Mustafa Kemal Atatrk (President) - On This Day

Full Name: Mustafa KemalProfession: President and Founder of the Republic of Turkey Biography: Atatrk was instrumental in creating the modern Turkish state. A major figure in the fight for independence he became the Republics' first President and went on to reform many institutions.

Full Name: Mustafa Kemal
Profession: President and Founder of the Republic of Turkey

Biography: Atatürk was instrumental in creating the modern Turkish state. A major figure in the fight for independence he became the Republics' first President and went on to reform many institutions.

Atatürk rose to prominence through the Ottoman army and successfully repelled the allied forces during the Gallipoli campaign in WWI.

After the war, Atatürk was a key figure in the country's independence movement, resisting allied attempts to impose their settlement in the Treaty of Lausanne. In 1921 he established a provisional government in Ankara and got the Caliphate abolished the next year. In 1923 Turkey was declared a Republic and Atatürk its first President.

Until his death in 1938 Atatürk sought to modernize Turkey and its institutions. Much of Turkish society was securalized, education made widely available, women's rights strengthened, and the Latin alphabet adopted.

Born: May 19, 1881
Birthplace: Salonica, Ottoman Empire
Star Sign: Taurus

Died: November 10, 1938 (aged 57)
Cause of Death: Cirrhosis of the Liver

Articles and Photos

Historical Events

  • 1915-04-27 Counterattack launched by Turkish forces under the command of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk against allied troops
  • 1919-05-19 Mustafa Kemal Atatürk lands at Samsun on the Black Sea coast, beginning the Turkish War of Independence
  • 1919-09-04 Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, who founded the Republic of Turkey, gathers a congress in Sivas to make decisions as to the future of Anatolia and Thrace.
  • 1920-04-23 Turkish Grand National Assembly 1st meets in Ankara, under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk denounces the government of Sultan Mehmed VI and announces a temporary constitution
  • 1921-07-16 Encouraged by the British, King Constantine of Greece launches a drive to take Asia Minor from nationalists under Mustafa Kemal Atatürk
  • 1922-11-01 Mustafa Kemal Ataturk takes Constantinople from Mehmed VI, proclaiming the Republic of Turkey and bringing an end to the Ottoman Empire
  • 1923-08-13 Turkish National Congress selects Mustafa Kemal Atatürk Pasha as 1st President of Turkey
  • 1924-04-03 Istanbul's Ottoman Topkapi Palace is converted into a museum on orders of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk

Personal Life

  • 1923-01-29 President of Turkey Mustafa Kemal Ataturk (41) weds Latife Hanim; divorce in 1925
  • 1925-08-05 Turkish President Mustafa Kemal Ataturk (44) divorces wife Latife Hanim after 2 years of marriage

Famous Turkish People

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