Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (Biography & Leadership Traits)

Mustafa Kemal Ataturk was the founder and first President of the Republic of Turkey from 1923 until he died in 1938.

His surname, ‘Ataturk ‘, meaning the father of the Turks, was granted to him unani­mously by the Turkish government.

Early life and education of Atatürk

Mustafa was born in 1881 in a former Ottoman town called Selânik, now called Thessa­loniki, in modern-day Greece.

During childhood, his parents disagreed on which school to send him; his father, Ali Rıza Efendi, wanted him to attend a modern school, while his mother, Zübeyde Hanım, wanted him to go to a faith-based one.

In 1887, his mother got her way, and he attended a tradi­tional school; but after a short while, they sent him to the contem­porary Şemsi Efendi School instead.

The young Mustafa loved this school, and his teachers were happy to have him there. At this point, he got intro­duced to maths, where he excelled as an academic disci­pline.

In 1888, when little Mustafa was studying in this new school, his father passed away.

This tragic event led his mother and all three children to relocate to the Rapla farm in a village called Langaza, 20 km away from Selânik, where her brother Hüseyin lived.

Mustafa spent a few months at the farm, missing out on his education, but not after long, he returned to live with his aunt in Selânik and complete his primary school.

Once he finished at the Şemsi Efendi School, he briefly attended the Selanik Mülkiye School.

According to a 2008 documentary called ‘Mustafa’, also validated in an interview Ataturk conducted with a journalist on Vakit Newspaper (January 10, 1922):

Mustafa got beaten up by his Quran teacher, Kaymak Hafız Hoca, at the Selanik Mülkiye School. The Arabic teacher, went as far as leaving the eleven-year-old Ataturk’s entire body covered in blood.

The young Mustafa was left distraught, declaring to his mother that he wouldn’t go to that school anymore, adding, “Send me to a military academy.”

His mother tried to prevent him, but eventually, he went against her wishes and enrolled anyway.

The history of Ataturk’s military career in chronological order

In 1893, at age 12, the young Mustafa undertook his first form of rebellion by joining the Selanik Askeri Rüştiyesi, an imperial military school of the Ottoman Empire.

Mustafa impressed the captains there with his abilities that they almost felt the need to treat him as a friend. He was even made to teach some lessons instead of studying them, which helped build his confi­dence.

Commander Mustafa Efendi, a mathe­matics teacher at this school, added the name “Kemal” to the end of his student’s name as a distinction. Thus, the name Mustafa Kemal emerged.

In 1895, Mustafa Kemal advanced to a military boarding college called Manastır Askeri İdadisi.

In 1899, he completed his education at the high school and joined the Military and War Academy in Istanbul, which still survives.

In 1905, he graduated as a senior-grade lieutenant. According to Baron Kinross, there are physical files inside the National Presi­dential Archives in Ankara; Mustafa spent around three months in a military prison with his friend Ali Fuad and two others before gradu­ating.

Their so-called “crime” was to be a newspaper’s founding directors, writers, and distrib­utors with nation­al­istic views about an Independent Turkey from as early as 1904.

They also got inter­ro­gated (roughly) and inves­ti­gated for accusa­tions of conspiring a coup d’état against Sultan Abdul Hamid II.

As further punishment, their first deployment was to the Fifth Army in Damascus, Syria. This placement was inten­tionally far from every­thing they ever knew, where they spent around two years.

In 1907, Ataturk got assigned to the Third Army in Macedonia.

In 1908, the Young Turk Revolution, which origi­nated from the same military division in Macedonia, estab­lished a consti­tu­tional government against Abdül­hamid II, the author­i­tarian sultan.

Following the revolution, Ataturk spent 1909 to 1911 close to home in Eastern Thrace, serving the newly estab­lished government as the Chief of Staff, thwarting revolts and managing incidents.

In 1911, Ataturk served at the Battle of Tripoli against the Italian army, which was there to conquer Libya.

In 1912, he contributed to the Balkan Wars on the side of the Ottoman Empire, which ended in 1913, and was one of the many signif­icant events leading to World War I.

In 1914, Ataturk got promoted to Lieutenant Colonel, while Britain, France, and Russia declared war on the Ottoman Empire.

Until 1916, he served at Edirne.

