Personal life of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk

Atatürk's identity documents after the Surname Law

1934. Serial number: 993 814

1935. Serial number: 993 815

• Birth: Ali Rıza oğlu Mustafa
• 1890s: Mustafa Kemal
• 1911: Mustafa Kemal Bey
• 1916: Mustafa Kemal Paşa
• 1921: Gazi Mustafa Kemal Paşa
• 1934: Kemal Atatürk
• 1935: Kamâl Atatürk
• 1937: Kemal Atatürk[7]

Time magazine says: "Man of Seven Names. This blond, blue-eyed, Bacchic roughneck had seven names before he died as Kamâl Atatürk."[8] However, Atatürk returned to the old spelling of Kemal from May 1937 and onwards.[7]

Ali Rıza Bey's desire was to send Atatürk to the newly opened Şemsi Efendi School, which had a contemporary education program. Zübeyde Hanım wanted him to attend a traditional school. The traditional Muslim schools had programs based on mostly prayers and hymns. This caused arguments within the family. He first enrolled in a traditional religious school. He later switched to Şemsi Efendi School.

In 1888, Ali Rıza Efendi died at an age of 47. Atatürk was 7 years old. Zübeyde Hanım was 31. Zübeyde Hanım and her two children lived with her brother Hüseyin for a period. Hüseyin was the manager of a farm outside Salonika. Mustafa worked on the farm.

Zübeyde Hanım married Ragıp Bey. Ragıp Bey was also a widower with four children. Atatürk liked Süreyya. His other step brother was employed by Regie Company. Because he was not the senior male in the house after his mother's marriage, Atatürk left the house and lived with a relative.

1901, student at Ottoman War Academy.

Monastir Military High School.

Photo taken at the Andriomenos Photo Shop on the day of graduation from the War Academy.

Atatürk wanted to attend the military school. As a young boy, he admired the Western-style uniforms of the military officers. He enrolled to the military junior high school Turkish: Selânik Askerî Rüştiyesi in Selânik. In 1896, he enrolled in the Monastir Military High School. Monastir is today's Bitola, in the North Macedonia. Both of these regions saw discontent and revolts towards the Ottoman administration.

On 13 March 1899, he enrolled in the Ottoman War Academy in Constantinople (Turkish: Mekteb-i Harbiye-i Şahane). It was a boarding school with dormitories within its premises. The military school was strictly controlled by Abdul Hamid II. Newspapers were not allowed in the school, and textbooks were the only accepted books. The school not only taught military skills but also religious practices and social work. The curriculum at this school demanded either donating money or working for charity. He graduated from the Ottoman War Academy in 1902.

On 10 February 1902, he enrolled in the Imperial Military Staff College in Constantinople, from which he graduated on 11 January 1905. There were two officer tracks in the Ottoman imperial army. One of them was the officers "educated within the army itself", Alaylı, and the other consisted of officers trained in modern military schools, Mektepli. He was a "school trained" officer. School educated officers had a strong ideological imprint toward family and country, and he had shown tendencies toward both. When he joined the Ottoman Army, he had already passed 13 years of military education.

Zübeyde Hanım's first child was Fatma, then Ömer, later Ahmet was born. They all died in early childhood. Mustafa was the fourth child. Makbule followed him in 1885. Their sister Naciye was born in 1889. Naciye was lost to childhood tuberculosis.

Ragıp Bey had four children from his first marriage. His first child, Süreyya died during World War One. Ragıp Bey had a brother Colonel Hüsamettin. He and Vasfiye Hanım had a daughter named Fikriye (1897 – 31 May 1924).[23] Of the 9 siblings, five sharing at least one parent, only his biological sister, Makbule (1885–1956), survived him.

Atatürk and Latife Hanım (far right) with her family in early 1923.

Mustafa Kemal's wife Latife (1923).

Latife and Kemal at one of the tours of Anatolia.

