The Christian minorities had welcomed the Greek invasion in 1919. However Ataturk was a military man and a Turkish nationalist. And it is well known that he was no friend of the 'Young Turks' who were responsible for that genocide. Ataturk is recorded as calling the 1915 pogrom against the Armenians 'a shameful act'. There is one dominant people, the Turks one language, Turkish one dominant religion, Sunni Islam. Thirdly Ataturk ensured that Turkey largely became a homogeneous country. And later when his successor, Ismet Inonu was voted out, Inonu bowed to the ballot box. However stability was ensured and there was a smooth transition of power when Ataturk died. Innocent people suffered in this suppression of dissent. Likewise there was a robust response to the Kurds in 1924 and a religious uprising in 1930. So, after an attempt on Ataturk's life in 1926 there was a wide sweeping up of all opposition elements. There was what Mango calls, 'measured terrorism'. However neither was the new government a tyranny. While there were opposition groups in parliament, Turkey was not really a democracy in Ataturk's life-time. There was an assembly, an executive led by a prime-minister, and as president Ataturk was the head of state till his death in 1938. He abolished the Sultanate and set up the shape of a parliamentary democracy.

Secondly Ataturk secured the stability of the new republic. By 1923 Ataturk had driven out the Greeks and negotiated the withdrawal of the British and French. The country was under the control of Britain and France, and then in 1919 the Greeks occupied the Izmir region. In 1918 Turkey was anything but independent. This was a heroic and monumental achievement. We are taken to the details of Ataturk's life, but the author never loses sight of what was achieved for Turkey.įirst and foremost Ataturk secured the independence of Turkey after the defeat of the Ottoman Empire at the end of the First World War. He deserves a thorough biography, and Andrew Mango delivers. The man mainly responsible for the success of modern Turkey is Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.

Turkey's success stands in contrast to the chaos running riot in much of the Middle East.

Transport operates like clock-work there is law and order health care is reasonable and for the last ten years or so the economy has been thriving.

Atatürk by Andrew Mango