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“THE UNKNOWN TURKS”

BY CLARENCE K. STREIT

11/6/2012

Observations of an American journalist who visited Turkey from January to March, 1921, and interviewed Mustafa Kemal Paşa in Ankara.

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A presentation for the special occasion of

"COMMEMORATION OF ATATURK."

By: Ergun KIRLIKOVALI, President, ATAA, Washington DC

11/6/2012

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An event jointly organized by CUTSA (Chapman University Turkish Student Association )

&ATASC (Association of Turkish Americans of Southern California)

( Mustafa Kemal Paşa adorning the cover of time twice:

March 24, 1923 and February 21, 1927 )

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Simultaneously Presented at: Chapman University, Orange, CA

and Georgia Tech in Atlanta on November 10, 2012

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“Appreciating Atatürk’s reforms”through the eyes of an American journalist

Meet Clarence K. Streit

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Born January 21, 1896

Died July 6, 1986 (90 yrs old)

Occupation war correspondent

Alma mater

University of Montana

The Sorbonne, France

Oxford University , England

Notable work(s)

Atlanticist, Union Now

Worked for Philadelphia

Public Ledger and later, the

New York Times

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Now that you know the journalist, our story can start.

In 1983, prominent scholar Heath Lowry, professor of History at Princeton University, gets a phone call from a young Turkish diplomat , a former student of his. The diplomat says he had recently met a most remarkable man who had traveled to Ankara at the height of Turkish War of Independence and interviewed Mustafa Kemal Paşa (Atatürk after 1934). His name was Clarence K. Streit and he had written an unpublished manuscript.

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Journalist with the Philadelphia Public Ledger sets sail from Istanbul to Samsun in January

1921.

On his way to Ankara, the Nationalists’ Headquarters.

(He later becomes a well known figure promoting Atlantic Federalism, the precursor of NATO.)

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A perilous journey: winter travel through wartime Anatolia

Streit travels through Samsun, to Merzifon, Corum, Alac, Yozgat, Yahsihan and finally Ankara. Along the way, he stays in adobe-hut villages, towns, guest houses, and hans. In Ankara he is given a room first at Liberty Hotel, which is large enough to hold two single beds with windows containing several broken panes, in the dead of freezing winter. A few days later. He gets a room at Constitution Hotel, the best hotel in town, where he kept a rug on the window to stop the wind, but not the snow...

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Streit, the daring American journalist, interviews many Turks along the way and files many reports with his newspaper during his January-March visit to Anatolia. But his biggest catch, no doubt, is his interviewing Mustafa Kemal Paşa.Takes a snapshot of Anatolia in 1921

Comparing that snapshot with today’s Anatolia should give anyone an honest appreciation of Ataturk’s reforms

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Thanks to Prof. Lowry, who agreed to publish Streit’s manuscript…

…you can now read all about those exciting winter travels through Anatolia and the reports Streit filed with his newspaper. Due to limited time here, I cannot go into details. What I will try to do in the next few minutes is to present to you those incredible reforms that took Turkey from the ashes of a collapsed empire and brought it to the 16th largest economy in the world in just 89 years, with a track record of Westernization that made it a candidate for membership to European Union. 11/6/2012

Today, we respectfully remember one of the greatest leaders this world has seen, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, who was born in Ottoman Salonika in 1881 and passed away in Istanbul, Turkey, in 1938.

After leading the Turkish people to independence from the occupying forces, following the Ottoman defeat in 1919, and establishing the Turkish Republic in 1923, Atatürk forged a cultural, social, educational, political and economic revolution that catapulted the Turkish Republic into the community of leading nations.

A dauntless soldier and a remarkable statesman…

. .

He lead the Turkish citizenry to build a republic on universal principles: equality, liberty and justice for all; religious freedom based on western secularity; the pursuit of happiness through democracy and liberal economy; and a citizenry based on nationality, a common language, and global cooperation for the common good.

a courageous reformer… Atatürk provided Turkey a

living, breathing body of law and personal code of conduct to adapt to modern times and to thrive and succeed.

Atatürk wanted the Turkish people to practice responsible civic engagement for the betterment of themselves, the country, and the world.

He wanted peace at home and in the world. He asked the Turks to always to accept the guidance of fact and reason, to carry themselves with confidence.

