PDF Dosyası - Ankara Üniversitesi Kitaplar Veritabanı

leader, Kemal Atatürk, whose thinking is, in many essential aspects, fullyvalid in a global sense as well as in —or mainly in regard to— facing thenew challenges that confront the peoples of the developing world. Let uslook at some aspects of that fundamental legacy:* To defend national independence and self-determination uncompromisingly,when faced with the hegemonic ambitions of the great powers,and to be willing to make ali necessary sacrifıces to defend it andmake everyone respect it.* To strengthen and consolidate national independence by means ofan all-encompassing development, but mainly by economic development.* To grant equal importance to educational and cultural development,assimilating the scientific and technical achievements of the mostadvanced civilizations, and adapting them to the national traits.* To east the State in a central role in the guidance of the developmentprocess, essential to Third World countries.* To strengthen one's own nation in a context of utmost respect forother nations, their culture and traditions.* To renounce unreal and absürd expansionist ambitions of a territorialnature, or based on ethnic or religious Messianisms.* To base one's own security on the respect for the security of aliother peoples, thus establishing an effective peace policy.The world has certainly changed since the Turkish Republic wasproelaimed 75 years ago. The current scientific and technical revolutionand the globalizing forces of the economy are impelling an inereasing interdependenceamong the peoples, and the need to integrate in order tocreate new markets and larger economic spaces. But integration can onlybe achieved by means of cooperation based on respect for the will and theinterests of the peoples, not by imposition. Interdependence must furtherthe links among peoples and cultures in a context of respect and mutualenrichment, not by a voluntarist and coercive reaffırmation of modelspreviously established by the hegemonic centers.That is why Kemal Atatürk, whose almost prophetic vision enabledhim to foresee in the mid-1930s the outbreak of the Second World Warand practically also its outeome, could foretell that "colonialism and imperialismwill disappear from the Earth and will be replaced by a new eraof harmony and cooperation betvveen nations without any diseriminationas to color, creed and race" 15 . Naturally, in order to achieve that new eraof harmony among the peoples he knew quite well, and said it clearly,15. Quotations..., op.cit., p. 114.38