Atatürk married only once, to Latife Uşaklıgil (or Uşşaki); a multilingual, and self-confident woman who was educated in Europe and came from an established, ship-owning family from Smyrna (now Izmir).[24]

Atatürk met Latife during the recapture of occupied Smyrna on 8 September 1922. Atatürk was invited to Uşaklıgil residence during his stay in Smyrna. He had chance to observe Latife closely. Their initial acquaintanceship period lasted a relatively short time as he had to return to Angora (now Ankara) on 2 October. Atatürk opened up his interest to Latife by asking her "Don't go anywhere. Wait for me." On 29 January 1923, he arranged for the permission to marry from her family, with the assistance of the chief of staff Fevzi Çakmak. Kâzım Karabekir was present at their wedding. These were not random decisions.

In Turkish culture, the groom asks his family or respected people, with whom he has close relationships, to perform this act. Latife did not cover her face during the wedding, though during this period it was the tradition for brides to do so. They did not have a honeymoon just after the wedding. The elections for the parliament were coming. He received the representatives of local newspapers next day of his wedding. He prepared for his public speech on 2 February. The honeymoon, an Anatolian tour, was a chance to show his wife's unveiled face as a role model for modern Turkish women. "It's not just a honeymoon, it's a lesson in reform," one observer remarked.[25]

As a First Lady, she was part of the women's emancipation movement, which started in Turkey in the early 1920s. Latife showed her face to the world with a defiance that shocked and delighted onlookers.[25] She did not wear a hijab but covered her head with a headscarf (Turkish: Başörtüsü). She urged Turkish women to do the same and lobbied for women's suffrage.[26] Atatürk passed the law giving women the right to vote after he was elected.

Latife insisted on accompanying him to the eastern towns even though the wives of other officials stopped at Samsun and did not travel further to the devastated east. The attention of Atatürk was directed to conventional gatherings. The balance was hard to establish. At Erzurum, Latife and Atatürk reached a breaking point. They had a public quarrel. Atatürk asked Latife to go to Angora, with his trusted ADC Salih Bozok. They were divorced on 5 August 1925. The circumstances of their divorce remain publicly unknown. A 25-year-old court order banned the publishing of his former wife's diaries and letters, which might have contained information on the matter. The Turkish History Foundation kept the letters since 1975. Upon expiration of the court order, the Turkish History Foundation said that Latife Uşaklıgil's family demanded that the letters were not to be disclosed.[27]

17 January 1929, Nebile's wedding.

Adopted daughters of Mustafa Kemal; left to right: Zehra Aylin, Rukiye (Erkin) and Sabiha (Gökçen).

Left to right: Rukiye (Erkin), Sabiha (Gökçen), Afet (İnan), and Zehra Aylin.

Atatürk with Sığırtmaç Mustafa (Mustafa Demir, 1918–1987), 1929.

One of his quotes was "Children are a new beginning of tomorrow." He established 23 April as "Children's Day" and 19 May as "Youth and Sports Day". Children's Day commemorates the opening of Turkish Grand National Assembly in 1920. The designation of Children's Day came in 1929 upon the recommendation of the Institution of Children's Protection. Both days are celebrated today. Youth and Sports Day is a national holiday in Turkey.

He had no biological children from his marriage but had eight adopted daughters and one son. The names of his children were Zehra Aylin, Sabiha (Gökçen), Rukiye (Erkin), Afet (İnan), Nebile (Bayyurt), Afife, Fikriye, Ülkü (Doğançay, later Adatepe), and Mustafa. Additionally, he had two children under his protection, Abdurrahim Tuncak and İhsan.[28]

In 1916, Atatürk took Abdurrahim, aged eight, under his protection. There is a photograph showing Atatürk with his uniform during his assignment in Diyarbakir accompanied with the early teenage Abdurrahim. Abdurrahim was entrusted to Zübeyde Hanim's care. He did not remember his biological parents. This brought questions if he was left an orphan during the Caucasus Campaign. Abdurrahim stated his earliest memories belong to the Zübeyde Hanim's house in Akarether. Atatürk gave the surname Tuncak to Abdurrahim.