A dauntless teacher…He created a new alphabet – changing the number of letters from 425 to 29" – which enabled citizens to become literate. Atatürk gave utmost importance to children and youth whom he saw as the guardians of his reforms. For that purpose, he dedicated April 23rd to the Turkish Children and 19th of May to Turkish Youth, as early as 1920, the first of its kind and still one of the few countries which dedicate a day solely to children.

and a visionary …He emancipated women through reforms in education, laws, and even clothing, securing their right to vote which accounts for women’s equal share of power in Turkey today.

.

Faced with the wreckage of the Ottoman Empire in the 1919, Mustafa Kemal saw an impoverished peasant society that was 97 percent illiterate, weary of endless wars, and exhausted of

resources, and confused about the state of the empire.

The country was under military occupation by the allies. The opinion leaders in the Ottoman society of Istanbul seemed divided among mandate seekers only in whether from the US versus Britain, or even France. They saw mandate as the only way for the survival of the Ottoman dynasty and treated nationalists as dangerous anarchists and/or blasphemous

sinners.

A brilliant nation builder, Ataturk set about assembling a state meant to wrench his countrymen out of their…

BACKWARDNESS, POVERTY, AND BLIND SUBMISSION

…TO SUPERSTITION, CORRUPTION, AND THE CRUMBLING SULTANATE

The model for a new Turkish state, Mustafa Kemal believed, was to be found in the nations of Europe and the West, where modern

thought and reason had made the societies rich. "MY PEOPLE ARE GOING TO LEARN

THE PRINCIPLES OF DEMOCRACY, THE DICTATES OF TRUTH AND THE TEACHINGS OF SCIENCE,“ HE ARTICULATED .

Ataturk instituted radical secular reforms. Creating a new Latin alphabet, replacing Shariah with the Swiss civil code, criminalizing the wearing of the fez and traditional dress, and discouraging the

veil were intended to separate the state from religion. .

Bernard Lewis, a world renown scholar at Princeton University, and famous for his works on the history of the Ottoman

Empire, has this to say about Ataturk, in his book “What Went Wrong? The Clash Between Islam and Modernity in the Middle

East”, Oxford Univ. Press, New York,2002:

“ In a series of speeches delivered in early twenties, Ataturk argued eloquently for the full emancipation of women in the Turkish state and society. ‘ Our most urgent present task… is to catch up with the modern world. We shall not catch up with the modern world if we only modernize half the population.’ “

Since 1923, the system that Ataturk built has settled well and the principles behind it were deeply rooted into Turkish hearts and minds.

This brought Turkey up to levels of economic and social development on par with Europe. The secular establishment produced wealthy families who set up generously endowed private universities and museums. Turkey became largelyliterate and middle class. Consequently, Turkey is poised now to join Europe in what would be the fulfillment of Ataturk's vision.

Turkey today is a western style democracy with a free market system boasting the 16th largest economy in the

world

This dizzying performance can be the best answer to the critics of Ataturk who claim that Kemalism politically remained frozen in time.

If Kemalism is to pursue the modern and the contemporary, concepts which themselves change all the time, then how can Kemalism be considered to stagnate?

 Kemalism is about the new, the uncharted, the revolutionary,…

It is about breaking with taboos, dogmas, and customs, and embracing reason, facts, science, and laws,

on the way to democracy, secularity, peace, prosperity, and happiness. How can such a great ideal ever become obsolete?

To defend Ataturk's legacy today, therefore, one needs to work hard, excel at what one is doing, innovate, create, and be the best possible. Dogmas, fanaticism, ignorance,

indolence, blind submission, bigotry, sexism, micro-nationalism, imperialism, and many other such concepts are categorically rejected in Kemalism.

From a battle-scarred ruin to a regional power: Remember the phrase “Think like Ataturk” which has come to be said when attempting to solve an impossible problem? That is the spirit, mind, and reason behind Kemalism that is self-motivating, self-stimulating, and self-restarting. This “autolock” feature, an integral part of Kemalism, is what some Ataturk detractors fail to see…

Today, we honor the father of Turks and the founder of Turkey.Anitkabir is a magnificent and fitting monument to his memory.

ATAA delegation climbing the steps to reach Ataturk’s eternal resting place…

ATAA Laying the wreath, with help from two “Mehmetcik”s, to pay respects to the greatest

visionary of the 20th Century.

A profoundly moving moment for Turks around the world… “In Ata’s presence”

The republic you entrusted the Turkish youth will live

forever…