May 3

Atatürk

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (1881-1938) was a great military leader, a social reformer, a persuasive and brilliant diplomat, a shrewd economist and the first president of a modern, democratic Turkish Republic. He was reelected fifteen years in a row, and the only reason he was not reelected for a sixteenth time was that he had drunk himself to death by the age of fifty-seven.

"A man born out of due season, an anachronism, a throwback to the Tartars of the steppes, a fierce elemental force of a man. With his military genius and ruthless determination, in a different age he might well have been a Genghis Khan, conquering empires."

Never in doubt of his abilities, the man excelled in every task he took on. Time and again he developed battle plans that succeeded against impossible odds. His triumph at Gallipoli was nothing short of a miracle. As well, his powers of persuasion were legendary. I quote a speech he made to those who had family members or loved ones who had lost their lives and lay buried on Turkish soil:

"Those heroes (who) shed their blood and lost their lives... you are now lying in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets to us – where they lie side by side here in this country of ours... You, the mothers who sent (your) sons from far away countries, wipe away your tears. Your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace. After having lost their lives on this land they have become our sons as well."

Amazing, no? The Turkish War of Independence, which ended in 1922, was the last time Atatürk used his military might in dealing with other countries. Ensuing foreign issues were resolved by peaceful methods during his presidency.

An agnostic, Macedonian-born Atatürk turned Turkey upside down. After seizing control of the country he abolished twelve centuries of Shari’ah (Islamic) law, eliminated the Caliphate, sent the Sultan into permanent exile and ordered Islamic religious schools closed. He cracked down harshly on once-powerful religious orders, such as the dervishes.

But he was just getting warmed up. Atatürk changed the name of Constantinople to Istanbul and established a new capital in Ankara, a more centrally located city. He banned the veil and fez, leading by example. He strutted around in Panama hats and Western business suits to a shocked public. He gave women the right to vote, thus making Turkey the first Muslim country to do so. He ordered men to appear in public with their wives – even to dance with them. In his spare time he banned polygamy. Oh, I nearly forgot – he forced everyone to take a surname. His own surname, Atatürk (meaning "Father of the Turks"), was granted to him, and forbidden to any other person, in 1934 by the Turkish parliament. He abolished the use of Arabic script and replaced it with a Latin (West European) alphabet, at the same time making secular public education compulsory, even for women, thus thumbing his nose at centuries of Islamic segregation of the sexes.

"Fellow countrymen," he declared, "you must realize that the Turkish Republic cannot be a country of sheikhs or dervishes. If we want to be men, we must carry out the dictates of civilization. We draw our strength from civilization, scholarship and science and are guided by them. We do not accept anything else."

In a span of less than ten years he had resurrected a people with “Loser” stamped upon their foreheads into a force to be reckoned with, deserving of respect. He had the populace in his pocket, nearly universally beloved by his people and respected by his enemies. To this day it is against the law to insult his memory or destroy anything that represents him. There is even a government website that polices and denounces those who violate this law, which has been in force since 1951. In 2007 the Turkish government blocked YouTube throughout the country for 30 months, in retaliation for four unflattering videos about Atatürk that alleged that he was a Freemason and a homosexual, citing a book printed in Belgium that is still banned in Turkey – international standards of free speech be damned. I don’t know about Freemasonry, but my research has proved that Atatürk was not a homosexual. He was bisexual and always preferred the company of men. I will quote a passage from this book – one of the most awkward and tortured examples of syntax I’ve ever read:

“Women, for Mustafa, were a means of satisfying masculine appetites, little more; nor, in his zest for experience, would he be inhibited from passing adventures with young boys, if the opportunity offered and the mood, in this bisexual fin-de-siècle Ottoman age, came upon him.” (Patrick Balfour)

In short, this man engaged in occasional sexual dalliances with young men. As well he married women, even adopted women. In the two biographies I have read, Atatürk comes across as an omnisexual, using sexual prowess as just another tool of intimidation by a man obsessed by conquest. If he had been a guest in my home, I’d have feared for my larger houseplants. No lie. His libidinous influence is felt today – Turkey is the only Muslim country in which homosexuality is not against the law.

All that off towards one side, Atatürk’s veneration has been constant since his death in 1938, more than 75 years ago. His photograph appears on the walls of restaurants, shops, schools and government offices. His image is on banknotes, and nearly every Turkish town sports a statue or bust of the man. Your blogger knows this first-hand, since I have just returned from my second trip to Turkey this calendar year. At the exact time of his death, on every November 10, at 9:05 a.m., most vehicles and people in the country's streets stop for a minute of remembrance.

Update: In response to several readers' requests for specifics:

Atatürk (1962) Irfan and Margaret Orga:
“He had never really loved a woman. He was used to the camaraderie of the mess, the craze for handsome young men, [and] fleeting contacts with prostitutes, … His body burned for a woman or a boy...”

Mustafa Kemal, An Intimate Study (1933) by H.C. Armstrong
Pages 253-254:
“After divorcing Latife, ...he went back to the long nights in smoke-filled rooms with his drinking friends...after that he became shameless. He drank deeper than ever. He started a number of open affairs with women, and with men. Male youth attracted him...”