The 2023 J.U.C. Media, Research & Writing Awards | Submitted Category: WRITING/Türkiye100
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The 2023 J.U.C. Media, Research & Writing Awards
Submitted Category: WRITING/Türkiye100
Sub-category: Dedicated to the 100th Anniversary of the Republic of Türkiye
Submission Code: W6/TR100
Student Grade: 11 | Word count: 1292

OLIVE BRANCH

[The 2023 J.U.C. Awards, LMGlobal.Org]
Father of the Turks, great leader, perpetual commander, chief commander, veteran and head teacher Mustafa Kemal Atatürk said on April 20, 1931 “Peace at home, peace in the world.” These words were extremely precious back in the 1930s especially because they were expressed by a great mind like him. It is important to note that this quote does not consist of irrelevant words we should ignore today. As proof, back in time, Turkey was one of the few countries that did not join the second world war directly. Therefore, it’s safe to say that these words brought peace to modern day Turkey. Though, this remark is critical for other states too because Atatürk stated that not only should we keep the peace in our homeland, we must encourage other countries to do the same as us. This action inspired other minorities to gain their independence as did the Turkish Republic. Even though Atatürk was able to lead Turkey on its journey to become an autonomous country by fighting against other countries that terrorised Turkish freedom and presence, he also admitted that “Unless a nation’s life faces peril, war is murder.” Mustafa Kemal certainly was a pacifist but as he phrased it ‘war is a must if a civilization’s sovereignty is under threat’. The Turkish Republic was able to defeat its enemies with unprecedented sacrifices. For instance, Atatürk published an edict called “Tekâlif-i Milliye”. This includes the following orders: everybody living in Turkey is required to hand over their weapons, every family is required to provide clothing for soldiers, etc. It’s clear that this regulation was published because the Turkish army’s opportunities were extremely limited and Turkey would be able to succeed if they unite together against their rivals. Additionally, he believed in the power of diplomacy. He knew that Turkey could become a contemporary state by taking advantage of democracy and negotiation. After the Turkish Independence War, Turkey’s foreign policy followed its perpetual commander’s wise words. Kemal’s belief was that Turkey would be able to solve every problem they face with politics. He was absolutely correct. Turkey managed to resolve essential problems such as the Hatay matter and the Regime of the Straits. Atatürk believed that a nation’s independence could be achieved with a foreign policy that is based on diplomatic essentials instead of expansionist strategy like the Ottoman Empire and the European powers. Although, during the 1920s, the Turkish government published a conceptual map based on the claims of “Misak-ı Millî” which was the idea of keeping the lands of the Ottoman Empire which had a Turkish majority. Even so Atatürk did not engage in a gunfight with the bordering countries and tried to solve the issue with diplomatic principles. Clearly, Kemal Atatürk’s mentality on diplomacy was grounded on keeping peace and the independence of one. Atatürk knew that he could not achieve his goals by terror and fighting so he took these thoughts as the basis as he was forming Turkey’s policy. In other words, he made sure that other countries recognized this newly founded nation. He rewrote Turkey’s international policy that was inherited by the Ottoman Empire by making it reach the level of contemporary civilizations. However, not everything was as bright as it seems. In the 1920s, there were plenty of people who disagreed with Atatürk’s opinions so they rebelled against the Turkish Republic. To give you an idea, Sheikh Said was one of the separatist movement leaders. He supposed he could build an imaginary country called “Kurdistan”. Though this was not his idea, he was manipulated by the British government and eventually his imaginary state would have been controlled by the British government. He wanted a country where sharia1 was enforced. In regards to these he started an armed movement. He was able to occupy Diyarbakır and some other provinces in Southeastern Anatolia. After that, the Turkish army was able to suppress the revolt successfully. Consequently, he was due to stand trial in the “Independence Courts” and faced capital punishment. Another event occurred in the early years of the Turkish Republic called the Menemen Incident. This rebel movement imagined a Turkey where sharia1 was applied. The leader of the rebellious group was called “Dervish Mehmet” who martyred Turkish army officer Mustafa Fehmi Kubilay. This rebellion was also suppressed by the Turkish Armed Forces and people involved in the incident faced the death penalty. Case in point, even if Atatürk did everything he could with the opportunities he had, some people were still ungrateful and unloyal to the Turkish government. In addition to that, Turkey followed Atatürk’s legacy and applied a foreign policy predicated on the Great commander’s quote about peace. Also, Mustafa Kemal believed that a republic can develop if it can firmly hold on to its internal policy. Amazingly, Atatürk was able to accomplish it. After November 10th 1938, Turkey was a country that followed Atatürk’s Main Principles which were Republicanism, Nationalism, Populism, Secularism, Etatism and Reformism. These principles basically included guidance for a nation on how to progress. The Republic of Turkey was one of the countries which followed these policies. Also after Mustafa Kemal, Turkey’s internal policy became disorderly. In those times, Turkey faced a consequence which was to lose its liberty. In the late 1940s, the Cold War began and the World’s greatest countries, the USA and the Soviet Union, started to make alliances with mostly European countries to threaten each other. Despite the fact that Turkey, initially, planned to remain neutral, eventually Turkey became a member of NATO. After this alliance, Turkey began to be influenced by the USA and the idea of the ‘American Dream’. In the late 1950s, Turkey was having domestic problems, such as the desire of the governing party of Turkey to rule the country, not based on modern Turkish law but on sharia1, to be enforced. Therefore, ruling party members were having serious issues on how to follow Atatürk’s principles and implement government policies while facing opposition from university students and secular youths. Additionally, In spite of the USA’s efforts in the late 1950s and 1970s to divide Turkish youth by manipulating them to join the right-wing ultra-nationalist groups or the left-wing opposition. The sad truth is that university students were slaughtering each other over their ideologies. Although this sounds bizarre to you, it was not. These teenagers were manipulated and commanded by major organisations and governments like the CIA, USA, KGB and Soviet Union. Between 1950 to 1980s, Turkey was in an absolute bloodbath. Even though it may look like Turkey was under control of the world’s powers, it wasn’t completely under their rule. Thankfully, both of these events were put to an end by the Turkish Armed Forces. Nonetheless, Turkey was able to overcome these problems with diplomacy and did not lose its independence at all cost. Finally, all of these events were ended by TAF2 by adhering to Kemalism3. It is safe to say that Turkey was able to tackle these issues with the help of Atatürk principles. Regardless of Atatürk’s principles being mostly enforced in modern Turkey, what would have happened if Hitler, Stalin, Churchill and Roosevelt, whose policies and ideologies benefited no one but themselves leading to destruction, were trained on Mustafa Kemal’s insight during World War II and the Cold War? To give you an idea, 6 million people who died in the Holocaust would be alive, 85 million people who died in World War 2 would be alive, 11 million people who died during the Cold War would be alive, in total 96 million people could be alive and world peace could have been maintained a long time ago! Last but not least, let us hope for a better future where Atatürk’s wise words throw light on peace.

Footnotes:
1- sharia: the holy laws of Islam that cover all parts of a Muslim’s life
2- TAF: Turkish Armed Forces
3- Kemalism: is the founding official ideology of the Republic of Turkey. Kemalism, as it was implemented by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, was defined by sweeping political, social, cultural and religious reforms designed to separate the new Turkish state from its Ottoman predecessor and embrace a Western-style modernized lifestyle

References:

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• Turkey | Location, Geography, People, Economy, Culture, & History. (2023, January 1). Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/place/Turkey/The-military-coup-of-1960
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