Al-Ahram Weekly, Egypt
July 6 2006
End of Grey Wolf
Egyptians probably did not differ over a personality as much as they
did over Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of the Turkish republic.
While his actions were a source of admiration for some, as Professor
Yunan Labib Rizk relates, they were the object of disapproval by
others
The Grey Wolf was the title of a book by the British writer HS
Armstrong about the famous Turkish leader Mustafa Kemal Ataturk that
was translated by Al-Hilal books under the same title in July 1952.
Grey Wolf was a symbol the Turks had taken for themselves in their
early nomadic days, and it was the name some gave to Ataturk for
reviving Turkish nationalism.
Click to view caption
Mustafa Kemal Ataturk
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In the 1920s, Ataturk annulled the caliphate (1924) a few months
following the declaration of the republic. And thus the last of the
caliphs, Abdel-Mejid, left Istanbul at night for Switzerland.
Although the nascent Turkish republic had agreed to concede all of
what it claimed were historical rights over Egypt at the Conference
of Lausanne that had been held the previous year (1923), religious
Muslims in Egypt were saddened by the disappearance of one of the
religious constants they had lived in the shadow of since the advent
of Islam.
This was followed by cultural and political complications for
Egyptians. Among them was the ambition of King Fouad I to gain the
seat of the caliphate that had been emptied, in hope of adding a
religiously legitimising cloak to his autocratic rule in order to
confront the liberalism of the Wafd and Liberal Constitutionalists
Parties. This struggle was exemplified by the book "Islam and the
Basis of Rule" written by Sheikh Ali Abdel-Razeq, which proved that
the caliphate was not originally among the fundaments of the true
religion. This caused relations between the king and the Liberal
Constitutionalists Party to explode, and the whole matter ended with
the dissolution of the royal government led by Ahmed Ziwar Pasha. Yet
the dream of reviving the caliphate remained alive in the king’s son
Farouq. And it is surprising to learn that it continues to beguile
the dreams of some groups using religion in politics until this day,
despite more than 80 years having passed since the caliphate was
annulled in Istanbul, the capital that was moved to Ankara under the
republic.
There were also the reforms that The Grey Wolf instituted, and the
connected and effective steps towards Westernisation, through the
education and unveiling of girls, the removal of the fez and the
donning of the hat, and the use of Latin rather than Arabic letters.
The measures all had reverberations in Egypt. The education and
unveiling of girls was called for by Hoda Sharawi, and her group
began to grow following what took place in Turkey. It reached its
zenith with the visit of an Egyptian female delegation led by Sharawi
to Istanbul in 1935 to participate in an international women’s
conference, where she expressed her admiration for the rights Turkish
women had gained during the era of the republic.
After returning from the international women’s conference held in
Rome in 1923, and having removed their head coverings, Hoda Sharawi
and her two young colleagues Nabawiya Musa and Ceza Nabarawi
succeeded in becoming role models to Egyptian women, who soon
followed their example. Until the 1980s it was rare to come across a
young Egyptian woman wrapped in such clothing. But following the oil
cultural invasion and the related religious edicts considering it the
religiously legitimate clothing, Egyptian began to wear it again, and
to even be creative in doing so.
As for removing the fez and donning hats, this was the object of a
battle between a number of intellectuals calling for haste in its
implementation, led by Mahmoud Azmi, Salama Moussa and Tawfiq
El-Hakim, and those who held on to this red headgear on the basis of
it being a symbol of Egyptian nationalism. Most of this camp added a
religious nature to the fez, although we are sure where they got
these arguments. At any rate, they took off their fezzes following
the July 1952 revolution, with the army men who had come to power
already having removed their fezzes and donned caps and berets in
their place.
