Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (1881-1938)
“Founder of Turkish Republic & First President of Turkey”
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk was born in the Ottoman city of Salonika in the spring of 1881.Ali Rıza Efendi his father, Zübeyde Hanım his mother. Born as Mustafa, his second name Kemal (meaning Perfection or Maturity) was given to him by his mathematics teacher in recognition of his academic excellence. In his early years, his mother encouraged Mustafa to attend a religious school though a reluctant Mustafa completed only a brief period of study there. Due to a disagreement with one of the teachers, he left the school and he took an exam to attend the military junior school. He later graduated from War Acedemy in 1905. After his graduation in 1905, he was assigned to Damascus as a lieutenant. In 1914, the Ottoman Empire entered World War I on the side of the Central Powers and engaged the Allies in the Middle Eastern theatre. Mustafa Kemal was given the task of organizing and commanding the 19th Division attached to the 5th Army during the Battle of Gallipoli. The Gallipoli campaign became a disastrous defeat for the Allies. Mustafa Kemal became the outstanding front-line commander after correctly anticipating where the Allies would attack and holding his position until they retreated. On 19 May 1919, he departed from the Ottoman capital to Samsun (a city on the Black Sea coast. The first goal in his mind was the establishment of an organised national resistance movement against the occupying forces. In June 1919, he and his close friends declared that the independence of the country was in danger. He resigned from the Ottoman Army on 8 July and the Ottoman government issued a warrant for his arrest. Later, he was condemned to death. The ensuing Battle of Sakarya was fought from 23 August to 13 September 1921 and ended with the defeat of the Greeks. The Allies, ignoring the extent of Kemal's successes, hoped to impose a modified version of the Sèvres treaty as a peace settlement on Ankara, but Kemal rejected their proposal. In August 1922, Kemal launched an all-out attack on the Greek lines at Afyonkarahisar in a final conflict, the Battle of Dumlupınar.The Treaty of Lausanne ended the Turkish War of Independence and recognized the new nation's independence. On 24 July 1923, the Treaty of Lausanne was signed. The final outcome of the independence war came with the proclamation of the Republic of Turkey on 29 October 1923.
