Mustafa Kemal, a military leader turned president is fondly known as Ataturk or the Father of Turks. Like our Gandhiji, his face is printed on the Turkish currency notes.
Turkey gained independence and became a republic in 1923. Mustafa Kemal who became the president abolished the existing legal system and made the country secular. Women were granted voting rights. His efforts to raise the country to the status of a modern nation gave him the title ‘Ataturk’.
Turkey was ruled by several empires including the Greeks, Persians, Romans and Seljuks. Turkey was at the height of its glory during the reign of the Ottoman Empire.
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