Truly great men are like good wine. Their influence on the World gets better with time. So was it with Atatürk.

All the isms that started after World War I, such as German National Socialism and Italian Fascism, disappeared after World War II. We had to wait until1989 to see communism crumble.

During all this time, from post-WWI ideas only the principles of Atatürk survived. The Western press was dazzled by the splendor of Hitler's and Mussolini's ceremonies, until WWII revealed their true nature. The West was also fooled by the promises of communism until the huge Soviet Union disintegrated from its own inefficiency. Only Atatürk's ideas and his Turkish Republic survived until today. It took the West quite a long time to realize that, but realize it finally did.

After 1950, the "Democrats" in Turkey and their second and thirdresurrections after military takeovers proceeded to systematically dismantle Atatürk's religious reforms.

Politicians disregarded the constitution and we arrived at 1997 when Turkey is governed by a coalition, the senior partner of which is Islamist. Ironically, this reactionary trend did not weaken Atatürk's influence in Turkey. To the contrary, it reinforced it. Atatürk's secularism became the foremost opponent of political Islam. More than ever, Atatürk became a sort of flag, a symbol of modernity, rationalism, and religious tolerance. Today one can hardly read any article in a Turkish main stream newspaper, in which Atatürk's name is not mentioned.

In this country, until a few years ago, very few people had ever heard of Atatürk. Today we can hardly read any Western report on Turkey in which his name is not mentioned. What caused this change? The rise of the Iranian Islamic theocracy with all its religious proselytizing and terrorism focused the World's attention in Atatürk's secularist democracy in 98 % Moslem Turkey. U.S. foreign policy started to use this secularist democracy as a desirable model for all Moslem nations. Thus, a great curiosity and interest in Atatürk began to be born in this country about three or four years ago.

This interest was culminated with the famous TV talk of Newt Gingrich, the Speakerof the House of Representatives, in which he praised the ideas and methods of Atatürk and added that many times he used these methods himself successfully. In an interview, he said that Atatürk was one of the most important people who had an influence on him. This news, of course, created a curiosity among many of his colleagues in Congress who too wanted to know more about this Atatürk who had so much influence on the Speaker.

Around that time, there was a realization in the minds of many Turkish Americans that the time was ripe for starting an Atatürk Society in Washington. Mr. Hudai Yavalar called many of his friends and THE ATATÜRK SOCIETY OF AMERICA was started early in 1995. The official opening was on May 19, 1995 in a magnificent banquet at Ritz Carlton Hotel in Washington, DC. For the first time an "Atatürk Price For Peace and Democracy" was awarded to a distinguished American. Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia, (Dem.) a great friend of Turkey, received the award.

He made a key-note address that was a gem of oratory, in which he established parallels and similarities between Thomas Jefferson's separation of state and church and Atatürk's secularism. The second such price was awarded in May 1996 to Mr. Richard C. Holbrooke who had been at the interface of the United States and Turkish foreign policies.

Two years in a row, the ASA had a panel discussion in the American University on "Rising Fundamentalism in Turkey." In this year's meeting, on April 6, we discussed the true nature of fundamentalism and its danger for the U.S. with Dr. George Harris and Mr. Alan Makovsky, two experts of U.S. foreign policy towards Turkey, both former State Department employees. We were glad to learn from them, that Atatürk's secular democracy is now a U.S. foreign policy criterion.

Finally, we had been trying to build on the friendship born with the ANZACs, or Australians and New Zealanders, after the Dardanelles War (The ANZACs call it the "Gallipoli War"). The Dardanelles have become a place of pilgrimage for those two nations, because their nationhoods were born there. [See ASA Activities] This year we were invited to participate in the ANZAC Day remembrance at the National Cathedral in Washington DC. The Australian Ambassador to the United States, His Excellency Andrew S. Peacock talked about the "Gallipoli War" and the role a young Turkish officer by the name of Mustafa Kemal played in it. He praised his excellent military skills as well as his humanity, by mentioning the famous address to the mothers of ANZAC dead. [See ASA activities for the text] He read that address in the huge cathedral. When he was finished there were quite a few wet eyes.

It was the first time in the history of mankind any victor was so generous to his adversaries, to the point of accepting their dead as "our own sons." Among the ANZACs everyone knew that address.

No wonder they had duplicated the same monument bearing that address in ANZAC Cove at the Dardanelles, also in Atatürk Parks in Australia and New Zealands.

There is a curious coincidence: The construction of the Washington Cathedral began just about the time Atatürk started the Turkish Independence War. It was built stone by stone in 73 years and was completed only a few years ago. As The Washington Cathedral rose slowly toward the sky, the Independence War was won and the Turkish Republic was slowly built into a secular and democratic state. Who would have thought that there would be an Atatürk Society of America at the end of the 20th Century, with representatives participating in a ceremony in this cathedral? Who would have thought that 63 years after he pronounced them, Atatürk's words would resound in that magnificent Gothic cathedral in America, bringing a distinguished international audience to the brink of shedding tears? Who would have thought that these words would be spoken, of all peoples, by the grand son of an Australian fighter of 1915? That grand son became his country's Ambassador to the United States. It seems to me that after sharing their war dead, in the same spirit, now ANZACs and Turks are sharing Atatürk.