Ataturk
Ataturk, title adopted by Mustafa Kemal (1881-1938). Turkish soldier and statesman, the founder of modern Turkey. As a young army officer he founded a secret society to remedy the deplorable state of his country. During World War I he commanded the defense of the Dardanelles and the Caucasus. He led Turkey to victory in the Greek war (1919-23) and played an important role in the abolition of the sultanate. As first president of a secular Turkish republic (1923) he used dictatorial methods to reform and modernizes the country.
