ABOUT ASA

The Atatürk Society of America (ASA) is an independent non-profit organization founded 1995 in Washington DC, with the objective of promoting the ideals of Atatürk's political legacy.

ASA understands Atatürk's political philosophy to be:

• Sovereignty belongs to the people.
• People alone administer people.
• Public sovereignty cannot be shared with any other authority, including religious authority.
• Secular education ensures public sovereignty and rationality in politics.
• For progress, science and reason must supersede superstition and dogma.
• Contemporary civilization is the common heritage of humankind.
• Peace at home and peace in the world assures the universality of civilization.

Towards this objective the ASA organizes scholarly lectures, provides research fellowships, develops a resource and reference center, and makes presentations regarding the importance of Atatürk's political philosophy for international prosperity and peace.

Members of the Board 

• President, Bülent Atalay
• Vice-President, Filiz Odabas-Geldiay
• Treasurer, Mirat Yavalar
• Secretary, Tijen Arik
• Members-at-Large, Ilknur Boray, Meral Güzel, Aynur Sumer, Esra Alemdar
• Junior Advisor, Abby Bowman

NEWS

Mustafa Balbay is nominated for the Free World Press Prize
The Ataturk Society of America has nominated Mustafa Balbay, Cumhuriyet newspaper columnist and elected MP at 2011 General Elections for UNESCO's Free World Press Day. Every year UNESCO awards an individual or organization that has accomplished outstanding task to defend or promote freedom of press, especially in a dangerous or threatening situation. This year's award ceremony will be on May 3rd in Cairo, Egypt.

President of ASA at Penn State University
The President of Ataturk Society of America was invited by the Turkish students and faculty at Penn State University to give a lecture on Nov. 10, 2011. The lecture centered around Dr. Arnold Ludwig's research on political leaders which resulted in Ataturk being ranked number one on the "Political Greatness Scale".

Celebrating Ataturk's Life (May 19, 1881 - Nov. 10, 1938)
The Ataturk Society of America (ASA) hosted a lecture by Dr. Austin Bay, the author of an outstanding new book on Ataturk on November 15, 2011.