the ottoman empire was founded in 1299 and its disintegration began in 1908 before it collapsed completely in 1922 with its successive defeats against various parties, and the allies divided the lands of the countries that were under their control, and here a brave officer in the turkish army, mustafa kemal, appeared on the stage, ataturk, the hero of the battle of gallipoli.
during this battle he defeated britain, seizing power and establishing a completely new state in 1923, becoming its first president, and achieving within 15 years one of the rarest and greatest coups in the life of a people, establishing a turkish secular national state, almost out of nothing, turning it into a state close to its surroundings.
the european union is advanced in every field, and its achievements have become a source of inspiration for dozens of world leaders, and a comprehensive reform experience has paved the way for turkey to emerge from its ancient heritage into a new and modern world, and for it to become the only islamic state capable of competing with the powerful countries of the world in its own backyard, and the only islamic state that is a member of nato, the country had it not been for erdogan’s retreats, would have become part of the european union.
in the first five years of his rule, ataturk accomplished his most dangerous and influential achievements, which included:
1. comprehensive political and constitutional reforms, in which he modernized the political and legal system of turkey, declaring the establishment of the republic, after abolishing the archaeological institution of the ottoman empire, and issuing a modern secular and democratic constitution for the country in 1924.
2. he carried out profound cultural and educational reforms aimed at modernizing society and promoting modern education, through a completely new curriculum for all levels, prohibiting religious sermons in schools. he also carried out comprehensive reforms in the structure of the educational system.
3. he made radical linguistic changes, making the turkish language more compatible with european languages, and abolishing the arabic alphabet after replacing it with latin, with minor additions. he also simplified the rules of the language and deleted many of the vocabulary that he considered foreign to it.
4. ataturk introduced a set of legal and judicial reforms, abolished old traditional laws, and established a new civil judicial system, in a european spirit.
5. he carried out comprehensive economic reforms, implemented the turkish economic modernization program, issued a series of economic laws, and encouraged industry and trade.
6. ataturk also implemented comprehensive social reforms, including demolishing all sharia courts, issuing laws that were completely equal between the sexes, and reforming the family system. he prohibited men and women from wearing their old-fashioned attire, and prohibited wearing the hijab. he also comprehensively modernized life in turkey, paving the way for what türkiye has become today.
the area of turkey is 800 thousand square kilometers, and its population is 85 million. we do not number more than one and a half million, and our land area does not exceed 18 thousand square kilometers.
however, during the past five years, we have failed to advance a single step in any field, and we have even failed to pave a few kilometers of state roads, education has continued its fatal deterioration for half a century, to the point that it has become a burden that no one wants to approach, and this has turned it into an impossible task, and thus it has become outside the priorities of any government. our educational and cultural situation is disastrous, and despite the government’s recent good moves, in more than one direction, and this is what we should thank it for, they are much less than what is required and much slower than they should be. time is not on our side and history will not be kind to us, so what do we do?