From Atatürk's Life of Thought: New Letters

I had previously written the following article on the letter revolution. Today, I would like to share with you an article on this subject that appeared in the newspaper Son Havadis on 10 November 1953. In this article, the importance and necessity of the letter revolution is emphasised and Mustafa Kemal Atatürk's views on the subject are presented.

Atatürk dwelt on a variety of issues and topics that could not fit into a human lifetime. In this respect, each subject can be analysed and explained separately.

His intellectual life is very productive and interesting. As those who were around him and in his meetings know very well, he always enjoyed opening discussion topics on certain subjects.

For example, years before the change of the alphabet, he talked about this issue with almost everyone and made those concerned talk about it. Since he firstly aimed to create a unity of thought among the intellectuals about the drawbacks of the old letters, he opened topics around these issues on every occasion. This period of preparation continued for years. It was only after Atatürk had convinced the intellectual community around him of the necessity of this work that he proceeded to the implementation of his own ideas. At that time, he no longer recognised any obstacle and strongly believed that it was necessary to legislate this work immediately. For this purpose, in his speech opening the Grand National Assembly on 1 November 1928, he explained his reasons for the adoption of the new letters and made his proposal as follows:

First of all, I would like to touch upon the first building block of every development. Before any other means, it is necessary to give the great Turkish nation an easy key to literacy, apart from the barren path that makes all its ambitions barren. The great Turkish nation can escape from illiteracy in a short way with little labour, only with such a tool, which is easily adapted to its own beautiful and noble language. A simple experience has revealed, like the sun, how well the Latin-based Turkish letters are suited to the Turkish language, and how easily Turkish children of advanced age in towns and villages can read and write.

The finalisation and legalisation of the Turkish alphabet with the decision of the Grand National Assembly will be a gateway in itself in the struggle for the rise of this country. The Third Grand National Assembly, which will give this new vitality to Turkish, which will surely enter the family of nations as the language of an enlightened and educated great nation, will remain a prominent figure not only in literary Turkish history but also in the history of all mankind.

With the adoption of the Turkish alphabet, our Parliament has entrusted an important duty to all of us, to all the adult children of this country who love their homeland: This duty is to actively serve and help the enthusiasm and love of our nation for reading and writing. All of us must endeavour to teach every citizen, male and female, whom we come across in our private and public lives, who cannot read or write. The fulfilment of a need of this nation, which has not been solved for centuries, in a few years is a sun of success that dazzles our eyes on the near horizon. We are in the excitement of this success, which is incomparable to any triumph [triumphant victory]. The conscientious pleasure of being an educator [teacher] in a field that will save our citizens from ignorance has made our existence complete.

My dear friends; with your high and eternal memento, the great Turkish nation will enter a new realm of light.

On 2 November 1 928, the Grand National Assembly of Turkey adopted the Law on the Change of Letters. The majority of the nation entered the reading mobilisation easily with this move.

Atatürk rejected the proposal that newspapers should be published half and half in old and new letters as a transitional period. For Atatürk, the period of intellectual preparation was over and the implementation phase had begun. Therefore, it was necessary to start with great enthusiasm and scope.

Here is the short story of the alphabet revolution ... To analyse its historical phases, results and scope is the subject of a separate book. This revolution is one of the greatest achievements for the cultural development of the nation.

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