Musta Kemal Case

Mustafa Kemal or “the father of the Turks,” is responsible for bringing Turkey into the modern world. In addition, he set Turkey permanently apart from other Islamic countries. Because of Kemal, Turkey looks now to the west, as well as holding a strict stance against the Islamic faith. In all other Islamic countries, women are forced to cover their heads when in public. However, Kemal was against this notion and actually supported punishing women who covered their faces.

Kemal rose to power just after World War I. Turkey was into that war as an ally of Imperial Germany. Turkey came out of that war with its empire gone and its enemies waiting to carve up all which remained of Turkey. Mustafa Kemal pushed against this pressure, and because of this he is considered one of the few of Turkey’s national hero’s. After the war, he rallied his countrymen and pushed out the Greeks who were looking to take their land. Following pushing out the Ottoman Sultan (the head of state and head of government of the empire), Kemal took over in 1922. He tore Turkey away from its Islamic past, by turning it around to face the west and by holding a strong hope for its future prosperity.

The Islamic faith in general uses various forms of symbols, as well as numerous amounts of different day to day rules. Kemal was against these Islamic values, and decided to make a significant change for the best interests of Turkey. He banned such symbols as the fez, the brimless hat worn by devout Islamic men. He also dropped the Arabic alphabet in favor of the West’s Roman alphabet. In addition, Kemal scrapped Islamic law; instead he imported parts of the Swiss and Italian civil codes. Because of the significant changes made to Turkey during his time, Kemal was and is considered a Turkey national hero.