Saying “We are Mustafa Kemal’s Soldiers” is not enough

As an economist, I say this: The vast majority of citizens, nearly 80 percent, live below the poverty line; 60 percent live in misery, and 40 percent live below the hunger threshold. Despite this painful picture, the economy is no longer Turkey’s primary problem. Not because they have relatively fixed the economy… But because they have ruined the state in every field. We have significant problems, each of which is a separate existential threat to the Turkish Nation and the state. Each one is a topic for a separate article…

If I list them briefly as headings…

Refugees. (The demographic structure is deteriorating, creating a threat of war along with geopolitical risks.)

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An education system designed to destroy the social structure, national consciousness, and Turkish culture in general… The effort to make Arab culture dominant instead of Turkish culture under the theme of religion…

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Multiple decay and collapse in the state with all its institutions, from the judiciary to the army, from education to health… Destroyed separation of powers, an ineffective parliament. A rotten judiciary, an army that has lost its compass, a collapsed education system, an economy failing in every field from distribution to production. A culture of plunder in the economy and, with the influence of the judiciary, decay and collapse in social morality. A one-man regime far from oversight…

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The vast majority of Turkey is looking for a way out. To get out of this nightmare, we need to make Atatürk’s Principles and Revolutions dominant in Turkey again.

Since the early years of the AKP government, in the face of attacks on the Republic and Atatürk’s principles, a significant segment of society began chanting “We are Mustafa Kemal’s Soldiers” at national holidays, in stadiums, and in sports halls. Finally, the fact that lieutenants graduating from military academies shouted “We are Mustafa Kemal’s Soldiers” was perceived as hope in society and as a threat in AKP circles.

The vast majority of society, especially the youth, demands Atatürk’s principles and revolutions.

Saying “I am Mustafa Kemal’s Soldier” is not enough. Moreover, being Mustafa Kemal’s soldier is not enough. One must be a soldier of Mustafa Kemal’s Revolutions.

When we look at the past, we see that there are great differences between being Mustafa Kemal’s soldier and being a soldier of Mustafa Kemal’s Revolutions. Today, to be Mustafa Kemal’s soldier, we need cadres who know the spirit of the Enlightenment Revolutions and will work to make Atatürk’s principles and revolutions dominant in Turkey again.

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk’s Revolutions are universal, independent of time and space, with his saying, “The truest guide in life is science.” It is not a process that starts and ends, but a continuous democratic revolution process in the light of the changing world and science. Freedom and independence are also its fundamental characteristics.

First, we must identify where we made mistakes and where we failed.

The most important of the Enlightenment Revolutions was introducing the uneducated peasantry in rural areas, which made up 80 percent of the population, to the republic. A national consciousness had to be created instead of an ummah, and people had to be made aware that they were equal and free individuals of the republic instead of subjects of the sultan. This could only be possible through education (Village Institutes) and the peasant becoming the master, becoming wealthy (land distribution to farmers, land reform).

In this article, I will tell you about the real hero soldiers of Mustafa Kemal, his comrades-in-arms, during the War of Independence. But you decide whether they were Mustafa Kemal revolutionaries or not.

İSMET İNÖNÜ: Commander of the Western Front. Hero of the Battlefields and Lausanne. Atatürk’s Prime Minister… The architect of the First Industrial Plan implemented during the Atatürk era, especially in 1934… After Atatürk’s death, for some reason, he made amends by organizing a Tea Party with commanders who were anti-Atatürk, anti-secular regime, pro-monarchy, and removed from administration (such as Kazım Karabekir, Rauf Orbay, Rafet Bele, Ali Fuat Cebesoy). He purged names like Tevfik Rüşdü Aras, Atatürk’s permanent Foreign Minister and one of his closest associates, Interior Minister Şükrü Kaya, Kılıç Ali, and Rıza Soyak. He worked very hard on the Village Institutes and Land Reform, which were the most important pillars of Atatürk’s Enlightenment Revolutions regarding the village. But then, for some reason, he bowed to the pressures of the military, the Democrat Party, the majority of the CHP Parliamentary Group, the alliance of landlords, merchants, and clergymen. In 1947, he rendered the Village Institutes dysfunctional. He dismissed the architects of the Village Institutes, Minister of National Education Hasan Ali Yücel and General Director of Secondary Education İsmail Hakkı Tonguç. He made Nazi-admirer Şemsettin Şirer the Minister of National Education. In 1948, with the pressure of the army, he threw our planned development plans into the trash to join the Marshall Plan. He was the implementer of the revolutions during the Atatürk era; after Atatürk, he could not resist the counter-revolutionaries and gave up on the revolutions.