In 1924, Zehra from Amasya and Rukiye from Konya came under his protection. Zehra fell to her death from a train near Amiens on 20 November 1935. France police inquiry concluded that it was a suicide rather than an accident. On 22 September 1925, Atatürk adopted a 12-year-old girl named Sabiha, an orphan who approached him at Bursa train station. She was sent to Russia for aviation training. On 25 October 1925, Atatürk met an 18-year-old girl, Afet (İnan). She was the daughter of a close family friend. She had lost her mother, and her father had married another woman. She was trying to make a living in Smyrna (Izmir) by teaching young girls. She lacked advanced education. Atatürk supported her advance education expenses, while she continued to support herself by teaching. Later, she became a trusted person. He asked her to copy edit his speeches, and dictate his materials. In 1935, Atatürk met a three-year-old girl, Ülkü. She was the child of a retainer of his mother and the stationmaster. She was the only daughter that stayed close to him until a few weeks before his death.

Atatürk on Ege steamer during a tour to Antalya, February 1935.

According to Atatürk:

There is one trait I have had since my childhood. In the house where I lived. I never liked to spend time with my sister or with a friend. Since my childhood I have always preferred to be alone and independent, that is how I always lived. I have another trait: I have never had any patience with any advice or admonition which my mother – my father died very early – my sister or any of my closest relatives pressed on me according to their lights. People who live with their families know that there are never short of innocent and sincere warnings from left and right. There are only two ways of dealing with them. You either ignore them or obey them. I believe neither way is right.[29]

One changing view about Atatürk is his foresightedness, foster and promotion of the leadership among Turkish revolutionaries.[30] Initial reviews depict him as an unchallenged leader, the single man. Recent studies analyze the period from the populist perspective. His leadership activities had extending effects on the political, social and cultural context of the Republic.[30] These studies gives clues on his abilities to foster the cooperation among different people, such as in the "History of National Struggle Volumes I through V".[31] His significance during independence was cited for his ability to unify people. It is pointed out that organizations in the countryside for resistance against occupation was happening effectively before his involvement. His ability to channel people did not. The foundation for the civilian participation in the government [parliament being never closed during his reign] and establishment of civic society [his insistence of keeping military out of daily politics] are cited having the roots in the Kemal's presidency, not after.[30] The failed reforms of the regional countries, after the passage of its leaders, were generally used as an example of the Atatürk's leadership among the Turkish Revolutionaries. His effect lasted many years after his passage.

British military intelligence reports from January 1921 authored by Charles Harington noted Atatürk's "homosexual vice".[32][33] However, British historian A. L. Macfie notes that these reports may have come from Atatürk's enemies to discredit him.[34] According to British biographers H. C. Armstrong and Patrick Balfour, and Turkish author İrfan Orga (who served under him[34]), Atatürk was bisexual.[35][36][37] Armstrong's book was the first biography of Atatürk, it was published during his lifetime and it is controversial: reviewers are divided on whether it is a realistic biography or a provocative fictional one.[38] When Turkish journalist Peyami Safa first translated it into Turkish, he self-censored the excerpts about Atatürk's sexual life due to the control over his image.[38] Allegations of homosexuality were similarly censored in all later translations, including the latest one in 2013.[38][39] The LGBT encyclopedia Queers in History, citing Balfour, mentions the same sexual orientation.[40] French LGBT historian Michel Larivière also lists Atatürk in his Dictionnaire historique des homosexuel-le-s célèbres.[41][42] In 2007, Turkish authorities protested after Atatürk was listed among famous homosexuals and bisexuals in a book about homophobia published by the Minister of Education of the French Community of Belgium and intended to teachers. The list was removed from the upcoming edition of the book.[43][44][45] The same year, a Turkish court blocked YouTube because of a video describing Atatürk as homosexual.[46][47]

Atatürk believed that religion is an important institution:

Religion is an important institution. A nation without religion cannot survive. Yet it is also very important to note that religion is a link between Allah and the individual believer. The brokerage of the pious cannot be permitted. Those who use religion for their own benefit are detestable. We are against such a situation and will not allow it. Those who use religion in such a manner have fooled our people; it is against just such people that we have fought and will continue to fight. Know that whatever conforms to reason, logic, and the advantages and needs of our people conforms equally to Islam. If our religion did not conform to reason and logic, it would not be the perfect religion, the final religion.[70]

