Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and the modernization of Turkey

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk was a war hero from world war 1 who later became the president of Turkey. He felt that Turkeys involvement in the Islamic religion didn't modernize them. He wanted his country to be respected in the eyes of the western nations. This was secularism. Secular is pertaining to worldy things instead of religious or spiritual things. He felt that the islamic nature made his country look less respected than the other countrys of the world.

First and foremost, he didn't like the current clothing of the country. He felt that the fez was a sign of ignorance. He wanted everyone in the country to be wearing a dress shirt, a tie, jacket, waistcoat, and a hat, to make his country's culture more similar to the western nation. He felt that having women hide there faces and huddle down whenever a man would walk by was ridiculous and barbaric. Last, he changed the nations alphabet. The hard to discipher letters of the islamic alphabet led to an incredibly high ammount of illeterate citizens. He encouraged people to teach each other the new adopted alphabet to make the country look more civilized. Without the Atatürk's encouragement, Turkey would still be the "uncivilized" country it was when it was under heavy Islamic influence.