strove were: (1) the creation of a national political state in full possession of its sovereign powers; (2) the development of some element of national power and international stature so that Turkey might have a chance to live; (3) a steady advance to a western standard of living by marshalling the physical and human resources of the country; and (4) a slow but continued movement toward more liberal political and economic institutions.

Atatnrk's ideals were bolstered by his belief that authoritarian devices must be employed in order that an evolution toward a greater recognition of human dignity be set in motion. Certainly not an idealist, but rather an intensely practical leader, Atatnrk's policies show him to be a pragmatist, one who chose solutions which provided useful, practical results, without regard to reactionary thought and tradition. We will first show Atatnrk's autocratic use of authority as a pragmatic means of

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present were precisely the result of their pragmatic orientation, outlook, and tendency to veer away from drawing an ideological blueprint. In one of his 1927 speeches Ataturk had proclaimed that "neither the sovereignty nor the right to govern can be transferred by one person to anybody else bay an academic debate. Sovereignty is acquired by force, by power, and by violence." Kemal would have no doubt had little patience with an academic debate over the rectitude of various "ism's," nor would he have taken delight in an intellectual, ideological debate on the universality of pragmatism. That his methods worked is truth enough. However, academics have divided themselves into two groups regarding the universality of Atatnrkism and the various Kemalist slogans: Writings of the intelligentsia display great differences of opinion about the general principles of Atatnrkism. Such differences have often caused bitter debate within the ranks of the intelligentsia and have lead to an artificial division of the educated classes into basically two groups: those who consider the ideas and principles of Atatnrk as essentially pragmatic concepts that must be applied and interpreted liberally so as to meet the exigencies of the time; a
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Approximate Word count = 5575
Approximate Pages = 22 (250 words per page)

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