There was also a direct confrontation between the fez and the hat
that led to a diplomatic crisis between Cairo and Ankara. It so
happened that the Egyptian minister plenipotentiary in Turkey,
Abdel-Malak Hamza Bey, went to a celebration held in Ankara Palace
Hotel on the evening of 29 October 1932 on the occasion of the
anniversary of the declaration of the Turkish republic that was
attended by Mustafa Kemal. A surprise awaited him there, for the
conqueror Ataturk objected to the fez the minister was wearing. This
caused a diplomatic crisis between the two countries, given that
Cairo held on to its right for its representatives to wear their
national dress, and only ended after the Turkish government
apologised.
The replacement of Arabic lettering with the Latin alphabet did not
reverberate in Egypt, for the situation was different in the new
republic that spoke Turkish and wrote it in Arabic, from that of
Egypt, with its original Arabic language, Al-Azhar, the guardian of
the Arabic language, and the country’s cultural wealth in this
language. As such, the voices that called for following Turkey’s
example in this regard were weak, and gained no response worth
mention.
For all of these reasons, the persona of the Grey Wolf was always
present in the collective Egyptian conscience, and his passing away
in 1938 could not occur without the attention of Al-Ahram.
IN THE YEAR OF HIS PASSING AWAY, Al-Ahram spared no efforts in
grasping opportunities to make reference to the man and his
accomplishments. Among such efforts was a long article transmitted
from the Daily Scottish replete with admiration and appreciative
characterisations of the man. The article’s author ended with the
following words: "If the conqueror Ataturk had been destined to live
another 15 years, I believe that Turkey would have taken its place
among the great nations of the world, and would have become one of
the strongest guarantees of peace in the Mediterranean."
Under the headline "The conqueror’s gift to his nation," Al-Ahram
lauded the man because he had willed all of his private property in
Ankara to the Turkish nation. This included a garden and palace, both
called Marmara; a building in which a semi-official newspaper of the
Turkish government was issued; and the land adjacent to it. "The
Turkish newspapers announced the news of this precious gift from the
saviour of the nation with immense gratitude."
This act motivated an Al-Ahram reader to write to the "old
journalist" who penned the "On the margin" column, asking his opinion
given its potential exhortation to "our leaders and our wealthy." The
man did not disappoint his reader, and dedicated his column in the 20
May 1938 issue of Al-Ahram to this topic. He wrote, "The rich and the
wealthy and the owners of thousands of measures of land and of pounds
are neither blind nor short-sighted. They know, like you and me, that
there is something called charity, and that it is a religious duty
imposed upon all people, and upon them in particular."
In this connection, the author of "On the margin" recorded the
changes that had taken place in the concept of charity in Europe. He
noted that after the traditional means of charity had become
incongruous with the modern age, charity had been transformed into a
part of modern civil life. "Today in Europe and America, refuges are
built for actors and actresses, singers and movie stars. They
organise pensions for injured pilots, and open homes for physically
disabled fire fighters, drivers, and practitioners of other modern
professions." He advised his reader to review the names of charitable
institutions in Paris, London, Berlin, and Copenhagen to learn what
changes had been made in the notion of charity.
Yet the most charming of that published in Al-Ahram the year Ataturk
passed away was written by Aziz Khanki in the 9 April issue. It was a
long article that occupied most of the first page. The occasion was
the visit of the Turkish foreign minister, and the title was "The
Turks and Ataturk." Perhaps the secret to the charm of this article
is in its first section, in which he described the man’s
achievements. Its text is copied below:
"Turkey today is not the old Turkey. The Turks today are not the
Turks of yesterday. Turkey today is the product of a new regime, a
new spirit, and a new age. From a sultanate to a republic. From
autocratic to democratic. From the authority of an individual to the
authority of the nation. From the opinion of an individual to the
consultation of the group. From the domination of the Sultan’s
personal interests to the advancement of the general public’s
interests. From a trusteeship government to a Kemalist government.
>>From political, financial, legislative, industrial and commercial
slavery to political, financial, legislative, industrial and
commercial independence. From religious to civil. From heavenly law
to positive law. From the Islamic calendar to the Gregorian calendar.
