Museum, History: the Atatürk and War of Independence Museum

Atatürk's car

In the  Anitkabir complex, filling the massive structure built to frame the ceremonial square, is Turkeys museum of its critical moment in history, the War of Independence. Most countries (sometimes governments) have a museum like this, a place that expresses who they are and how they see themselves and the glorious things that they are capable of. It makes sense that in Turkey that museum would focus on Atatürk and the War for Independence.

Atatürk, Turkey and the War for Independence have a symbiotic relationship with each other. It is quite possible that if any one of those three did not exist, the other two might not exist either.

Atatürk leading the people

At the end of the First World War, the Ottoman Empire found itself on the wrong side of victory with the British, French, Greeks and Armenians all looking to grab a piece of an empire that was disappearing fast. And in fact, they all did. In its weakened state, the Sultan was unable to offer affective resistance. Who was looking out for the interests of the Turks? That is where Atatürk stepped up. The Sultan’s government in Istanbul was the prisoner of occupation forces. He could not fight back, so Atatürk would.

Atatürk created government in Ankara and from there conducted the War for Independence. It is part of the legend, the slaying of foreign giants. You can debate how hard it was to expel countries who did not really want to stay (UK and France) but the fact is that Atatürk won that war. He liberated Turkey and when he was done he dismissed the Sultan and created the Turkish Republic. Modern turkey was born.

Involving women in the revolution

The Museum memorializes and animates the crucial moments in making Atatürk who he was (the battle of Gallipoli for example) and chronicles how Atatürk made Turkey what it is (but does not allow pictures, sorry - snuck a few but it is much better than they show). After the creation of the Republic, Atatürk lead a cultural revolution. He sized up the competition (Europe) and concluded that for Turkey to be secure and prosperous, it needed to become more like the West, modern and secular. The museum highlights the principles Atatürk sought to realize - the importance of education, the equality of women, among others.

Some of Atatürk's reforms (there were many - from dress to language to religion) are still controversial to this day. The unabashed devotion on display in the museum and almost everywhere else in Turkey made me wonder why he is not more often used as a stick to beat political opponents. Kind of like the Tea Party uses our Founding Fathers to pillory Obama. That doesn't seem to happen yet with Atatürk. It seems he still belongs to everyone.