Principles of Atatürk

One of the fundamental principles of Kemalism is republicanism. To know why, it is first necessary to understand what a republic is.

A republic is a form of government. The first essential element of a republic is that the head of state is elected for a certain period of time. In this respect, a republic differs from a monarchy, in which the head of state is a monarch. In monarchies, the head of state comes from a certain family and, under normal circumstances, remains in office until death. He is replaced by another from the same family. In every monarchy, certain rules determine who will be the ruler from within the family. In a republic, when the head of state is elected for a certain period of time, other prominent people must also be elected. These are usually the people who will make laws in that society.

A republic is not a complete republic until it is recognized that both the head of state and those who have the power to legislate must be elected. The problem will now center on elections. Who will participate in the elections? If a certain group of citizens are given the right to vote and be elected, perhaps a republic may be encountered in terms of its outward appearance. Such republics were seen in the ancient Greek city-states and in some medieval Italian and German regions (such as the Venetian and Genoese republics, the Hanseatic cities). In such ancient republics, only a certain group of citizens had the right to participate in elections. They ruled the whole society on the basis of the elected staff they elected. According to our understanding today, such republics are not fit for purpose regimes. They are called aristocratic or oligarchic republics.

In other words, for the republican form to be realized in accordance with its purpose, every citizen of a certain age of maturity must participate in elections. Republics in this sense began to emerge with the founding of the United States of America and spread only after the great French Revolution. In fact, famous thinkers had already conceived and defined the republic in their minds long before. However, the practice emerged towards the end of the XIXth century. With the granting of the right to vote and be elected to all citizens and its implementation, a real republic was established and began to function. However, it is only possible to maintain this form of government in a better and deep-rooted way if elections are held under the conditions of democracy. The definition of democracy was given above, and a true republic is realized through democratic life.

The people who make up a nation and who belong to various professions and social groups are called the people. From this trend, the principle of populism is a necessary consequence of both
republicanism and nationalism principles.

According to Atatürk, nation and people actually mean the same thing. Populism, on the other hand, is the pursuit of a policy in the interest and benefit of various groups of people within the nation and the accustoming of the people to self-government.

It has been said that populism is a natural consequence of republicanism, which is very true. A republic means that the people elect their own rulers from among themselves. Thus, the republican regime is a people's regime.
Likewise, popularism is also a consequence of nationalism. Since the nation is made up of the people, nationalism means working for the happiness of the Turkish people and being committed to a common past and future together with the people.

As soon as the Turkish Grand National Assembly was inaugurated, Atatürk made many speeches stating that the newly established state was a people's state. The people were no longer ruled by one person, but governed themselves.

The application of the principle of populism also means the acceptance of absolute equality before the law, with no one in society being superior to anyone else. In true populism, no social group or caste is privileged. The people are composed of people equal to each other in all respects.

As soon as the Turkish Grand National Assembly was opened, Atatürk made many speeches stating that the newly established state was a people's state. The people were no longer ruled by one person, but governed themselves.

The application of the principle of populism also means the acceptance of absolute equality before the law, with no one being superior to anyone else in society. In true populism, no social group or caste is privileged. The people are composed of people equal to each other in all respects.

Today, some regimes consider the people to consist only of a certain group of people. The name of these regimes, the people's republic, is misleading. Because it means the state of only a certain group of people. This is the truth. But it must be said immediately that the Ataturkist people's state does not remotely mean or indicate such a thing.

The Atatürkist people's state encompasses the entire Turkish people, that is, the Turkish nation. Such an understanding of popularism best prepares the environment necessary for the establishment of true democracy.

All scholars, both Turkish and foreign, recognize secularism as the most important element of Atatürk's revolution. Indeed, the Turkish Revolution is a whole with its principles. But the two main foundations on which this whole rests, nationalism and secularism, reinforce the other principles.

The short definition of secularism has been defined before. To summarize it again, secularism is the basing of the state order and the rules of law on reason and science, not on religion.

For a very long time, almost all human societies have been governed according to the principles laid down by religions. Because it was not easy for people to mature in the fields of reason and science and it took a long time. During this period, people were relieved to accept that they were ruled by certain forces outside their own reason and will. For this reason, religions and clergymen, who were identified with states, gradually became more powerful and tried to maintain their existence by putting obstacles in front of the developing human intelligence.

