The Turkish Republic, 1923 1975

The founding ideology of the Republic of Turkey, known as Kemalism, is a combination of

Ataturks political, social, cultural and religious ideas and principles which were designed to separate the
new Turkish state from its Ottoman predecessor and embrace a Westernized way of living, including
the establishment of democracy, civil and political equality for women, secularism, state support of
the sciences and free education.

Kemalism, Ataturks principles can be summed up in 6 fundamentals called the six arrows, which are:
I.
Republicanism
II.
Nationalism
III.
Populism
IV.
Revolutionism
V.
Secularism
VI.
Statism
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The first four, reflect the ideological basis of the new political structuring
1. Republicanism (by and for the people)
is a political revolution and the realization of national identity of modern Turkey aimed to
replace the absolute monarchy of the Ottoman Dynasty with the Republic; which was to be by and for
the people. Kemalism only recognizes a Republican regime for Turkey, as it is the best representative of
the wishes of the people.

2. Nationalism
is to replace the pan-Islamism of the Ottoman Empire with the pride of Turkish Nationalism,
creating a nation state from the remnants of the multi-religious and multi-ethnic Ottoman Empire. The
populaces of Turkey that establish the Turkish republic are called the Turkish Nation. The Turkish Nation
is a natural, communal, economical and political single body of citizens that are tied to each other by a
unity of language, culture, and ideals.
Unresolved territory problems:
1. Mosul: On June 5, 1926, Turkey signed a treaty with Great Britain surrendering all rights to
Mosul in return for 10 percent of the oil produced in the area.
2. Greek population: December 30, 1930, Greece and Turkey concluded a treaty of friendship
settling the boundary and population exchange problems, agreeing to naval equality in the
eastern Mediterranean.
3. Straits: On April 11, 1936, Turkey asked the signatories of the Lausanne Treaty for permission
to fortify the Straits and resume full sovereignty, which resulted in the Agreement of Montreux
(July 10, 1936) by which the Turkish proposal were accepted
4. Hatay: (3 July, 1938) An agreement was reached by which the province was made into a joint
Franco-Turkish protectorate. The elections (July 21) provided Turkey with the majority. The new
state, now called Hatay, began using Turkish flags, and petitioned Ankara for union. (July 23)
France agreed to annexation from Hatay.

3. Populism
is a principle which is closely connected with Turkish nationalism and a corollary (something that
follows readily from previous statement) to Republicanism.
There are two basic premises of Populism:
1st premise: All citizens of the Republic were equal regardless of class, rank, religion or occupation.
2nd premise: Government by and for the people. Institutions had to be developed to enable the
Republics citizens to share in the process of rule.
The Era of Political Parties
1. Republican Peoples Party (1923 now)
Kemalism came to dictate that the peoples interests could best be served by focusing its
energies into the party that Kemal had evolved out of the Committee to Defend the Rights of
Anatolia and Rumeli, called first simply the Peoples Party (Halk Frkas) and after establishment
of the Republic, called the Republican Peoples Party (Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi) (hereafter
abbreviated by CHP).
2. Progressive Republican Party (1924-1925)
The new party carried on the spirit of the Westernists and the Second Group and it supported
Republicanism, Democracy and Liberalism. But it opposed the abolition of the caliphate and
secularizing policies of the government.
3. Free Republican Party (1930)
Aimed to build a national organization, touring the country to enlist mass support advocating
the end to state monopolies and the encouragement of free enterprise and foreign investment,
lower taxes, closer ties with Balkan and the League of Nations, and a freer political climate.
The move which had made by Kemal and the party has been criticized as having denied the Turkish
people right to govern themselves, but in fact, the policies of the government were directed toward
modernizing the nations and improving its peoples lives. While the opposition parties were suppressed
during most of the era of Atatrk, he actually encouraged public discussion of the major issues, himself
answering his critics in speeches to the Assembly, and talking with the people.

4. Revolutionism
is a doctrine reflecting the philosophical basic of change. It involved readiness to transform the
traditional Ottoman society into a modern one by radical, forced measures aimed at achieving success
within the span of single generation. It was dictated by the need to protect the nation against its
enemies and also to justify the radical measures taken to establish the Republic.