In 1917, he was promoted to an overall commanding officer of the Ninth Army after he declined to establish a new command.

In the same year, he replaced Fevzi Pasha and became the general of the Ottoman alliance with Germany.

The last service that Ataturk offered to the Ottoman troop was ensuring that the army returned home when they got left out in the south.

In 1919, Mustafa resigned from the Ottoman army and went to Anatolia to lead a nation­alist revolution.

The revolu­tion­aries were organised to resist settlement by the Entente Powers, which intended to seize Smyrna (Izmir) and other Turkish lands.

Ataturk secured an amendment to the peace agreement when he later gained victory over the invading Greek army.

In 1921, Mustafa came up with a provi­sional government in Ankara.

The Ottoman Empire was abolished in 1922.

In 1923, Marshall Mustafa Kemal’s rebellion made way for the founding of the Republic of Turkey.

Atatürk’s Connection to Freemasonry

The history of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk’s associ­ation with Freema­sonry has been a topic of inter­na­tional public interest.

Proper research and documen­tation are crucial to under­standing the real version of history. This section sheds light on Atatürk’s connec­tions with various Masonic lodges based on infor­mation found in physical archives at the Grand Orient of France (GODF) headquarters in Paris.

Atatürk was known to be a member of the Veritas Lodge of the Grand Orient of France and the Macedonia Resorta Lodge of the Grand Orient of Italy. This infor­mation is not based on conspiracy theories but is sourced from GODF archives trans­lated from French.

Furthermore, Atatürk was associated with La Renais­sance Lodge, affil­iated with the Young Turks movement. This infor­mation is a histor­i­cally proven fact across various publi­ca­tions, including those found in the United Grand Lodge of England (UGLE) archives.

Atatürk was also involved with Vatan ve Hürriyet, a clandestine society that, although illegal by Masonic standards, adopted Masonic methods and had other Masonic members.

Symbolic evidence supports this claim. It is important to note there was no mutual amity between the UGLE and GODF. This lack of recog­nition is evident in the relationship between Winston Churchill (UGLE) and Atatürk (GODF), who did not consider each other as brethren.

When Atatürk banned Freema­sonry in Turkey, it was the UGLE, not the GODF, that was affected. The two organ­i­sa­tions later recon­ciled their differ­ences.

It is crucial to clarify that Freema­sonry itself, as a fraternity, was never involved in any wars. Individual members have always been free to make decisions in their own lives, like any other public member.

A lesser-known historical fact is that the Turkish National Movement (Türk Ulusal Hareketi), the political and military management arm of Kuva-yı Milliye, origi­nally featured a Masonic symbol on its flag.

In 1923, after estab­lishing the Republic of Turkey, the movement merged into the Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi (CHP).

In summary, a deeper under­standing of Atatürk’s associ­ation with Freema­sonry provides valuable insights into the historical context of his life and political career.

How did Ataturk rise to power?

Mustafa Kemal Ataturk’s rise to power began in 1914 when he was entrusted with commanding the 57th infantry division at the front line of the Battle of Gallipoli.

In 1915, he solid­ified his reputation as a national hero by antic­i­pating the position in which the Allies of World War I would attack.

He then risked it all by rebelling and going against military commands to success­fully defend his country against the Dardanelles attack, causing the Ottoman side to triumph in that battle.

During the onslaught, Ataturk issued the following command to his soldiers:

I am not ordering you to attack, I order you to die! In the time which passes until we die, other forces and commanders may take our place!

One of the most detailed accounts of Ataturk’s biography is entitled ‘Atatürk: The Rebirth of a Nation ‘by Baron Kinross;

Patrick Kinross was educated at Balliol College, Oxford, after which he became a journalist. During World War II, he was posted as an intel­li­gence officer to the Middle East and later served as a press counsellor at the British Embassy in Cairo. His travels through the Levant resulted in many books, including Within the Taurus and Europa Minor. Repeated visits to Turkey led to the publi­ca­tions of Ataturk in 1964 and to The Ottoman Centuries, which he finished just before he died in 1976.

According to statistics on the Government of New Zealand’s website, there was an estimated total of 392,856 casualties from both sides of the Battle of Gallipoli.