A revolution is a breakthrough in which a society changes its important institutions and renews itself in a short period of time. There have been important and great revolutions in history. The Turkish Nation under Atatürk has also realized one of the most important revolutions in history.

Revolutions are not made in a society out of the blue, there are great reasons for revolutions coming from history. Turks had once established one of the most important states of the age. This state remained one of the world's leading powers for hundreds of years. But because it could not keep up with the age of reason and science developing in the West, it began to fall behind and weaken. Since it was a multinational state, it could not establish a national unity. Those who wanted to save the state always made changes within the old order and certain patterns. However, it was necessary to change the structure and this was inevitable.

The defeat and disintegration at the end of the First World War gave Atatürk the idea of bringing the Turkish nation together to fight and renew the structure and the determination to realize it. Since it was not possible to rebuild the old structure, a succession of major reforms were undertaken.

According to Atatürk, “the reforms were made in the name of the people for the welfare of the nation”. “The aim of the revolutions we have made and are making is to make the people of the Republic of Turkey completely modern and civilized in all its meaning and form”. Therefore, reforms will be carried out in order to modernize and reach the level of contemporary civilization. Indeed, the great innovation movements you have seen have always been carried out with a revolutionary attitude and behavior.

The Turkish Nation must remain committed to and fully revolutionary in order to get closer to the good, the true and the beautiful and to reach them. So what is revolutionism? According to Atatürk, “true revolutionaries are those who know how to penetrate the true tendencies in the souls and consciences of the people they want to lead to the reforms of progress and innovation”.

In other words, the revolutionary will appeal to the souls and consciences and guide people in this direction. Sustaining Atatürk's revolution is only possible by always feeling the revolutionary spirit, structure and enthusiasm, setting goals and working towards achieving these goals.

One should always try to grasp the superior and sublime purpose of the Turkish Revolution. This is one of the fundamental principles of Atatürk, which is to move forward on the path of innovation without stopping. The Turkish Revolution must be protected, developed and advanced. Atatürk was sure of this and said: “Those who have grasped the goal of the Revolution will always be able to preserve it”.

Yes, in the light of these pithy words, conscious revolutionism must be the future of the Turkish Nation.

Working together with other individuals for the survival and glorification of the nation to which one belongs, and reflecting this work and consciousness to other generations is called “nationalism”. According to this definition, the most important element of nationalism is being a “nation”. So what is a nation?

In order to call a human community a nation, it must be determined whether certain qualities are present in that community. According to some forms of understanding, racial unity is necessary for a community to be considered a nation. This is an incomplete view. Although they are not of the same race, there are communities whose nationality is indisputable today, such as the Swiss and the Americans, while according to others, the main condition for being a nation is to speak the same language. This is also a view that is not always correct. In Switzerland, three different languages are spoken, but all Swiss are one nation. On the other hand, there are many Arab nations that speak the same language. Although Iraqis and Moroccans speak the same language, there are big differences between them, and both can be considered as separate nations.

Some people accept unity of religion as the main condition for being a nation. Undoubtedly, this is also an untenable view. The Japanese, one of the largest nations in the world today, have a wide variety of religions. Catholicism and Protestantism, which can be considered as separate religions, live side by side in Germany and America. But Muslims have never been considered as one nation even though they are of the same religion.

Thus, all these conditions are not sufficient for a human community to become a nation. The first condition for people living on the same piece of land to become a nation is to have a common past, unity of destiny and a common future goal. This is the most consistent and valid view. The bond of nationality is thus more spiritual than material. Adopting this view, Atatürk defines the nation as follows: In order for a human community to be considered a nation, it is necessary to have “a rich heritage of memories, to be sincere in the common desire to live together, to have a common will to continue the protection of the heritage together, to have the same program for the future, to rejoice together, to have the same hopes together.” A human community that meets these main conditions is considered a nation. Again, according to Atatürk, the natural result of these conditions is the emergence of a common national thought, ideal and, most importantly, a common language. Although unity of language is not a prerequisite for being a nation, it should not be forgotten that in many nations the mother tongue, which binds people together in terms of thought, spirit and culture, is unique.

