o - Aceh Books website

TURKS, ANATOLIAN 815
depended on the character of the town—whether it was a small city or a large
village—and the amount of urban contact.
Another drastic and dramatic change ordered by Ataturk involved the Turkish
language. Osmanli, or Anatolian Turkish (see Turkic-speaking Peoples), had
been written in Arabic script. Ataturk introduced Roman script with a modified
Latin alphabet, more suited to Turkish language sounds. Ataturk personally went
on tour to demonstrate the intricacies of the new alphabet, sometimes standing
in the village square before a blackboard and a cluster of curious onlookers.
Along with this change, Ataturk attempted to "Turkify" the language by purging
words derived from Arabic or Persian and supplanting them with "pure" Turkish
ones (today English and French words with Turkish spelling have crept in,
especially into city usage).
Three sentiments guided Ataturk's course of government until he died in 1938,
and these continue today in varying degrees: nationalism, industrialization and
secularization.
The first of these is the strongest. Turks are loyal and devoted to their country.
Following World War I, attempts were made to wrap all Turkic-speaking peoples
in the same blanket and create a political unity among the Uzbek, Kirghiz,
Turkmen, Kazakhs, Azeri and all those groups speaking Turkic languages, particularly
in the new Communist-dominated areas of the Caucasus and Central
Asia. Pan-Turanism was a dream that never came to reality, not only because
the Soviet Union would have no part of it but also because the Anatolian Turks
came to identify themselves exclusively with their new Republic of Turkey.
Industrialization has not overtaken the whole of the country in the same manner
as nationalism, but impressive gains have been made. Education has reached
the rural areas in varying degrees, modern technical schools have produced
thousands of engineers and businessmen and cities have grown with new industry.
The urban Turks of Istanbul, Izmir, Adana, Zonguldak, Samsun, Trabson, Eskigehir
and Ankara differ not too much from French, German, British and American
urbanites. While maintaining strong families ties, they nevertheless generally
marry partners of their own choosing (usually in their own social stratum),
observe office hours, commute from their homes to their jobs along clogged
avenues and go out to restaurants, movies, beaches and parks for recreation.
They maintain their health and seek their security through public institutions;
they join labor unions and the Kiwanis and participate with intensity in party
politics.
Secularization is the least successful part of Ataturk's revolution. About 85
percent of Turks are Sunni of the Hanafi rite; 15 percent are Alawi or Shia.
Traditionally, the hoca was an inspirational figure in Turkish communities,
leading services in the mosques, reading the Quran, teaching the young and
presiding over life-cycle ceremonies. When their sultan was also the caliph,
hocas spoke with great authority.
Bit by bit, Ataturk's revolutionaries clipped away at the religious fabric,
abolishing the caliphate and the Shariah courts. Many, if not most, of the hocas