Atatürk means Turkish “father” or “ancestor” and is the name by which Mustafa Kemal is known. And that clearly shows the reason for his adoration: he is considered the nationalist leader and architect of today’s Turkish homeland. Therefore, his figure is omnipresent in this country. In this post we approach this historical figure through monuments and important places related to his life and that may be part of your trip.
Atatürk: biographical sketches
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk was a high-ranking military officer (field marshal) who began to make a name for himself thanks to important victories in which he played a decisive role. Among them, the Battle of Gallipoli (also called the Battle of the Dardanelles or Çanakkale), in 1915, within the framework of the First World War.
But even more important was his leadership in the so-called Turkish War of Liberation against the Greeks, just after the end of the First World War. After that, the Republic of Turkey was founded in 1923 and Mustafa Kemal Atatürk was elected its first President, remaining in office until his death in 1938.
His policy was aimed at forging the modern Turkish identity, forged through cultural policies (e.g., shaping the current Turkish language, promoting secularism) and administrative policies (design of the state apparatus, modernization of the economy, etc.), all with a marked personalism that earned him the recognition and admiration of other contemporary authoritarian leaders, such as Germany’s Adolf Hitler, Italy’s Benito Mussolini or Egypt’s Gamal Abdel Nasser.
Places to ‘meet him
After the death of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk a cult of his figure was established, promoted by his successors and the military class, and this cult still survives today. It can be seen in numerous monuments scattered throughout the country and also in small details of everyday life. Here we make a brief review, highlighting some places.
Ankara: epicenter of the Atatürk cult
If there is a city where the cult of Atatürk is most present, it is Ankara. Not in vain, it was he who raised it to the status of capital of the new Turkish Republic, despite not being the largest or most important city in the history of the country (that honor had always fallen to Istanbul, formerly Constantinople). In fact, here is the Anıtkabir, his mausoleum, on the top of a hill overlooking the city. Its architecture, in the rationalist style in vogue in the mid-20th century, seems to be inspired by the country’s other great mausoleum (and precedent of all the others): the funerary monument to Mausolus of Caria, in ancient Halicarnassus.
Aegean coast and rest of the country
On the Aegean Coast, during his time as a senior military officer, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk won the victories that brought him to fame and power. For this reason, numerous monuments commemorating his figure are also located in this region. As an example, we can mention his statue in Gelibolu (Gallipoli), contemplating the battlefield. Or the Mask of Atatürk in Izmir, a gigantic sculpture carved into the rock of a hill in the center of this city.
But statues and monuments are scattered in many other corners of the country. For example, in Istanbul’s central Taksim Square, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk occupies the center of the sculptural group of the Monument to the Republic. And many infrastructures, such as the old airport, a bridge or the Olympic stadium of this city, are named after this ‘father of the fatherland’. In addition, even today, every November 10 at 9:05 a.m., a minute of silence is observed for his death, which took place at that moment in 1938.