It can be seen that Atatürk did not base the Turkish nation on race or religion. In fact, it is not possible to do so rationally, especially since the Turkish communities in Anatolia have been fused with other races for hundreds of years. The fact that Anatolia is a link connecting civilizations has led to this result.

Atatürk's understanding of nation is rational and humanistic. According to Atatürk, there are qualities that distinguish a nation from other nations. Each nation has to impose itself on others and live happily within the framework of its own abilities, culture and opportunities, and such behavior of the individuals of a nation is nationalism. The aim of Turkish nationalism is the rise and glorification of the Turk in every field.

According to Atatürk, "the nation is the main thing, the source of inspiration and power is the nation itself. What is happiness for one nation may be a disaster for another. The same reasons and conditions may make one nation happy and another unhappy." Therefore, each nation must find its own values and interests through reason and science. "The Turkish nationalist will walk in parallel with all modern nations on the path of development and progress and in international relations, in harmony with them. But while doing so, it will protect the characteristics and independent personality of the Turkish nation. The Turkish nationalist will respect the rights and independence of other nations. Only in this way will he be respected by other nations. We have no eyes on anyone's homeland. Because the homeland of every nation is sacred. The Turk will use his great power only when his rights are attacked".

Atatürk respects all nations, but sees the Turk above them all. According to him, “There is no nation on the face of the earth greater, more ancient, more pure than the Turk, and it has never been seen in the history of all mankind”. Atatürk reached this view by enlightening the Turkish past with his extraordinary works in the field of history. The homeland of such a superior nation is also sacred. Love for the homeland is one of the leading elements of nationalism; "Our homeland is the present homeland with the ancient and high history of the Turkish nation and the works that continue to exist in the depths of its lands. The homeland does not accept separation under any circumstances and is a whole".

Since the homeland is sacred and whole, it is not right to divide the country into east and west. Because our homeland is sacred. "Land of the homeland, may everything be sacrificed for you. You are the holy one. We are all sacrifices for you. But you will remain blessed to keep the Turkish nation alive in eternal life".

There are deep reasons why Atatürk emphasized Turkish nationalism so much. These reasons are also rooted in history.
The outstanding services of Turks to world history and civilizations are well known. But unfortunately, the structure of the Ottoman Empire, one of the largest and most magnificent
states established by Turks, did not allow for the emergence of a complete understanding of nationalism.

The Ottoman Empire was inhabited by a wide variety of nations, different from each other in every respect. We know this. Until the end of the 18th century, the principle of nationality was hardly known in the world. Although the nations that established states were developing their own way of life, culture and understanding, using their own languages and protecting their independence. However, they did not do so out of a consciousness of belonging to a particular nation, but perhaps as a social necessity. It was religion, not nationalism, that gave a nation its identity. Each nation lived according to the dictates and patterns of the religion to which it belonged.

Rationalism, which gained strength in the West from the 17th century onwards, also gave birth to nationalism. In the West, thinkers belonging to various nations realized that each nation was different from the other, and that it was rational for nationality, not religion, to bind people together in the first place. Thus, nationalism developed in the West and entered political life. With the French Revolution at the end of the 18th century and the great revolutions that followed it, the national state and thus nationalism began to spread rapidly throughout the world.

Especially for multinational states, the nationalism movement was a disaster. The nationalism movement was important for the Ottoman Empire, which was a multinational state, and various non-Turkish nations living within the borders of the empire revolted with the desire for independence. Ottoman statesmen sought a remedy against this: They abolished the distinction of religion and declared everyone living in the country as “Ottoman”. But this was not a definite solution. Nationalism was a great movement and it was not possible to prevent this movement with such a behavior. As a matter of fact, the nations living in the country were rising up one by one, breaking away from the Ottoman rule and declaring their independence by establishing their own national states.
In the face of this situation, some Turkish thinkers began to realize that the nationalist movement could not be prevented. What had to be done now was to save the remaining homeland lands, on which Turks lived, from the aggression of the new national states. At least from now on, the Turk had to protect his homeland. Thus, among the various nations living within the borders of the empire, the Turks were the last to develop a sense of nationalism. This coincides with the beginning of the XXth century.