>>From Arabic names to Turkish names. From Arabic numbers to Latin
numbers. From Arabic letters to Latin letters. From a language that
is a mixture of Farsi and Turkish to a purely Turkish language. From
Arab turbans to foreigners’ hats."
Khanki did not shrink from addressing sensitive issues in his long
introduction. He wrote that Turkey, under the rule of Ataturk, had
moved from "the veil to uncovering. From separate men’s and women’s
quarters to shared men’s and women’s quarters. From the fortune of
men equalling that of two females to the fortune of men equalling
that of women in political and civil rights. From four wives to one
wife. From Istanbul to Ankara. From a ministry and minister to an
agency and a secretary. From fakhamtilo, abhatilo, dowlatilo,
atuftilo, saadatilo, and azzatilo to bey (meaning messieurs or
mister). From widespread Ottomanism embracing the loyalty of the
Yemeni, the Hijazi, the Egyptian, the Syrian, the Armenian, the
Roman, and the Kurdish to distinct Turkism that knows nothing other
than the Turkish nation, the Turkish man, the Turkish woman, Turkish
interests and Turkish statesmen."
Aziz Khanki described what Ataturk did for the state in the following
terms. "He led its affairs with the Turkish people and for the
Turkish people. All of its blessings were from the nation and for the
nation. Its slogan was ‘Turkey for the Turks’ and ‘The Turkish, all
the Turkish, and nothing but the Turkish.’ The Egyptians knew Turkey
in the age of the Sultan Hamid. They knew it in a state of
dissolution and deterioration. In an age of fragmentation. In a state
of weakness. Europe’s statesmen called it the ‘sick man’ and called
its ruler ‘the red Sultan’."
The author of this article moved from this expressive introduction to
calling on Egyptians to visit the new Turkey, which they would find a
different matter from that of the old Turkey. "You will find it a
country of freedom and independence after it had been a country of
oppression and subjugation. A country of strength and prosperity
after it had been a country of weakness and poverty. A country of
construction and abundance after it had been a country of devastation
and misfortune. You will find it a country strong in its men and
women. Strong in its determination and decisiveness. Strong in its
money and wealth. And although Egypt, the Arabian Peninsula,
Palestine, Syria, Iraq, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Albania, Tripoli,
Cyprus, and Crete were stripped from the old Turkey, the new Turkey
remains five times larger and more expansive than England."
The author of "The Turks and Ataturk" expressed his admiration for
"all the political, financial, legislative, industrial, commercial,
scientific and literary transformations that have taken place in this
expansive country over the last 15 years because the man assuming
administration of the country is an actor and not a talker. He does
the work of a year in a day, the work of a day in an hour, and the
work of an hour in an instant."
It was not unusual for Al-Ahram and all the other Egyptian papers to
take interest in personal news about the conqueror Ataturk. Typically
such news was transmitted from European, and particularly English
newspapers. It appears that Al-Ahram did not have a special
correspondent in the Turkish capital after it was transferred to
Ankara as its correspondent remained in his original base of
Istanbul.
On 5 May, Al-Ahram transmitted from the Daily Telegraph news that a
specialised French doctor had been summoned to Ankara a few weeks
earlier to care for President Ataturk. It added that his illness
appeared to be unrelated to an earlier one, indicating that the Grey
Wolf, who was near 60 at the time, was plagued with illnesses. This
was interpreted as being due to the fact that Ataturk had "lived a
life that would tire the strongest and sturdiest of physiques."
It seems that the Turks held onto the Eastern tradition of concealing
news of the health of their rulers. This is made clear by the intent
of the Turkish legation in Cairo to lie to Al-Ahram that "the
president enjoys perfect health and is doing lengthy exercise as is
his custom."
As the summer months came to a close and autumn commenced, news began
to circulate again about the poor health of the Turkish president.
