The Image of Atatürk and the Construction of an Identity through Memories
Abstract
In this paper, an attempt will be made to create an image of Atatürk and an identity thesis through Mustafa Kemal, by making use of memories about Mustafa Kemal.
It is a fact that Mustafa Kemal Atatürk's military genius, determination, modernist structure and being a leader who could read the future well played a huge role in the establishment of the Republic of Turkey. So much so that, while it was a great success to first wage a great war of independence against the invaders in order to build a new nation-state from the collapsed empire, after this success innovative and westernist style that stepped into a new world immediately was a very driving force in the shaping of established Republic of Turkey. XIX. While Ottoman intellectuals, who tried to find a place within their own conditions in the changing world since the 19th century, made efforts to keep up with the new world by taking steps towards progress, the changes targeted by this "progress" remained quite shallow within. However, these steps towards "progress" undoubtedly opened the door to the formation of a more forward-looking structure. In this opened door, a new mind and a soldier beyond his time was growing, and this soldier was Mustafa Kemal. It is very difficult to express and explain Mustafa Kemal's personality structure and all his achievements separately. Therefore, when evaluating Mustafa Kemal, it would be more accurate to evaluate him from a holistic perspective.
There will be an evaluation of understanding and expression of Mustafa Kemal's personality, character and works based on a whole within this holistic structure. Mustafa Kemal's total evaluation of the memories we will give it will be explained under three headings in this paper.
In this context, it would be more accurate to express this mixture as the "Republic", which emerges from the combination of the perfection in his intelligence, the sincerity in his reformist and innovative structure, and the belonging and nobility found only in superior souls. After a great military success, organizing the entire Turkish nation together in the War of Independence, reading and interpreting the conditions of the time well, and also making deep observations were among the characteristics that made Mustafa Kemal one and unique. Having a real point of view and following a rational road map made Mustafa Kemal one of the 20th century leaders in military, diplomacy and statesmanship, He even made the greatest leader. So much so that Lord Kinross mentions that Mustafa Kemal created the power he wanted since his youth in a pattern due to the characteristics we mentioned above. It is worth noting that these characteristics of Mustafa Kemal should be interpreted as characterizing a total leader.
The first title in the three pillars is his intelligence and the perception of progress and innovation interpreted by his intelligence. The first title in the three pillars is his intelligence and the perception of progress and innovation interpreted by his intelligence. Therefore we see the emphasis on Mustafa Kemal's eyes and gaze, which is a physical feature, is explained as giving away Mustafa Kemal's intelligence in most of the memoirs. When we look at the second heading, we see his revolutionary and reformist structure, which shows that Mustafa Kemal has been in a contemporary, modern, democratic new management approach within the changing world with the developments in Europe for a long time. In other words, Europe's Industrial Revolution and industrialization, and the new social structures and cities that came with industrialization, created a modernist perception of life for Mustafa Kemal. Another characteristic/third characteristic of Mustafa Kemal that we described, or rather discovered, in the paper is his nobility. In other words, it is the transformation of the value given to people into a way of seeing through administration. Instead of adopting an autocratic administration approach under the conditions of the period or maintaining his own authority through the sultanate, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk preferred an honorable life and deemed this honorable life worthy of the Turkish nation. For this honorable life, he has accepted the "Republic" as the basis for the nation-state.
When we gather together all the characteristics of the founding leader of the Republic of Turkey, that is, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, it will be a much more accurate expression to read the new Republic of Turkey established as "reformist humanity" rather than "reformist state". This perspective will bring a different interpretation to a founding leader Kemal Atatürk. Then this paper will try to evaluate how important determination and a stable/unbreakable will can be in creating a new system when Martin Heidegger's "the fact that crossing a river requires one to build a bridge to unite two shores" is evaluated through Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.
Keywords
ANILAR ÜZERİNDEN ATATÜRK İMGESİ VE BİR KİMLİK İNŞASI
Abstract
Hatırat/ anılar tarihsel veri olarak büyük bir önem taşımaktadır. İkinci gözün anlatımıyla üçüncü göze ulaşan bu bilgiler, doğruluğundan emin olunduğu takdirde derin tahliller ve analizler yapmak için oldukça mühim veriler sunmaktadır. Bu bakış açısı ile Mustafa Kemal’i anlamanın en iyi yollarından bir tanesi de onun yakınları tarafından yazılan hatırat ve anılarıdır.
Bu makalede Mustafa Kemal’in sahip olduğu bakış açısı, zekâsı ve hayatı kavrama şekli anılar üzerinden zekâ/reformist/cumhuriyet üçlemesi üzerinden hipotez kurularak anlatılmıştır. Dönemin ve zamanın şartlarını iyi okuyabilen ve bu şartlar içindeki bağları birbirine tamamlama yetisine sahip olan Mustafa Kemal’in ileri görüşlülüğü sayesinde, onun aslında Batı’yı ve Batı’daki gelişmeleri iyi anlamış bir gözlemci, bir asker ve bir lider olmaktan öte iyi bir zaman okuyucu olarak da öne çıkarmaktadır. Öyle ki bu durum onun yenilikçi, uygar, medeni ve reformist yapısını anlamamız için son derece mühimdir. Ancak bütün bu meziyetlerin total olarak bir anlam ifade etmesi onun sahip olduğu ruhsal doygunluğun bir otokrasi üzerinden değil de cumhuriyet üzerinden dışa vurumu şeklinde ortaya çıkmaktadır. Bu da Cumhuriyet üzerinden çağın ve dönemin gerekliliklerinin bir anlam bulması ve yaşam biçimi oluşturması anlamına gelmektedir.
Bu makale ile anılar üzerinden Mustafa Kemal Atatürk’ün karakter özellikleri, dönüştürücü liderliği ve Türk milletini çağdaşlaştırma hamleleri daha iyi anlaşılmasına katkı sunmak hedeflenmiştir.
Keywords
Supporting Institution
Bulunmamaktadır.
Ethical Statement
Çalışmada etik ihlal söz konusu değildir.