At the dawn of Turkish nationalism, there were some who argued that not only Turks but also all Muslims should be one nation. However, the fact that the Arabs, who were Muslim Ottoman citizens, collaborated with our Christian enemies in the First World War and struck us in the back showed very clearly and painfully that the nation could not be based on religion.

This was the situation when Atatürk founded the new Turkish State. It was necessary to explain and show Turkishness to the whole nation and to emphasize this very important issue. The multinational Ottoman Empire was no more. Only Turks were living in Anatolia and Eastern Thrace. At the Lausanne Conference, Atatürk had succeeded in sending the Greeks living in Turkey to Greece. Turks, who had a vast and great history, were now the majority in Turkey. A national state could be established. As stated at the beginning of this chapter, every nation achieves its own greatness through its own abilities. For this, an unadulterated nationalism is necessary.

Atatürk always tried to develop Turkish nationalism as long as he lived. The phrase "Happy to be a Turk" is a symbol of a very superior view whose meaning will be elevated as long as our nation lives.

The importance of economic activity in the life of society and the state has already been explained. It has also been stated that the basis of economic life is production.

In the XXth century, the states of the world felt the need to increase production in order to have the opportunity to live happier lives. For this purpose, they envisaged the implementation of three main methods. Let us briefly review them:

Liberal Economy: In this type of economy, the capital required for production, production activity and the distribution of the goods produced are left entirely to individuals. According to the liberal view of economics, economic life has spontaneous laws: Production depends on the demand for goods, and demand leads to more or less production. The state should not interfere in directing these rules. The role of the state should remain in areas such as the defense of the homeland, the organization of educational affairs, and the dispensation of justice. If the state participates in economic life, the balance just mentioned will be disturbed. If necessary, the state should enter into economic life only to relieve great crises, and should withdraw again when the crisis is over. Capitalist countries, which have great economic power, have come so far by practicing the liberal view.

Socialist Economy: In countries practicing this type of economy, both capital and production are provided directly by the state. Individuals are prohibited from owning the means of production. The state owns all capital. All economic life is organized in the manner prescribed by the state. The state also distributes goods. Some countries have basically adopted this view.

Moderate Economic Systems: The rapidly changing conditions of the world have shown that both liberalism and socialism cannot function in a pure form. In this respect, in some liberal regimes, the state is increasingly involved in economic life, while in the socialist system, softening is noticeable. Thus, some countries from both groups are undergoing significant system changes without destroying the foundations of their regimes.

Statism Statism, which is among Atatürk's principles, is an economic policy. It is not similar to the regimes described above. The conditions under which statism, which is a model that fits our national characteristics and will provide the necessary development, was born have already been mentioned. For this reason, we will briefly evaluate statism here.

Statism, in its basic meaning, is the entry of the state into economic life. But in doing so, the socialist model cannot be adopted. Citizens with capital can participate in production in any way they wish, except in a few areas. The state does not prevent them from doing so; moreover, it facilitates their work by taking the necessary measures and encourages them to engage in production and trade.

However, as is known, rapid industrialization was one of the first goals of the republic. There was no capital in private hands to build large basic industrial enterprises. Therefore, statism was born. The state itself established, operated and developed many industrial enterprises. On the other hand, it did not leave private individuals unattended with its monetary and credit policy. Thus, the state and citizens organized production together. As a result of this cooperation, Turkey became a model country. Recent studies show that Turkey became one of the three fastest developing countries thanks to the statist policy implemented until 1930. In 1939, the industrial production index for Turkey and the world, which was 100 in 1029, reached 196 in Turkey. The world average was 119. In this development table, Turkey ranks after Russia and Japan. Thus, our national income, which was 1000 in 1927, rose to 1625 in 1939, despite rapid population growth.

This development achieved by Turkey, which had no capital, received no foreign aid, limited resources and backward technology until 1939, was the result of Atatürk's rational and nationalist views. While he supported private enterprises, he also involved the state in economic life, and the two areas complemented each other.

With the outbreak of the Second World War, this development came to a halt. In the aftermath of the war, the principle of statism was not reintroduced and reorganized according to the needs, but was used as a political tool. Therefore, the balance between the private sphere and the state sphere was disrupted and economic life became a crow
sha.

Statism, one of Atatürk's main principles, will help Turkey to develop economically, as long as it is implemented properly.