Looking back at the Gallipoli campaign, Winston Churchill said:

I am feeling the defeat in my whole veins right now. I am very upset. I was quite happy and hopeful. Up until yesterday, I was saying ‘Dardanelles is ours’. Because to win this war; military, finance, ammunition, I took every­thing into account. We were much superior in all of them. We were certainly going to prevail. Only we did not take one thing into account, Mustafa Kemal Pasha. If I did not have British pride in my bosom, I would want to applaud the Turks and give them a standing ovation.

Why is Atatürk so important?

When Gazi Mustafa Kemal Pasha uncovered that the Three Pashas of the newly re-estab­lished Ottoman Empire was colluding with other empires, he told them he would travel to Anatolia.

As soon as Mustafa arrived at his first desti­nation, the port of Samsun (May 19, 1919), he did the opposite by telling the concerned Turkish people about the situation and preparing for a war of indepen­dence.

He was given the death penalty in absentia by the recently re-estab­lished Ottoman Empire after officially declaring the war of indepen­dence through the Amasya Circular (June 20, 1919), but they couldn’t capture him.

Ataturk was a patriot who bet against the odds of simul­ta­ne­ously going to war with multiple empires and nations. Yet the Turkish people won, and he became the first President of Turkey.

He founded a party regime which was free from any conflict until the year 1945.

On March 24, 1923, ‘Mustapha’ Kemal Ataturk was featured on the front page of TIME Magazine.

In 1925, Ataturk gave a speech where he said that the people of Turkey are democ­ratic and that the people of the United States of America are their allies.

In this video, Ataturk stated:

Turkish people have a deep and powerful fondness for American people” and should “keep the world at peace through a mutual alliance.”

He noted that he was confident the USA felt the same way.

There is some proba­bility Ataturk drew inspi­ration from George Washington, from his days as a teen at military school studying the American Revolu­tionary War, to when he became the Turkish equiv­alent as an adult.

Both America and Turkey shared a mutual antag­onist during their wars of indepen­dence, namely the British Empire.

In later years, Ataturk himself inspired ensuing leaders who heard about his story to aspire towards anti-colonialism and liberty; especially Mahatma Gandhi, who famously said:

Until Mustafa Kemal defeated the British, we thought even God was an Englishman.

As the President of Turkey, Ataturk estab­lished a political and social re-organ­i­sation of his nation.

These reforms included the elimi­nation of Islamic insti­tutes, the intro­duction of Latin scripts, and the liber­ation of women. He also estab­lished strong relations with neigh­bouring states.

On November 10, 1938, Ataturk died from Liver Cirrhosis.

The twenty leadership characteristics of Ataturk

1. Broad thinking

Ataturk was a skilful military and political leader.

His broad thinking is evident from some of his accom­plish­ments in the military, like antic­i­pating the position where his enemies would attack.

He also got entrusted with challenging assign­ments where he performed well, getting many promo­tions.

Being Turkey’s first President during a signif­icant trans­for­mation required him to be a critical leader.

In 1919, he launched a revolu­tionary defensive war against antag­o­nistic empires, even though the Ottoman pasha’s opposed it.

2. Outstanding communications

When making important decisions, he consulted other leaders.

Ataturk success­fully shared his religious beliefs, goals, and amend­ments with his followers.

For instance, when making decisions about religious reforms, he met with some of the most influ­ential spiritual leaders of the time at the Râşid Efendi Manuscript Library.

He even got them all to agree on national unity over every­thing else, regardless of any future disagree­ments or policies.

In case Hoca Rasit needed more persuasion, General Fevzi, who had strong Islamic stands, was referred to him.

More so, Ataturk reached other soldiers, villagers, artisans and ordinary people.

3. Effective persuasion

Ataturk convinced his followers and his close friends to support him in achieving his objec­tives.

He estab­lished a new and revolu­tionised Turkey by convincing her people.

He strate­gi­cally shared how imple­menting reforms would make the nation better than before.

He could create hope, confi­dence, and courage so his followers could fight alongside him, even if some opposed his ideas.

He achieved what most people thought was impos­sible through his power to convince people.

4. Self-assertion

Ataturk convinced people that culture and civil­i­sation were synonymous.

He was able to counter Ziya Gokalp, who was a Turkish ideol­ogist on nation­alism.

