Mustafa Kemal Atatürk echoes..
The President of a nation is a mirror of that nation. You can roughly see the nation’s traces on that man/woman. Mustafa Kemal Atatürk created the modern Turkish Republic and I see myself inhim too.
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk was a great commander and politician with great knowledge and vision. He created the Turkey as we know now and established the republic. On the 21th century, we need people like him on Turkey and World now more than ever. I loved his saying “When my sayings conflict with current science, follow science.” He was never a selfish person and follow the ways of science. We can learn from him very much with examples below.
Educating the Inferior Managers
“Everyone has different tastes. Some like gardening, and planting flowers. Some people like educating humans. A person who plants does not wait for something from the plant. That must be the case for people who educate people” stated Atatürk.
Ismet İnönü, which was a commander in the army said “I can’t” to Atatürk [1]. Atatürk answered with “You can, you will”. It was a lesson that İsmet İnönü can never forget. While educating people, we must be like Atatürk. We must be patient and forgiving to them. Plants need water and patience to blossom. The same thing applies to persons.
Being Science-Oriented
“Do not be afraid to talk truth”
“ We will take science wherever it is and put it into the public’s head.” [1]
These can be cliche to you. However, we cannot hear any of these sentences from the people who hold the power. Science is very important for every country.
We had two big earthquakes in Turkey on February 2023. While some buildings did not collapse, some building stands. Journalists say that 80 percent of Hatay’s building collapsed. But the other 20 percent? They did not collapse because of science, using proper tools, concrete, and architecture that fits the science.
Science must be our guide in every section of our life. We are not rational entities. We are guided by our emotions. However, we must acknowledge that and try to decrease the emotional guidance.
Being Prepared
Atatürk always prepared for his wars and his guests. Niyazi Ahmet Banoğlu said that in his memory [1]. He was a journalist who was with Atatürk when Iran Shah came to Turkey. He tells that, Iran Shah’s son was in Switzerland for education. Atatürk knew that and while his visit, and said “Do you want to speak with your son?”. After that, he puts Shah’s son on to telephone and gave to Shah. Shah said, “Brother, you beat me. I have never been so happy in my life than this”.
Japan’s crown prince was in Turkey. Atatürk suddenly starts to talk about Japanese mythology and a pitched battles. Japan’s crown prince was very surprised about this. Atatürk learned these before 10 days Japanese crown prince visit.
Gaining the Habit of Listening
“There is only benefit from warning each other, criticising each other. There will be no harm from this. But, there will be harm from the contrary.” [1]
Atatürk was very keen to listen, an expert person. He was quick to learn from books and an expert person. He has never become a tyrant who only listens to himself. He always gathers expert persons on the subject and listens to them. This was a very important habit during his government time.
Being Determined to Target
During Italy set its eyes on the Mediterranean shores of Turkey, Italy’s ambassador came to Turkey to talk with Atatürk. He came to say Mussolini’s allegations. After some listening, Atatürk go to another room and came with his military uniform, and said “We can talk whatever you want Mr. Ambassador.” Ambassador was scared of Atatürk and the Turkish people of course [1].
Although this can be seen as a tyrannical attitude toward the ambassador, it shows the determination of Atatürk. Because Turkey was seen easy feat for the European countries, Atatürk showed great determination while creating the Republic of Turkey.
We can learn very much from Atatürk. He was a great commander at 20th century and his ideas echoes even now. His science orientation behavior, his ideas must be implemented to democracies even now. Maybe, Democracy is not the best way to rule, but it is best way to improve ruling.
References
[1] A. N. Baykal, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk’ün Liderlik Sırları, İstanbul: Humanist Yayınları, 2022.
