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Social Reforms
"The major
challenge facing us is to elevate our national life to the
highest level of civilization and prosperity."
Atatürk's aim
was to modernize Turkish life in order to give his nation a new
sense of dignity, equality, and happiness. After more than three
centuries of high achievement, the Ottoman Empire had declined
from the 17th to the early 20th Century: With Sultans presiding
over a social and economic system mired in backwardness, the
Ottoman state had become hopelessly outmoded for the modern
times. Atatürk resolved to lead his country out of the crumbling
past into a brave new future.
In his program of modernization,
secular government and education played a major role. Making
religious faith a matter of individual conscience, he created a
truly secular system in Turkey, where the vast Moslem majority
and the small Christian and Jewish minorities are free to
practice their faith. As a result of Atatürk's reforms, Turkey -unlike
scores of other countries- has fully secular institutions.
The leader of modern Turkey
aspired to freedom and equality for all. When he proclaimed the
Republic, he announced that " the new Turkish State is a
state of the people and a state by the people." Having
established a populist and egalitarian system, he later observed:
"We are a nation without classes or special privileges."
He also stressed the paramount importance of the peasants, who
had long been neglected in the Ottoman times: " The true
owner and master of Turkey is the peasant who is the real
producer."
To give his nation a modern
outlook, Atatürk introduced many reforms: European hats replaced
the fez; women stopped wearing the veil; all citizens took
surnames; and the Islamic calendar gave way to the Western
calendar. A vast transformation took place in the urban and
rural life. It can be said that few nations have ever
experienced anything comparable to the social change in
Atatürk's Turkey.
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REVULATIONS