This time, Al-Ahram ‘s correspondent in Istanbul sent a telegram
saying that the Turkish government had issued an official statement
on 17 October stating that Kemal Ataturk, the president of the
republic, was seriously ill and suffering from a liver disease that
had become critical. It had suddenly been discovered that he was in a
state of escalating overall weakness, poor digestion and a rapid
pulse. And yet as customary with Eastern rulers, another statement
was issued in the evening stating that Ataturk’s state had improved
somewhat during the day.
There was no longer any benefit in denial, and two days later a
detailed statement was issued that confirmed the poor status of the
Grey Wolf. "The president’s life can only be saved by a miracle," it
said. His heart rate was 108 and his breathing 30, but his
temperature was 98.4. This led the second highest statesman, Ismet
Inonu, to rush to the capital to be beside the president, especially
as the other two people eligible for the presidency, Fawzi Shekmak
and Okiar, were not competing with him because the former refused the
post and the latter was a member of parliament.
Al-Ahram grasped this opportunity to familiarise its readers with the
anticipated president Inonu. He was well known for his attachment to
England and Russia. "It is said with confidence that four ministers,
among them the prime minister and the minister of foreign affairs,
have selected him for the post."
It seems that the Turkish president was as obstinate in his death as
he had been in life. Two days later a medical report was issued
stating that the status of Ataturk had improved greatly and that his
neurological symptoms had completely disappeared. Yet this did not
prevent reference to the fact that the Turkish constitution called
for the president of the national council to assume the presidency of
the republic if the president of the republic’s illness prolonged.
Throughout the illness of the Turkish president, many were tempted to
state that he was thinking of leaving his post over health-related
reasons. On 29 October, Al-Ahram transmitted from the Daily Express
newspaper an item stating that Ataturk was thinking of relinquishing
his post. The matter reached the extent of stating the name of his
successor, Fathi Ikyar, and that his stepping down was conditioned on
the latter holding onto the dictatorship "due to the current European
situation."
The situation remained thus until Thursday, 10 November 1938. The
following day, Al-Ahram published a front page photograph of Ataturk
above another of his mother and one of himself and his wife, Lady
Latifa that occupied the lower half of the page. The headline was
"Ataturk is dead."
NEWS OF THE PASSING AWAY of the Grey Wolf occupied expansive sections
of the Al-Ahram newspaper issued that day. In addition to the space
it covered on pages one and three, a number of long-established
writers in the newspaper commented on it, at the forefront of whom
was Ahmed El-Sawi Muhammad in his famous column "Short and sweet."
Al-Ahram began its main article by stating that "Mustafa Kemal has
died, or say that Ataturk has died, the father of the Turkish people
and the greatest man Turkey has borne in the last century! Turkey’s
saviour from subordination has died, the kindler of the fire of its
revolution against occupation and colonialism, its battlefield leader
to the shore of deliverance. The man who placed his people in the
rank of human beings has died. The absolute ruler with never bending
will, the great reformer who took his people far on the path of
reform, has passed on.
"The great man who was able to tear up agreements, abrogate that
ratified by states, and demand respect and consideration for his
nation among states has died. The great, self-made man was able to
make from his weak nation, one with broken wings, exhausted power,
worn out, and crushed by the weight of defeat, loss and
subordination, into a strong, rising, proud nation with immense
dignity that is striding forward and looking upwards in youthfulness
and enthusiasm! He was the saviour of the homeland and the reformer
of the nation, and the name Ataturk will remain a source of pride for
all Turks."
Al-Ahram then turned to what it called a "historical glimpse" at the
life of Mustafa Kemal, although it was much too long to be a mere
glimpse. It was a lengthy translation from which I have excerpted
some information about Ataturk not widely known, or at least not to
me.
Mustafa Kemal was born in 1880 in Thessalonika. His father, Ali Reza,
was a low-ranking civil servant in the customs department who later
resigned and turned to trade in wood. He had wanted his son to
succeed him in his commercial business, but he passed away before
realising this wish. Mustafa moved with his mother to a village near
Thessalonika where he worked as a peasant farmer and then a
sheepherder in his maternal uncle’s farm.