However, his speeches and publications criticized using religion as a political ideology.[65] According to him, "Religions have been basis of the tyranny of kings and sultans."[75] He stated that religion should be in conformity with reason, science and logic. The problem was not religion, but how believers understood and applied religion. Atatürk expressed that religion and superstition should be separated:[64]

I want to say that the Turkish nation should be more religious, that is, they should be religious in all their simplicity. The truth is that religion does not contain anything that prevents progress. However, there is another religion among us that is more complex, artificial and consists of superstitions. If they cannot approach the light, they have lost themselves. We will save them.[64]

True religion could not be understood as long as false prophets isolated and religious knowledge is enlightened. The only way to deal with false prophets was to deal with the Turkish people's illiteracy and prejudice.[71]

Atatürk visits Selimiye Mosque, Edirne on 25 December 1930

Religion, particularly Islam, was between an individual and God in Atatürk's eyes.[76] He believed it was possible to blend native tradition (based on Islam) and Western modernism harmoniously.[77] In this equation, he gave more emphasis towards the modernization. His modernization aimed to transform social and mental structures (native traditions of Islam) to eradicate the irrational ideas, magical superstitions and so on.[77]

Atatürk was not against religion but what he perceived as all Ottoman religious and cultural elements that brought limits to people's self being.[77] He concentrated his reforms (regarding popular sovereignty) against obstacles for the individual choices being reflected in the social life. He viewed civil law and abolition of the caliphate as required for reflection of individual choices. He perceived religion as a matter of conscience or worship, but not politics. The best response on this issue comes from himself:

Religion is a matter of conscience. One is always free to act according to the will of one's conscience. We (as a nation) are respectful of religion. It is not our intention to curtail freedom of worship, but rather to ensure that matters of religion and those of the state do not become intertwined.[78]

Atatürk believed in freedom of religion, but he was a secular thinker and his concept of freedom of religion was not limitless. He differentiated between social and personal practice of religion. He applied social considerations (secular requirements) when the public practice of religion was considered. He said that no one can force another to accept any religion or a sect (freedom of belief).[79] Also, everyone has the right to perform or neglect, if he so wishes, obligations of any religion he chooses (freedom of worship), such as the right to not fast during Ramadan.[80]

According to historian Kemal Karpat, the movements that perceive Islam as a political movement or particularly the view of Islam as a political religion hold the position that Atatürk was not a "true believer" or "religious Muslim". It is normal that this perspective was adapted, Karpat says: "He was not against Islam, but those who are against his political power using the religious arguments."[1]

Journalist Grace Ellison wrote in her book Turkey To-Day:

"I have no religion, and at times I wish all religions at the bottom of the sea. He is a weak ruler who needs religion to uphold his government; it is as if he would catch his people in a trap. My people are going to learn the principles of democracy, the dictates of truth and the teachings of science. Superstition must go. Let them worship as they will; every man can follow his own conscience, provided it does not interfere with sane reason or bid him against the liberty of his fellow-men."[81]

However, according to Atatürk's notebooks, he states in his own handwriting that a British journalist (referring to Grace Ellison) wrote what he did not say and distorted what he said:

A British newspaper reporter is talking to me. She writes things I have not said and interprets things I have said against us. I forbade her. She had promised. I realized that she is in fact a spy along with the people in Istanbul.[82]

On 1 November 1937, his speech in parliament he said:

It is known by the world that, in our state administration, our main program is the Republican People's Party program. The principles it covers are the main lines that illuminate us in management and politics. But these principles should never be held equal to the dogmas of books that are known to have descended from the heavens. We have received our inspirations directly from life, not from the heavens or unseen.[83]

Religion of the Arabs

Atatürk described Islam as the religion of the Arabs in his own work titled Vatandaş için Medeni Bilgiler by his own critical and nationalist views:

Even before accepting the religion of the Arabs, the Turks were a great nation. After accepting the religion of the Arabs, this religion, didn't effect to combine the Arabs, the Persians and Egyptians with the Turks to constitute a nation. (This religion) rather, loosened the national nexus of Turkish nation, got national excitement numb. This was very natural. Because the purpose of the religion founded by Muhammad, over all nations, was to drag to an including Arab national politics.[84]