HOW TURKEY BECAME A REPUBLIC?
Nauman Asghar

The Post
Nov 3 2008
Pakistan

The Ottoman Empire expansion was characterized by continuous
territorial conquests and it spread out from a small northwestern
Anatolian principality to cover an empire encompassing southeastern
Europe, Anatolia and the Arab world. During the sixteenth century the
institutions of society and government that had been evolving in the
Ottoman dominions for last two centuries reached the classical forms
and patterns that were to characterize them until modern times. The
reign of Suleman the magnificent marked the peak of Ottoman grandeur
but elements of weakness started creeping in and began the slow but
steady decline that followed.

The evils of corruption and nepotism took hold at all levels of
administration. Following Suleman the accession and appointments to
positions came less as the result of ability than as a consequence of
political manoeuvrings of the political parties. Those in power found
it more convenient to control the princes by keeping them uneducated
and inexperienced. The old tradition by which young princes were
educated in the field was replaced by a system in which all the princes
were isolated in the private apartments of harem and limited to the
education its permanent inhabitants could provide. In consequence,
few of the Sultans after Suleman had the ability to exercise real
power even when circumstances might have enabled them to do so. The
prevailing condition was compounded by economic difficulties coupled
with social erosion, the latter being a vital factor contributing
to the decline of civilisation. As the social distress increased,
the central government became weaker.

The reform efforts were undertaken by Sultans Osman II (1618-22)
and Murad IV (1623-40) followed by a famous dynasty of Koprulu but
they were too limited in nature and scope to permanently arrest the
ottoman decline. Corrupt officials were executed and nepotism and
jobbery driven out. Notwithstanding anything these reforms produced a
semblance of revival. The Grand Vizier Mustafa Pasha was emboldened to
move again into Central Europe and Besiege Vienna in 1683.His effort
quickly overextended the fragile bases of the Ottoman revival. The
military defeats combined with resistance to change offered by classes
exploiting the prevalence of anarchy heralded the decline of empire.

The Ottoman entry into World War I resulted from an overly hasty
calculation of likely advantage. The ottomans made a substantial
contribution to the Central Powers? war effort. Their forces fought in
eastern Asia Minor, Azerbaijan, Mesopotamia, Syria and Palestine. In
September 1918 they dominated Transcaucasia but the defeat of Germany
bode ill for the future of Ottoman Empire. The apprehensions turned
out to be true when the Treaty of Sevres was imposed upon the defeated
Turkey. This treaty was an embodiment of imperialism. Turkey was
deprived of all the Arab portions of her empire. The Kingdom of Hejaz
obtained recognition as an independent state. Turkey also renounced
control of Syria, Palestine and Mesopotamia whose destinies were to
be decided by the principal allied powers. Eastern Thrace was ceded
to Greece up to Chatalja line. Greek sovereignty was recognized over
a number of Aegean islands. Turkey also agreed to grant the Kurdish
area east of Euphrates local autonomy and effect International control
of Straits and demilitarization of adjacent zones.

Simultaneously with the Treaty of Sevres, a tripartite treaty was
concluded between Great Britain, France and Italy. It provided for
the division of Turkish territory into French and Italian spheres of
influence. The French sphere corresponded exactly to the zone assigned
to France by the Sykes Picot agreement. The Italian zone covered the
areas agreed to Italy in southwestern Anatolia (according to two war
time agreements-London and St. Jean de Maurienne minus the region
of Smyrna).The Turks might have surrendered to and endured western
dictation but the thought of being invaded and occupied by the Greeks
led the Turks to react in a strong manner. The latter traditionally
considered the Greeks a subject race and simply could not stomach the
reversal of roles. Strong resentment against Greece was manifested
soon after the landing of Greek troops in Smyrna (May 15, 1919).

In this moment of crisis the Turkish nation was fortunate in finding
a leader of exceptional ability and strength of will in the person of
General Mustafa Kemal Pasha. He had to face five armies: the Armenians
in the East; The French in Cilicia; the Italians in Adalia; the Greeks
in Smyrna and the British in Constantinople. His first offensive
in Cilicia compelled the French troops to bow down and conclude an
armistice with Kemal on May 30, 1919.Next his army took on Armenians
whose territory had been considerably expanded by the addition of
Trebizond, Erzerum, Mush and Van. Its population was predominantly
Turkish and Kemal was determined to wrest it from the rather nominal
control of Armenia.

By the end of 1920 Kemal’s nationalists had disposed of the French
and Armenian danger in the East and could concentrate on the major
task in western Anatolia- the expulsion of Greeks. Prior to launching
offensive against Greeks, Kemal secured Soviet Assistance by the
confirmation of Treaty of Alexandropol and neutralized French and
Italian hostility. The bloody battle of the Sakaria River turned
the tide in favour of Turks and within two weeks the latter drove
the Greek army back to the Mediterranean Sea. In the wake of Turkish
victory, a peace conference was opened at Lausanne on November 20,
1992 and the treaty of Lausanne was agreed on by the parties.

This treaty was a signal victory for the Turkish nationalists. By
signing it, Kemal’s government obtained formal international
recognition. Turkey regained her independence and secured the unity of
her ethnic territory. She threw of the shackles of foreign control in
judicial, military and economic matters. She emerged from this ordeal
with her national pride restored enjoying a new and progressive
leadership, impoverished but confident in the future. On October
23, 1923, Mustafa Kemal proclaimed the republic and was elected
its first President. He abolished the caliphate and closed down
all institutions based on the Muslim Canon law, all monasteries and
religious orders. The whole ottoman legal system was modernized and
a new civil and penal code was adopted. In 1933 a law was passed to
make the use of family names compulsory and the National Assembly
gave Mustafa Kemal the name ‘Ataturk’ (‘Father of Turks’).

His most important reform was the secularization of Turkish
society. The secular reforms included, inter alia, the replacement of
Friday by Sunday as weekly holiday (1935); the adoption of Gregorian
calendar and the forbidding of wearing of clerical garb outside places
of worship. Later on the army has assumed the role of guardian of
Ataturk’s secular legacy. It would not be exaggeration to say that
Turkey’s politico-social landscape would have been altogether different
in the absence of application of Kemal’s revolutionary agenda.

Tailpiece: The lesson of history of the rise and fall of empires is
that corruption and nepotism are cankerous evils that gnaw at the
roots of social fabric and herald disintegration of society. If the
rulers lack experience to govern the state of affairs, the empire
cannot withstand and internal fissures and dissensions emerge. The
significance of robust social capital in sustaining a civilisation
or empire must not be downplayed and all efforts must be aimed at
building strong social base.

The writer is a Lahore-based advocate