Cumhuriyet Bayramı, or Turkey’s Republic Day commemorates the proclamation of the Republic of Turkey in 1923, replacing the Ottoman Sultanate. On this day, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the father of modern Turkey, declared that Turkey was henceforth a republic. Turkey had de facto been a republic since 23 April 1920, the date of the establishment of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, but the official confirmation of this fact came only three-and-a-half years later and its official name was proclaimed to be Türkiye Cumhuriyeti (“the Republic of Turkey”). After that, a vote was held in the Grand National Assembly, and Mustafa Kemal Atatürk was elected as the first president of the republic of Turkey.
The republic was created after the overthrow of Sultan Mehmet VI Vahdettin by the new Republican Parliament in 1922. The new democratic regime delivered the coup de grace to the Ottoman state which had been practically wiped away from the world stage following the First World War.
Aside from the Ottoman state’s defeat during the First World War, there are several other factors that contributed to the emergence of the new Turkish state. These include the ethno-religious conflicts in Anatolia, making Turkey a homogeneous Muslim state. There was also the rise of the active participation of the military in politics after the First World War as depicted by the renowned Young Turk Revolution in 1908. Ten years later, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and other army officers dominated the polity that finally established the nationalist Republic of Turkey out of what was left of the Ottoman Empire. Turkey was established based on the ideology found in the country’s pre-Ottoman history and was also steered towards a secular political system to diminish the influence of religious groups.
The history of modern Turkey begins with the foundation of the republic on October 29, 1923, which is commemorated every year with pomp and glory. The second constitution was ratified by the Grand National Assembly on April 20, 1924.
The history of modern Turkey begins with the foundation of the republic on October 29, 1923
For the next 10 years, Turkey saw a steady process of secular westernisation through Atatürk’s reforms, which included the unification of education; the discontinuation of religious and other titles; the closure of Islamic courts and the replacement of Islamic canon law with a secular civil code modeled after Switzerland’s and a penal code modeled after the Italian Penal Code; recognition of the equality between the sexes and the granting of full political rights to women on 5 December 1934; the language reform initiated by the newly founded Turkish Language Association; replacement of the Ottoman Turkish alphabet with the new Turkish alphabet derived from the Latin alphabet; the dress law (the wearing of a fez, was outlawed); the law on family names; and numerous others.
Turkey was admitted to the League of Nations, the forerunner of the UN in July 1932.
Atatürk’s successor after Mustafa Kemal’s death on November 10, 1938 was Ísmet Ínőnü. He started his term in the office as a respected figure of the Independence War but because of internal fights between power groups and external events like the World War which caused a lack of goods in the country, he lost some of his popularity and support.
During the Second World War (1939–45), Turkey maintained neutrality. Ambassadors from the Axis powers and Allies intermingled in Ankara. İnönü signed a non-aggression treaty with Nazi Germany on June 18, 1941, four days before the Axis powers invaded the Soviet Union. In 1946, İnönü’s government organised multi party elections, which were won by his party. He remained as the president of the country until 1950. He is still remembered as one of the key figures of Turkey.
The path of Turkish democracy was affected by a number of military coup d’états. The political upheavals affected the economic prosperity of Turkey till the 2002 elections, which brought the conservative Justice and development Party (AKP) under the former mayor of Istanbul, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan into power. The political reforms of the AKP ensured the beginning of the negotiations with the European Union. The AKP again won the 2007 elections, which followed the August 2007 presidential election, during which AKP member Abdullah Gül was elected president at the third round.
The US led invasion of Iraq and ensuing turmoil in the Levant has affected Turkey but it has welcomed the Syrian refugees with a large heart. AKP is the only government in Turkish political history that has managed to win three general elections in a row with an increasing amount of votes received in each one. The AKP has positioned itself in the midpoint of the Turkish political scene, much thanks to the stability brought by steady economic growth since they came to power in 2002. A large part of the population have welcomed the end of the political and economic instability of the 1990s, often associated] with coalition governments. 2011 figures showed a 9pc GDP growth for Turkey.
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan became the president but apparently at the behest of some western powers, there have been attempts to create unrest in Turkey. The main reason is that Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has the gall to look Israel in the eye and champion the cause of the Palestinians as well as openly criticise the west for its dual standards. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the master politician and statesman, who has been at the helm of Turkish politics for over two decades, has proved his mettle in steering his nation from debt, turmoil and deprivation to development and progress. After serving as prime minister for two terms, Erdoğan demonstrated his supreme talent as a political operator by leading his Justice and Development Party (AKP) to yet another electoral victory in the November 2015 elections.
On 15 July 2016 factions within the Turkish military attempted to overthrow President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, citing growing non-secularism and censorship as motivation for the attempted coup. The coup was reportedly under the influence of the vast network led by US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gülen. The attempted coup was foiled by timely action of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the Turkish people, who lay down prostrate in front of the rebel’s tanks to save the democracy led by their beloved president.
In the aftermath of the failed coup, major purges have occurred, including that of military officials, police officers, judges, governors and civil servants. There has also been significant media purge in the aftermath of the failed coup.
Some notable achievements, which shed light on the futuristic development goals, include the ‘2023 Vision’ for the centenary of the establishment of the Turkish republic, in which Erdoğan’s government oversaw accession negotiations for Turkey’s membership of the European Union, an economic recovery following a financial crash in 2001, two successful constitutional referendums in 2007 and 2010, a Solution Process with Kurdish militants, an allegedly Neo-Ottoman foreign policy and investments in infrastructure that included a network of new roads, airports, and a high-speed train.
Turkey has a bright future but it needs to steer the course steadfastly and prudently. Under the able guidance of Erdoğan and the hard work of its people, Turkey is destined to take its rightful place in the comity of nations.
