Ataturk in Ankara: Veneration of the Victors

Ankara is the capital of Turkey and it’s second largest city. The Mausoleum of Kemal Ataturk is located here. The Mausoleum is the sole reason our tour group went to Ankara.

In 1923, Ataturk successfully gained control of Turkey with it’s original borders. As the first president of Turkey, he embarked upon a journey of reform. He discarded Islamic law, made wearing a fez illegal, discouraged the veil for women, replaced Arabic script with the Latin alphabet, closed down religious schools, and outlawed Sufism. This was intended to make Turkey a modern state.

Turkey is often contrasted with France, where religious garments have also been outlawed. The difference is that France outlawed the religious garments of minority religions, while Ataturk took steps to limit the outward religious appearance of the majority religion.

Ataturk also organized a population exchange with Greece, trading Greek Christians in Turkey for Turkish Muslims in Greece. This bizarre exchange was done to prevent future religious and ethnic conflict.

Today, Ataturk is praised as a hero. His nickname Ataturk even means “Father of Turkey,” yet I imagine that he was not a popular figure during the eras of reforms when he was dictatorially telling people how to dress, speak, act, and even write. But today he’s lauded for having the foresight to repress tradition and usher in modernity in a way that often sets Turkey apart from other Middle Eastern countries.

But what was lost, I can’t help but wonder, in doing so?

As we wandered the Mausoleum and museum, it felt strangely Roman. Not in design, but in sentiment. In Ancient Rome, past Caesars were worshipped as gods. This enormous monument and the veneration in our guide’s voice as he spoke of Ataturk held a similar resonance. It was a bit disturbing to view the abject worship of a man that I consider a dictator.

Then a group of elementary-aged school children walked by on a field trip. And I realized several things very quickly. First, I’m on the outside-looking-in here in Turkey. Ataturk means nothing to me, which is why I can regard this enormous monument as a little creepy and his actions as heavy-handed and authoritarian. Second, the US has many monuments to past presidents, the most similar to Ataturk’s Mausoleum being the Lincoln Memorial. But, because I grew up learning about, respecting, and venerating the President who created the Emancipation Declaration, it’s normal. I didn’t feel any disquiet when visiting the Lincoln Memorial even though it’s just a Roman in it’s design and sentiment of glorification.

Of course, there are differences between Ataturk and Lincoln, but there are some strong similarities too. Both were hard-headed, taking actions that a lot of people disagreed with. I mean, Lincoln started a war. So, how can I stand here in Turkey and judge these people for their devotion and glorification of someone who seems pretty overbearing when looking at other historical figures (both American and otherwise) from an outside perspective reveals much of the same? Some of the greatest leaders across history tilted heavily toward the dictatorial side of the spectrum. But when you agree with the dictator, when you read and learn the history shaped by the dictator, of course you don’t view the person as dictatorial–instead, you see a hero.