Atatürk's Reforms: Realization of a Utopia by a Realist

Abstract

Atatürk's Reforms: Realization of a Utopia by a Realist

Abstract

Abdullah Cevdet, a well-known Turkish writer of the
beginning of the century, believed, as did many others, that
"There is no second civilization; civilization means European
civilization, and it must be imported with batlı its roses and
thorns".1
According to him, the rulers of the Ottoman Empire had
to abandon the policy of "half-way" borrowings and try to
adopt so-called Western civilization. In other words, Turkey
had no other way out, but to integrate herself thoroughly into
European civilization. A series of articles (**) that appeared
in his periodical İçtihad in 1912 under the title "A Very Wakeful
Sleep" (Pek Uyanık Bir Uyku), described a visionary view of
the future for the country that certainly must have appeared
fantastic to his contemporaries. The reverie contained such revolutionary novelties as :  

Keywords

• Atatürk
• Realization
• Utopia