Atatürk’s Reforms and Western Influence in Turkey
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, a distinguished army officer, founded the independent Republic of Turkey from the remnants of the Ottoman Empire. He served as Turkey’s first president from 1923 until his death in 1938, enacting reforms that rapidly secularized and westernized the nation. As a result, practicing religion in public became difficult and problematic. In his efforts to modernize the country, Mustafa implemented Kemalism (also known as the “Six Arrows”).
These six principles were:
- Republicanism
- Statism (in economic policy)
- Populism
- Secularism
- Nationalism
- Reformism
Collectively, they represented a policy, defined by Atatürk himself, as a method of utilizing political despotism to dismantle the social despotism prevalent among the traditionally-minded Turkish-Muslim population. He primarily blamed the bigotry of Muslim scholars for this social despotism. This document will focus on *reformism*, *statism*, *secularism*, and *republicanism* to answer the question: “To what extent did the West impact Turkey?” These principles demonstrate a clear Western bias and influence.
Reformism and Republicanism: Embracing Western Models
Reformism called for the country to replace traditional teachings with modern institutions and science. This principle advocated for fundamental social change through revolution as a strategy to achieve a modern society. Beyond changing traditional teachings, this policy also transformed Turkish culture in terms of daily life and customs. This change was implemented through various methods, including:
- Enforcing strict dress codes
- Replacing Friday prayer (for Muslims) with Sunday as the day of rest (following the Christian tradition)
- Introducing a new language
- Increasing women’s rights
These actions were heavily influenced by the West, where many of these practices were already prominent. Mustafa also implemented the republicanism policy, which aimed to replace the elitist Ottoman social order with a more broadly based republican system. This led to Turkey being proclaimed a republic following the treaty. This new political system mirrored that of the Soviet Union in 1918, further demonstrating the West’s impact on Turkey.
Secularism: The Most Significant Western Influence
Secularism was arguably the most significant policy in its purpose. Through this policy, the Turkish state was to have no officially sanctioned religion, nor was it to have one in the future. Two pieces of legislation, dating from 1931 and 1937, removed the article stating that “the established religion of Turkey is Islam” from the constitution and replaced it with the principles of secularism and revolutionism. This policy also made headlines when it successfully abolished religious schools and legalized alcohol (which is impermissible according to Islamic teachings). The legalization of alcohol further highlights the Western impact on Turkey, as its primary purpose was to align with Western countries.