Atatürk, National Will, and the Veteran Parliament

The founder of the Republic of Turkey, Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, is a leader who fought against the enemy under the will of the nation and the administration of the parliament, opened the Parliament, and established the state. Relying on his military career full of successes, instead of fighting the enemy alongside high-ranking commanders, he chose to first persuade and organize the nation through congresses. Then he opened the Parliament. Then he established the Republic. In reality and in practice, the state was established when the Parliament was opened; the Turkish Army fought under the command of the Parliament, and the Republic of Turkey was established after the War of Independence. It is impossible to conceive of or achieve the War of Independence, the Turkish Revolution, and the Republic of Turkey without Atatürk. 

We know that wars are the sum of battles. Sometimes a battle is won, but the war is lost. Sometimes a battle is lost, but the war is won in the end. There are many examples of this in our history and in world history. 

The War of Independence consists of four important battles: the First Battle of İnönü, the Second Battle of İnönü, the Battle of Sakarya, and the Battle of the Commander-in-Chief. The Battles of İnönü are important not only from a military and political perspective but also in terms of the nation's psychology. The victories of İnönü, which were about two and a half months apart, were the first successes of the regular army established to replace scattered and irregular forces. In other words, these victories are the success of military authority, order, discipline, hierarchy, the chain of command, and management. While congratulating İsmet Pasha after the Second Battle of İnönü, Atatürk said: “You defeated not only the enemy there, but also the ill-fated destiny of the nation”. 

The Battle of Sakarya stopped the enemy invasion and repelled the enemy. After the Great Offensive, the enemy armies were captured and destroyed, the military phase of the War of Independence was crowned with the Great Victory, and our heroic army liberated İzmir from occupation on September 9.

FROM THE FRONTS TO LAUSANNE

The political and diplomatic victory achieved based on military victories and the power of reason is the Treaty of Lausanne. It is the title deed of Turkey. It is the international recognition—the seal—of the independence, integrity, sovereignty, and equality of the Republic of Turkey. It is the defeat of imperialism at the diplomatic table after the fronts. It is the permanent registration of the borders accepted in the National Pact (Misak-ı Millî), excluding our southern border. Lausanne was recognized by the world, especially by the victorious states of the First World War. It is one of the very few international treaties that has maintained its existence from that time to the present day. 

We do not forget that the War of Independence and the Republic are the peaks of the sacrifice, diligence, and heroism of the Turkish people, who became a nation while becoming a state, and became a state while becoming a nation, under the leadership of Atatürk, at a historical breaking point, in a period when the country, the region, and the world were turned upside down. The War of Independence is not only an anti-imperialist war, but also a civil war. It is the work of the National Forces (Kuvayı Milliye), the nationalists and patriots whom the British and US newspapers belittled, underestimated, and labeled as adventurers by calling them Kemalists.  

The War of Independence is an anti-imperialist war. It was waged against imperialism and its extensions and collaborators within the Ottoman Empire. The Turkish Revolution, the Republican Revolution, and the Kemalist Revolution, among their other qualities, are enlightenment revolutions and sovereignty revolutions. They changed the root, source, definition, meaning, and function of sovereignty. They took sovereignty from the heavens and brought it down to earth. They took it from the individual and gave it to the nation. They removed it from being divine and made it worldly and political. The citizen and the nation replaced the subject and the servant. National sovereignty replaced the palace and the sultanate.

THE REPUBLIC; PUBLICISM, PLANNING, AND EQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITY

The Republic attaches great importance to publicism and planning. Because of its populist character, it attaches great importance to the equality of citizens and equality of opportunity among citizens in accessing public services. It looks at education and health, in particular, from a populist, publicist, and collectivist perspective. A scientific, egalitarian, and enlightenment-based understanding of education is also one of the fundamental tools for creating the citizen and the nation. 

On the ideological plane, there is a definitive anti-imperialism and a passion for full independence in the Republic. It bases this on economic independence. For this reason, Gazi Mustafa Kemal convened the Turkey Economic Congress in İzmir even before the proclamation of the Republic and the signing of Lausanne. He said that there can be no independence without economy. He underlined that there can be no national sovereignty without financial sovereignty. He stated that the Republic would be an economic state. He pointed out that no matter how great military and political victories may be, they cannot be permanent if they are not crowned with economic victories. Following the Economic Congress in İzmir, one of the most important signs that the Republic would be proclaimed shortly was the making of Ankara the capital on October 13, 1923. 

Atatürk was in favor of equality and justice not only within Turkey but also in the world. As early as the 1920s, he said that the oppressed would destroy and annihilate the oppressors and stated that oppressed nations would attain their freedom. He emphasized the need to establish a world order in which all nations participate with equal rights. By saying, “We take pride in not resembling anyone and not letting anyone resemble us. Because we resemble ourselves,” he underlined the unique and special dimensions of the revolution he led. Despite its prestige throughout the world, in the Islamic world, in the Middle East, and in third-world countries, the young Republic never tried to export its model to any country. 

In short, Mustafa Kemal is the first leader in history to establish a parliament and carry out a revolution through that parliament. He conducted and managed the War of Independence with the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM) and established the state after the TBMM was opened. He saw the parliament as the source of legitimacy. He relied not on the great military successes or heroism in his career, but solely and only on the Turkish Nation and the TBMM.