Who is ataturk video

Britain's Prince Charles and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan led commemorations on the Gallipoli peninsula today to mark the th anniversary of a World War I battle that helped shape the birth of new nations. Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed today to make lessons in the Arabic-alphabet Ottoman language compulsory in high schools.

Thousands of people on Tuesday came together in Ankara to form the world's largest portrait of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of the modern Turkish republic who remains its number one national hero. Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan hopes to secure a place alongside Mustafa Kemal Ataturk in the pantheon of great and transformative Turkish leaders, but critics accuse him of undermining the legacy of the founder of the modern republic.

Turkey lifts generations-old ban on Islamic head scarf. Turkey lifted a ban on women wearing the Islamic head scarf in state institutions on Tuesday, ending a generations-old restriction as part of a package of reforms the government says are meant to improve democracy.

Turkey coup trial: Ex-army chief sent to jail for life, 21 acquitted. A Turkish court today sentenced a former army chief and other top brass to life in prison in a high-profile trial of people accused of plotting to overthrow the Islamic-rooted government.

Turkey's 'Standing Man': a new form of peaceful protest. A man stood still in Istanbul's Taksim Square: silent, staring straight ahead, he had not moved for hours. Young, urban women: the face of Turkey's protest movement.

Mustafa Kemal Ataturk was born simply "Mustafa" in the early months of , in Salonika, in what was then the Ottoman Empire his birthplace is now known as Thessalonika, in modern-day Greece. When he was 12 years old, Mustafa was sent to the military academy in Istanbul. There, his mathematics teacher gave him the name Kemal — meaning "perfection"— because he excelled in academics. He graduated in As a young man, Mustafa Kemal became a member of the Young Turks, a revolutionary movement of intellectuals.

From to , Mustafa Kemal held a number of posts in the Ottoman army. During the second Balkan War he became chief of staff before being posted at the Turkish embassy in Bulgaria. He made a name for himself as the commander of the 19th Division, where his bravery and strategic prowess helped thwart the Allied invasion of the Dardanelles in , and received repeated promotions until the Armistice of Mudros ended the fighting in The armistice provisions gave the Allies the right to occupy forts that controlled major waterways, as well as any territory that might pose a threat to security.

Mustafa Kemal's first order of business was to modernize and secularize the country, which he did by studying Western governments and adapting their structure for the people of Turkey. He believed that modernization necessarily entailed Westernization, and he established a policy of state secularism, with a constitution that separated the government from religion. Social and economic reforms were a crucial part of his strategy as well.

He replaced the Arabic alphabet with a Latin one, introduced the Gregorian calendar and urged people to dress in Western clothes. Mustafa industrialized the nation, establishing state-owned factories around the country as well as a railway network.

And a multitude of new laws established legal equality between the sexes. His policy of state secularism was particularly controversial, and he was accused of decimating important cultural traditions. Mustafa Kemal was married briefly from to , and although he never fathered off-spring, it is said he adopted 12 daughters and one son.

Other sources say he had up to 8 children. In , he introduced surnames in Turkey, and he took the last name Ataturk, which means "Father of the Turks. We strive for accuracy and fairness. If you see something that doesn't look right, contact us!