Adrienn Prieger
The Preamble of the Constitution of the Republic of Turkey commemorate the founder of the Republic of Turkey, Ataturk as ‘immortal leader and the unrivalled hero’, and his reforms and principles. It is quite uncommon that a Constitution mentions a single person, and his thoughts as a source of national constitutionality. It has to be a unique person, who deserved to be mentioned in his or her homeland’s Constitution. The hypothesis of my essay is that Ataturk has deserved this extraordinary role because he has launched Turkey on the way of the modernization and the Western values. The heritage of Ataturk’s affects also nowadays, since Turkey makes significant efforts to join to the European Union for many years. Although no final results have been achieved over the years, accession negotiations are still ongoing. I found it important to recall Ataturk, his thoughts and achievements, which can be a great example nowadays as well. In this paper, I would like to make ‘time travel’ to Turkish history until the birth of the Ataturk. I would like to recall who was Ataturk in such a way, that I would like to present not only the recorded historical facts, but I would like ‘making Ataturk himself to speak’, quoting from him, because in order to understand why he means so much to the Turkish nation, we have to hear his own thoughts from himself.In this paper, I recalls Ataturk’s early life, his role in the Independence War, and his crucial reforms related to structure of state, legal system, clothing, writing and to the situation and legal status of women. In connection with it, I quote several speeches and articles by him on elimination of old traditions and necessary reforms. I also present Ataturk’s foreign policy line, which were especially important in the 20th-century history of Turkey, and also nowadays. He was committed to peace, his slogan was ‘Peace at Home, Peace in the World’, which resulted that Turkey operates as a stabilizing factor in the bellicose Near East until recently.Ataturk deliberately built his own cult to cast shadow to the shine of the Ottoman dynasty. He tried to cut off Turkish society from the Ottoman past and propagated a new idea of the Nation. In this nationalistic vision, accession to Europe has played an important role. I strongly believe that Turkey getting closer and closer to the EU standards, however there are some concerns had left. An EU, which includes Turkey would be more efficient in tackling global political and economic issues, ranging from the threat of terrorism to illegal immigration and drug trafficking.At the end of my essay I would like to highlight why Ataturk deserved to be part of the Constitution.
Ataturk, European integration, Constitution, foreign policy, migration, Turkey, Westernisation