I am not a Kemalist

Are we Kemalists?

I don't think so.

Well, do we fight like Atatürk? I don't think so at all.

We mention his name at holidays, ceremonies, rallies, and in speeches; we shout it out loud, and that's about it.

Do we know about Atatürk's struggle?

For example, with what heart and what courage he declared the Amasya Circular.

How he rebelled, how he stood up against the entire government all by himself.

Under what conditions he arrived in Erzurum.

How he toppled the Damat Ferit government within 6 months of setting foot in Samsun.

How he went from Erzurum to Sivas without a penny in his pocket.

And how he made Ali Galip, who came to arrest him in Sivas, flee the city.

How he organized the Sivas Congress with a death warrant hanging over his head.

How many of us know that Alfred Rüstem once challenged him to a duel one evening?

How he came to Ankara and conducted the opening proceedings of the Parliament under the shadow of gunfire.

How he outmaneuvered the British while opening the Parliament in Ankara.

How he turned the tables on the Ministers and the Prime Minister—representatives of the Istanbul Government who wanted to arrest him—at the Bilecik Interview, packed them up, and brought them to Ankara.

And do we know that during the Battle of Sakarya, he went to the front with broken ribs despite the doctors' objections?

Do we know how he hid the Great Offensive from the enemy under the pretext of a football match or a tea party?

I don't think so.

Do we know how he trapped the enemy with ingenious tactics in battles?

Do we know how he liberated two cities, Bitlis and Muş, one day apart while he was the Commander of the 16th Corps? We don't.

And then we expect to win the struggle. How will that happen?

You don't become a Kemalist by waving flags at rallies. You certainly don't become one by carefully inserting his name into the middle of a speech.

If you want to save the country, you shouldn't be a Kemalist; you must be Atatürk himself, the man himself.

What is this, like being a carpet seller, a rug dealer, or a footballer?

You must say, for example, “Independence or death.” You must say, “I do not order you to attack, I order you to die.” Before the Great Offensive, when they said, “Let's not fight, we will lose, and if we lose, they will hang us,” you should have said, for example, “All responsibility is mine. If we lose, hang me in the middle of Ankara.”

You must be that determined, saying, “They will go just as they came.”

If you want to win, you must fight not like a Kemalist, but like Atatürk himself.

Recently, I entered a house for election campaigning. An old house. Pictures of Atatürk of all sizes were hanging on its doors and windows. I knocked on the door, and an auntie who was nearing 90 but was quite lively and healthy came out. Her mind and consciousness were sharp. Before I started explaining the election campaign, I said, “Auntie, I think you are a Kemalist.”

The woman suddenly tensed her face. She frowned.

“No, I am not a Kemalist,” she said.

I paused for a moment. I had to say, “But auntie, there are pictures of Atatürk of all sizes inside and outside your house.”

“What does that mean, my child? Like a carpet seller, a rug dealer, a repairman? Don't call me a Kemalist,” she said.

I froze. I was stunned. Seeing my bewildered state, the woman delivered the final blow. And in a stern tone;

“I am not a Kemalist, my child, I am Atatürk himself,” she said. “Don't call me a Kemalist, call me Atatürk,” she said.

That was the moment I understood that distinction.

The woman wanted to give a message. You don't become a Kemalist. You become Atatürk himself. You don't fight like a Kemalist; you fight like Atatürk.

If a cause is to be won, if a struggle is to be won, the name of Atatürk should not be limited to being inserted between speeches. It should not remain in busts, statues, or the flags we wave. One must learn how he fought, how he struggled, and fight just like him.

For example, one must learn from him, from the man himself, how to awaken this people, how to make them stand up.

That is why, my friend, I am not a Kemalist or anything like that; I am Atatürk himself.