His life path changed when his mother took him back to Thessalonika
and enrolled him in one of its elementary schools, later the middle
school in Monastir, and then the military school in Istanbul from
which he graduated with the rank of second lieutenant. He then spent
three years in the army in the general staff school and graduated in
1905.
This biography then addressed much of that which is well known about
the Grey Wolf. He joined a covert association for resistance to the
Hamid reign and assumed the post of editor-in-chief of the newspaper
issued by this association. He participated in defending Tripoli
against the Italian invasion, and later in the Balkan wars. He also
participated in the movement of the "association of union and
advancement" that ended with compelling Sultan Abdel-Hamid to issue
the constitution in 1908. He then took part in the battles of the
Great War, in which his military talents were made apparent when he
succeeded in preventing the allied forces from landing on the
Gallipoli Islands. His unparalleled competence ñ according to
Al-Ahram ‘s expression ñ was exhibited in the battle of the
Dardanelles, in which the allied forces suffered extensive losses,
and from there in the arena of the Caucasus, where luck helped him
through the staging of the Bolshevik revolution and the withdrawal of
the Russian forces. He was then forced to travel to Carlsbad for
treatment of a liver disease when the war ended, a truce was drawn,
"and the Ottoman sultanate was torn to pieces, its freemen
dispersed."
This was followed by the role Mustafa Kemal undertook that
characterised him as a national liberator. He succeeded in forcing
the defeat of Greek forces during the war that took place from 1921
to 1922 and in evacuating them from Turkish national territory.
During that period, Sultan Wahideddin fled from Istanbul, and on 13
August 1923, the national council unanimously elected Mustafa Kemal
Pasha as president of the country.
As for his achievements mentioned by Al-Ahram in this connection,
Ahmed El-Sawi Muhammad recounted them in the "Short and sweet" column
of that issue. They were sevenfold:
ïAnnulment of the caliphate and separation of religion and the state
ïIntroduction of Latin letters, "a model of courage in renewal and
reform"
ïAbolition of the cylindrical fur cap, the fez, the conical dervish
cap, and the turban — except for religious figures — as well as the
silk wrap, face veil, and veil, all to be replaced with the hat
"because attire creates the person"
ïAdoption and enforcement of German, Swiss and Italian laws for the
good of the country
ïAbolition of the oppression of slaves and subordination by lords.
ïClosure of Sufi hospices and feudal estates. Abolition of the noble
ranks of the Sultan. Rooting out of indolent individuals,
conspirators and overly ambitious achievers, even at the highest
ranks.
ïRaising the morale of the entire people and imbuing it with a sense
of indivisible unity in justice, freedom and equality.
Independence of his country economically and politically at the same
time, and creating what Turkey had lost 1,000 years earlier —
Turkish nationalism as an independent entity about which foreigners
have a thousand reprehensions.
Yet the interest of Egyptian public opinion in the passing away of
the Grey Wolf and his authority being transferred to his successor
Inonu was not reflected in official circles in the Egyptian capital.
This may have been because Farouq did not consider the death of the
man who had done away with the sultan’s regime and declared a
republic in Turkey an occasion to commemorate him. He sufficed with
sending a representative, Said Zulfiqar Pasha, to the Turkish
legation headquarters in Cairo to give condolences to officials
there.
This behaviour was the object of criticism from Egyptian newspapers
and expressed by the author of "Short and sweet" in the 7 December
issue of Al-Ahram. He was taken aback by this shortcoming, given that
England had sent 400 sailors and soldiers and a grand marshal, and
France had sent a delegation consisting of its foreign minister, top
commanders, and 200 soldiers. Even Greece, Turkey’s traditional
enemy, had sent its prime minister, two ministers, and 50 soldiers.
No one penned a response to the criticism of the prominent Al-Ahram
writer, and it seems that officials in the Egyptian government wanted
to close the file of the Grey Wolf. History, however, had another
opinion.
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