Speeches

Atatürk Today: Acceptance Speech

Dr. Andrew Mango I thank the Atatürk Society for marking with this award its appreciation of my biography of the founding father of the Turkish Republic. It is an honour I value, and which I owe to the kindness of my Turkish friends and of my readers. I am grateful also to the Turkish Embassy for hosting this ceremony, which takes...

Atatürk’s Policy Towards Great Powers: Principles and Guidelines*

Aryeh Shmuelevitz Much has been written about Turkish foreign policy between the two world wars. However, the source materials available is still limited, for three main reasons: (a) the Turkish archives are still closed; (b) foreign policy from 1922 until at least 1945 was the exclusive responsibility of the president, the prime minister, the foreign minister, and a small group of...

Is Democracy inviting back autocracy in Turkey

Mehmet Metin Considering that the longing for autocratic rule was unimaginable following its ousting 75 years ago, but that within the last 25 years it became a 20 % political force in the fledgling democracy of Turkey, the question in the above title is not at all outlandish. Let us first lay out shortly the extensively published facts, in an attempt to...

Atatürk, The Psychology of the Man

Dr. Engin Inel Holmstrom Military hero. National liberator. Charismatic leader. Unparalleled social reformer. Prominent statesman. A genius international peacemaker. Father of his country. These are some of the exalted phrases generally used to describe Atatürk. These attributes, beyond the reach of ordinary human beings, tend to deify him and make us forget that he was just a man. Not an ordinary...

Islam and Secularism in Contemporary Turkey

Prof. Dr. Suna Kili, Bogazici University It is a well-known fact that radical changes of political and social transformations do not necessarily follow a unilinear line. At times and occasionally there may be attempts at complete or partial reversions to the old order. Turkey's case is no exception to this general phenomenon. In contemporary Turkey radical change is still represented by...

Atatürk’s Prophesies: Why Douglas MacArthur Believed in them too?

Prof. Mahmut Esat Ozan It was on November 24, 1935 that Mustafa Kemal, the first president of the young Turkish Republic, was given the name of ATATÜRK by the Grand National Assembly. He had led his people through war into self-government and finally into an entirely new way of life. He had been their teacher, adviser, as well as the father...

Atatürk-Bethoven-Einstein

Prof. Behram Kursunoglu One of the walls of my office is graced with the pictures of Atatürk, Beethoven, and Einstein placed side by side. Occasionally visitors, when they enter, inquire about this triad of immortality in statesmanship, in classical music, and in physics. The fundamental premise for this inspiring portrait was based on the common qualities of the three giants of...

Misunderstanding Turkey

Dr. Andrew Mango We are all, of course, woefully misunderstood. And the reason, we often claim, is that others are not interested in what we really want to do, but think rather of what they want to do to us. It is us-in-relation-with-them that interests them, not us-in-ourselves. This is as true of countries as it is of individuals. We’re more...

Turkey and New Zealand

Ayse Cebesoy Sarialp After the completion of an extensive research and personal interviews with Turkish historians, I have come to the conclusion that the New Zealanders and the Turks had their first encounter during the Dardanelles War. It is sad for myself and for you distinguished readers, to have to point out that New Zealanders and Turks met each other, on the...

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk: The Liberator, The Nation-Builder and The Statesman

Amb. Baki Ilkin Deputy Undersecretary of the Turkish Foreign Ministry President of the Atatürk Society of America, The Members of ASA, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentleman, I am very pleased to be back in Washington and to have the opportunity to address Turkish Americans and American friends of Turkey once again. Although I seem to have missed the Cherry Blossom time, the mere sight of...

The Root of Terrorism

M. Orhan Tarhan, Late ASA Board of Trustees Since 9/11 the United States government is having pains in handling the American Muslims. On one side it wants to prevent more terrorism, on the other side it wants to avoid looking anti-Muslim by investigating Arab-Americans. That is a tricky situation to be in. Since 9/11 the government succeeded in avoiding to show...

Honoring the Lausanne Treaty

Metin Camcigil, Former President of ASA A general assessment The international community concluded a variety of agreements between its members since time immemorial. Friendly pacts such as exchange, co-operation or assistance agreements, defensive pacts such as non-aggression or neutrality agreements, or strategic alliances, and agreements to end hostilities such as peace treaties. An overwhelming majority of peace treaties were the punitive conditions...

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