The little I knew about Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, I liked.
He separated Church and State. Created a model of modernization that more Muslim nations should have emulated.
He was a Turkish army officer, revolutionary, and founder of the Republic of Turkey, serving as its first President from 1923 until his death in 1938. …
… initiated a rigorous program of political, economic, and cultural reforms with the ultimate aim of building a modern and secular nation-state.
He made primary education free and compulsory, opening thousands of new schools all over the country.
Turkish women received equal civil and political rights during Atatürk’s presidency ahead of many Western countries. …
Atatürk’s foreign policy followed his motto, “peace at home, peace in the world“. …
Despite his radical secular reforms, Atatürk remained broadly popular in the Muslim world.
I didn’t learn much new at the museum in Izmir. But I’m sure most in the nation wished they had Atatürk back as President today.