Good Will Gestures in Thessaloniki - Ataturk Society of America

atatÜRK aND tURKish YOUth
W
hy have I always considered myself a contemporary of Atatürk’s? I live in the present, yet
I share the goals and ideals of Atatürk’s youth. I believe in science, technology, modernity,
human rights, secularism, and progress.
Atatürk dedicated May 19 as Turkish Youth Day shortly aft er the Republic of Turkey
was established in 1923. First and foremost, Atatürk was a reformer of Turkey at all levels. He knew
that in order for the new country to survive and prosper, it had to sweep away all traces of the old
mentality, undergo substantial reforms in politics, administration, and social structure, embrace
science and technology, and reject superstition and the shackles of religion. Atatürk stated, “For us,
the measure of time should not be thought of in terms of the past century’s lax mentality, but our
century’s conception of speed and action.” With 56.2 percent of the population under 25 years of age,
he knew that youth was the future of the new Republic.
Years before the establishment of the Republic, while visiting madrassa (religious) schools across
the country, Atatürk witnessed something that had a profound eff ect on his views for the future. He
saw children squatting on bare dirt fl oors, with teachers in turbans requiring them to memorize the
Koran in Arabic before teaching them how to read and write in Turkish or do arithmetic. Th ese children
were brainwashed rather than taught critical thinking skills, a reminder to him of his early childhood,
before he convinced his father to send him to military school. Unfortunately, madrassas continue to
exist in Turkey, and have increased in recent years to reach their largest numbers in Turkish history.
In the early years of his rule, certain infl uential Turks, even Atatürk’s friends, wanted to preserve
the Ottoman ways of the past, but Atatürk would have none of it. He knew he had to struggle against
the stifl ing atmosphere of old mental and social habits and theocracy. He knew the country needed
to adopt modern ways and make a sharp, even painful, break from old habits. He sought the abandonment
of Ottoman Sharia (Koranic) law, and the adoption of Swiss and Italian legal frameworks.
Th e brightest legal minds, seeking refuge from the brewing storms of Hitler’s Europe, fl ocked to this
young Republic and assisted in this endeavor.
Valuing knowledge, Atatürk recognized two obstacles blocking intellectual growth for his citizens.
First, the sultans and the Ulema had banned printing presses for centuries aft er Europeans
had invented them, both for political reasons and so as not to jeopardize the handwritten script of
the Koran. Second was the high rate of illiteracy: 95 percent of men were unable to read and write
at the time the Republic was established, and almost all women were illiterate. At that time, out of
12 million Turkish women, only 532 girls were in primary and middle schools, and 242 girls were in
high school. For this reason, Atatürk abandoned the diffi cult Arabic script and adopted the Roman
alphabet, dramatically decreasing the illiteracy rate in a short period of time.
Increasingly confi dent Turkish youth emerged from these reforms, later becoming members of
Parliament and achieving high offi ce in the new government. Aft er the 1934 law which granted women
the right to run for elected offi ce, 20 female teachers, who graduated from the schools established by
Atatürk, were elected to parliament. Th is was the highest percentage of women elected to parliament
in the Republic’s history.
Atatürk knew the importance of engaging the future early in the life of a child. He dedicated the
date of April 23 to children and the date of May 19 to youth, to inculcate them with modernity and
ensure that they carry out the vision of a new secular and democratic Republic.
Atatürk described Turkish youth by saying,
“My understanding is that youth are those that have accepted Turkish reforms and ideas, and
will transmit them to future generations. In my view, a twenty year old Islamic radical is old, and a
seventy year old idealist is young. Th is is my understanding of Turkish youth.” Th is is why in his 1927
speech (Büyük Nutuk/Söylev) which lasted six days and forty and a half hours, Atatürk entrusted
Turkey to Turkish youth. He declared:
“Oh, ye Turkish youth! Your foremost duty is to preserve and defend forever Turkish independence
and the Turkish Republic. “
Th e Atatürk Society of America keeps this spirit alive today.
CHAIrMAN’S COMMENtS
Hudai Yavalar
Chairman, Founding President
“Atatürk knew the
importance of engaging
the future early in
the life of a child. He
dedicated the date of
April 23 to children and
the date of May 19 to
youth, to inculcate them
with modernity and
ensure that they carry
out the vision of a new
secular and democratic
Republic.”
SUMMER’11 | VOICE OF AtAtüRk 3