World War I, Mustafa Kemal left Istanbul in 1919
to gather support for a resistance movement in
Anatolia, eventually settling in Ankara, where the
Grand National Assembly was opened in 1920.
When Turkish troops under Mustafa Kemal’s com-
mand defeated the Greek troops that had invaded
western Anatolia in 1921, the nationalist forces
earned enough bargaining power to reject the
terms of the Sèvres treaty (the World War I peace
agreement that would have divided the country)
and to abolish the Ottoman sultanate, which had
reigned for 600 years. In 1923, a new treaty ensur-
ing Turkey’s borders was agreed to at Lausanne
(in Switzerland), and the republic was proclaimed
with Mustafa Kemal as its president.
Mustafa Kemal’s regime was autocratic, which
allowed him to push through a series of reforms
designed to rebuild tUrkey as a modern, Western,
secular nation. In 1924, he abolished the caliph-
at e, which Ottoman sultans had assumed since
the 16th century, and closed religious schools.
He closed the dervish lodges, which were seen
as threatening to the secular regime, and banned
the wearing of religious dress outside of places of
worship. He had a new civil code adopted, bring-
ing equal rights to Women. He had the Arabic
alphabet replaced with a modified Latin alphabet
and encouraged the replacement of Arabic and
Persian words in the language with “pure” Turkish
words, even if they had to be invented.
In 1934, a law was passed requiring all citizens
to adopt a surname, and Mustafa Kemal chose
for himself that of Ataturk, meaning “Father of
the Turks.” Ataturk died in 1938 in Istanbul after
having served four terms as president, but his
legacy has continued until today. His mausoleum
in Ankara continues to be visited regularly; his
image appears on every banknote and in every
public building, and his statues stand prominently
in every city and town. Boulevards, universities,
towns, and Istanbul’s international airport are
named after him. The ideas he brought to frui-
tion—constituting an ideology known as Kemal-
ism—also continue to make up the dominant
ideology of the Turkish state.
See also ottoman dynasty; secUlarism.
Mark SoileauFurther reading: Lord Kinross, Atatürk: The Rebirth
of a Nation (London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1964);
Andrew Mango, Atatürk: The Biography of the Founder of
Modern Turkey (New York: Overlook Press, 1999).Aurangzeb (1618–1707) Indian Muslim
ruler who led the Mughal Empire when it controlled
the greatest amount of territory on the Indian
subcontinent
The great grandson of akbar (r. 1556–1605) and
son of Shah Jahan (r. 1628–58), Aurangzeb came
to power during a bloody civil war for succession
Mustafa Kemal Ataturk (Juan E. Campo) in 1657. After killing all of his brothers, his rivals
Aurangzeb 69 J