Whose Revolution Shaped Modern Turkey?

After the Ottoman Empire defeat in World War I and the subsequent Allied occupation, Mustafa Kemal (later given the surname "Ataturk" — Father of the Turks) led the Turkish War of Independence (1919-1923), defeating Greek, Armenian, and French forces. He abolished the Ottoman sultanate in 1922 and declared the Republic of Turkey on 29 October 1923, becoming its first president. His reforms were radical and comprehensive: he abolished the caliphate (1924), replaced Islamic law with European-style civil, criminal, and commercial codes, adopted the Latin alphabet (replacing Arabic script) in 1928, granted women the right to vote and hold office (1934 — before France, Italy, and many other European countries), reformed the calendar, measurement system, and dress code (banning the fez), and promoted industrialisation and secular education. Ataturk remains deeply revered in Turkey; insulting his memory is a criminal offence.