Gokalp believed there was a distinction between culture, which he thought was born out of religion, and civil­i­sation, which he felt was a product of global universal science.

Mustafa insisted that his friends modernise their lavatories and that the servers be trained modernly. He derived his assertive nature from his mother and military school.

5. Open-mindedness

Ataturk believed that acquiring knowledge was the main recipe for survival.

His past influ­enced his thinking. He invested a lot in knowledge to remedy the shortage of skills and infor­mation in his country at the time.

He valued civil­i­sation greatly, and the only way Turkey could survive its process was through acquiring knowledge.

He could acquire merchants and profes­sionals who could run the Republic as it reached moderni­sation.

He also believed that civil­i­sation would drive away what he called a “dark cloud of general ignorance.”

6. Transformational leadership

Ataturk believed in change.

He changed the Arabic alphabet to Latin in Turkey, which forced the people of Turkey to learn a new language.

He also declared that Turkey was a state separate from the Muslim religion. He closed Islamic insti­tutes, allowed alcohol and granted prayer in Turkish instead of Arabic.

Also, he allowed women to wear dresses or jeans and access education, which was not allowed before his leadership.

He also acted as a trans­for­ma­tional leader by changing a remnant of the Ottoman Empire to a secular republic.

7. Continual performance

One could observe Ataturk’s steady nature through the endless energy he committed to his career.

He consis­tently fought against political forces that led to the Ottoman Empire’s crumbling.

He also worked tirelessly in all assign­ments entrusted to him.

As a result, he served success­fully in every chain of command, operation and defensive battle assigned to him.

Winston Churchill also referred to him as “a Man of Destiny.”

8. Game-changing

One of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk’s main accom­plish­ments that enabled Turkey to exist was forming a non-expan­sionist force.

He aimed to defend Turkish lands from the aggression of simul­ta­neous attacks on multiple fronts from Entente Powers. These attacks came from Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand, Italy, Greece, France, and Russia, to name a few, and yet he still succeeded.

In 1919, the Ottoman government issued a death penalty in absentia to Ataturk because he released the Amasya Circular, which put the Turkish War of Indepen­dence into effect.

Even King Edward VIII of England once kissed Mustafa Kemal Ataturk’s hand.

Ataturk succeeded against the odds, replacing the strongest partition of the crumbling Ottoman Empire, divided by colonial forces before his eyes, with a Turkish republic.

This break­through required him to face many opposi­tions plus change many rules & regula­tions that were stringent in legal, economic, political, social and cultural fields.

9. Decision-making

Ataturk faced many critics in his time, and because of this, he adopted an executive form of military leadership.

The chances are that he could not be successful if he were slow at decision-making.

This leadership style allowed him to make fast decisions and implement measures immedi­ately and deter­minedly.

Many adverse condi­tions existed in Turkey; therefore, he was a quick thinker who knew there was little or no time for compromise building.

10. Loyal patriot

Ataturk trusted and cherished his associates.

His close friends respected and were loyal to him in every signif­icant step of his life.

Some of them included Fevzi Cakmak, the Chief of Staff; Ismet Inonu, the Prime Minister; and Kâzım Fikri Özalp, the Minister of Defence.

These friends supported his leadership ideologies, while Ataturk supported them and carried out common ideals so that they could realise their potential.

For every leader in a business or a political forum to succeed, they must have close associates who support them in their endeavours.

11. Confident innovativeness

Ataturk had extra­or­dinary objec­tives for his people and his country.

He believed in something greater than himself.

Throughout his life, he was a results-oriented person with ambitions of enabling his country to reach the highest level of moderni­sation.

Not only was he intel­ligent, but he was also deter­mined, reformist, fearless, and curious.

In the late Ottoman period, when his empire was deteri­o­rating, he aimed to revolu­tionise his renewed country and make it great.

His vision was to ensure a modern and secular Turkish republic, which became a reality due to his visionary insight.

12. Unconditional altruism

Throughout his reign, Ataturk worked for the good of the country and its people.

He worked unselfishly for his dreams and was able to accom­plish most of them at a tender age.

Most people and his followers gained from his achieve­ments.

By changing the Arabic alphabet to Latin letters, he enabled people to become literate more quickly.

