To Commemorate Founder of Turkish Republic Mustafa Kemal Atatürk on 87th year of his death on 10 November: A Legacy That Still Lights Our Way

To Commemorate Founder of Turkish Republic Mustafa Kemal Atatürk on 87th year of his death on 10 November: A Legacy That Still Lights Our Way

 Every 10 November, Türkiye pauses at 09:05 to commemorate the passing of Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the Republic of Türkiye. Eighty-seven years after his death, his ideas, leadership style and statecraft remain strikingly relevant—not only for Türkiye, but for a world once again drifting into geopolitical turbulence.

 History remembers many great leaders, but rarely does it witness a figure who succeeded both as a wartime commander and as a visionary state-builder. For instance, Sir Winston Churchill led his nation with resolve through the perilous years of war, but did not architect a new political order per se. Mahatma Gandhi inspired a peaceful anti-colonial movement, and played a leadership role for humanity, and on India’s independence, but was assassinated and hence was not involved with building a post-colonial state. Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew is admired as a nation-builder, but not necessarily for military leadership. While George Washington headed the Continental Army, the Continental Congress and principles of nation building were the collective works of great minds, including Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson. Atatürk’s genius as both a military commander and a state builder is a very rare quality. Atatürk stands almost alone in the 20th century as the strategist of a successful war of independence and the architect of a modern, secular, republican state.

A Leader in the Darkest Decade

 When Atatürk died in November 1938, the world was sliding into its greatest catastrophe. The scars of the Great Depression had not healed; fascism and militarism were rising all over the World, and especially in Europe. Within 10 months after Atatürk’s passing, the Second World War would begin. Just one day before his passing, Germany witnessed the “Kristallnacht“ pogrom—an early signal of the Holocaust. In that global atmosphere of fear and aggression, Atatürk’s Türkiye stayed firmly committed to the principle he formulated early on: “Yurtta sulh, cihanda sulh“ — Peace at home, peace in the world.

 This principle was not a slogan of passivity. It was a doctrine of responsible sovereignty: to defend the homeland when necessary, but to avoid irredentism, adventurism, or subservience. The peaceful and diplomatic resolution of the Hatay question in 1938–39 remains one of the clearest examples. While fascist regimes invaded their neighbors by force, Türkiye secured its territorial claim through diplomacy, law, and international legitimacy.