CELAL BAYAR: The “Galip Hoca” (Victorious Teacher) of the War of Independence… Atatürk’s Soldier… The founder of İş Bank upon Atatürk’s request… The Minister of Economy and Prime Minister of the Atatürk Era… A solid soldier of Atatürk, but one of the most important actors of the Counter-Revolution, along with War of Independence veteran Adnan Menderes, in blocking the Village Institutes and the Land Distribution to Farmers Law, which were Atatürk’s greatest Enlightenment Revolutions. Let us underline that Turkey became attached to US imperialism starting in 1947 during the CHP era, but after 1950, the doors were opened wide and dependency gradually increased.

MARSHAL FEVZİ ÇAKMAK: An undisputed war hero… But the Chief of General Staff who pressured President İnönü to “close these communist nests,” referring to the Village Institutes, the most important part of the Enlightenment Revolutions…

KAZIM KARABEKİR, RAUF ORBAY, REFET BELE, ALİ FUAT CEBESOY: Four of the five highest-ranking pashas of the War of Independence. They stood against Atatürk’s Revolutions and the secular republic to the end. After Atatürk’s death, at the invitation of İsmet İnönü, they worked again in Turkish politics for a Counter-Revolution against secularism and the republic.

TURKISH ARMY: The second biggest blow of the Counter-Revolution after the Land Reform and Village Institutes is İsmet İnönü’s signing of a defense agreement with the USA during the World War II period, with the pressure of the army. Even more interesting is this: Between 1947 and 1965, the governments were unaware of and the parliament did not approve the 54 military agreements made between the Turkish Armed Forces and the USA. Following these military agreements, and especially with the Democrat Party coming to power, Turkey lost its economic, military, and political independence and became a satellite of the USA.

As some of the Atatürkist officers who grew up sharp from the Military Academies (I exclude the majority, of course) rose and approached the command level, they moved away from being Mustafa Kemal’s soldiers and became the USA’s “Our Boys.” Especially with September 12, 1980, the official view, historical understanding, and education system of the Republic of Turkey were based on the Turkish-Islamic Synthesis. External dependency in the economy was increased, and Political Islam (Green Belt) was paved as an imperialism project. The influence of the September 12 Regime, which called themselves Mustafa Kemal’s soldiers, was very great in this as well.

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The Counter-Revolution is not a movement of bigots alone. It is not Political Islam alone. The Counter-Revolution is a movement carried out by British and American imperialism itself. From time to time, it has used the army, from time to time the CHP, the DP, the bureaucracy, politicians, and traitors who appear to be intellectuals. But it has always used bigots by abusing the beliefs and religion of an uneducated society. Political Islam is not a movement of faith or thought, but a pawn of imperialism.

ATATÜRK’S SOLDIERS AFTER 1980 AND IN THE 2000S

I reminded you of some of Mustafa Kemal’s soldiers in the period up to 1980. In the later period, especially after the 2000s, we also saw politicians who used the name of Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, used the name of Atatürk’s Party, and put up a show of reaction to the AKP government, and even legitimized actions against the republic, the constitution, and the principle of secularism. There are still politicians today who call themselves Mustafa Kemal’s soldiers but move away from Atatürk’s principles and revolutions and try to harvest votes only with Atatürk’s name, and I hope the youth are aware of them.

Saying “We are Mustafa Kemal’s Soldiers” is not enough. It is necessary to “Be the Soldiers of Mustafa Kemal’s Revolutions and work to make these revolutions dominant in Turkey.”

NOTE: For those who want to get extensive information on the topics I touched upon in the article, I will suggest two books and an interview.

Meriç Köyatası; Turkey’s Factory Settings for the Twenty-First Century/Counter-Revolution in the Economy. Naviga Publications… www.amazon.com.tr and www.denizkutuphanesi.com

Prof. Dr. Çetin Yetkin; Counter-Revolution 1945-1950, Kilit Publications, in all bookstores and sites selling online.

Regarding the closure of the Village Institutes, I recommend you read the interview İsmet İnönü had with Muammer Erten on the official website of the İnönü Foundation, ismetinonu.org.tr.