As a result, more people became well-educated during his reign.

He also made a profound impact by imple­menting Westernised legal systems like commerce codes, civil codes and new legis­lation.

13. Unshakeable libertarianism

Ataturk fought tirelessly against the Entente Powers and affil­iated armies, who were on a mission to colonise his motherland and split the spoils between each other.

More so, he enacted laws that were free from gender discrim­i­nation, opening the way for women to hold positions of power in all sectors of society, including the government, business, and military.

This gender-equality initiative led thousands of coura­geous women, including Fatma Seher Erden, Şerife Bacı, Hafız Selman İzbeli, and Tayyar Rahmiye, amongst others, to contribute as military leaders during the Turkish War of Indepen­dence.

The equality laws brought forth by Ataturk allowed women to get an education and dress freely.

More so, he ensured that women had equal rights with those of men across every facet of society.

Women were also allowed to end divorce at their discretion.

He believed in moderni­sation, which made Turkey free from stringent rules.

14. Real peacemaking

Ataturk adopted the policy of having peace at home and in the world.

Additionally, he inspired other leaders who were in other Muslim countries.

He estab­lished relations with the neigh­bouring nations during his reign to ensure their harmony.

More so, he had an enemy, Eleft­herios Venizelos, who later became his ally and nominated him for the Nobel Peace Award.

Furthermore, King Edward VIII of the United Kingdom eventually became his friend.

He was rational in his decisions and did not take sides at any moment.

Atatürk clearly stated that he believed in a supreme being but did not have a religion.

15. Inspirational guidance

One could observe Ataturk’s courage from his fights in battle.

He led the Gallipoli campaign. He was always at the frontline wheeling guns, sending his troops to battles where they had little chance of surviving.

To achieve indepen­dence, he fought with his army to achieve victory.

He also declined to change his army when he was the commander.

He relocated his division to Conkbayiri despite having no approval from the headquarters, which led to military success and his promotion.

16. Wise managing

Not every decision made by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk was for his gain but for the sake of Turkey.

He was also strict and loyal to his virtues.

Some ideas that motivated him included devel­oping Turkey as a national power and trans­forming it into a liberal country.

New ideas included achieving a good standard of living for her people and moving towards a liberal political and economic status.

More so, he was not distracted by the lost provinces of The Ottoman Empire in Europe and Asia.

17. Determined visionary

Ataturk described himself as a successful person in his speeches.

He was also deter­mined to ensure that Turkey got her indepen­dence when he devised a war strategy that balanced military and political aspects in alignment with changing situa­tions.

He created a national assembly and gained nationwide support for fighting for indepen­dence.

Despite unfavourable circum­stances, he fought for freedom against five estab­lished nations simul­ta­ne­ously without being distracted by political or resource limita­tions and came out victo­rious.

18. Rational polymathy

Well-grounded logic and generous patronage were rare traits at the time.

Ataturk’s wise and philan­thropic attitude was rare. He could decide from a rational point of view instead of a religious point of view. However, he appre­ciated the differ­ences that other people had.

Some of his close companions, like Ahmet Izzet and Ismet Inonu, were confirmed religious people.

More so, his friends carried a Quran every­where they went. However, Mustafa ensured that religion did not get in the way of Turkey’s devel­opment.

19. Smart planning

Ataturk outlined clear rules that would govern his nation.

Some of the just, upright and free principles that guided his leadership included a decla­ration of the public, abolishing the caliphate, wearing hats, and elimi­nating the ministry in charge of religious activ­ities.

In terms of organ­i­sation, he set out both theoretical and practical rules and regula­tions.

More so, he stated that no opposition could ever affect the fate of the Turkish Republic.

Other principles included building infra­struc­tures such as railways, unifying production, modifying the tax on agricul­tural products, and much more.

20. Enlightened flexibility

Ataturk’s flexi­bility could be observed when he tried to consult his fellow leaders on some reforms.

He did not assume a despot kind of leadership but a friendly attitude with an open mind towards the notions provided by resis­tance.

As the Turkish War of Indepen­dence went on, he supported his troops and encouraged them to win.

He also promoted a way of moderni­sation in his country that allowed everyone to leave their old ways and be more flexible.

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