At first glance at the title, you may think that the title is problematic and inconsistent. Don't worry, when you read the whole text, you will feel that this title, far from contradictory, will feel very appropriate. Please read on!
In June 1922, Mustafa Kemal, who held great power, was fretting about what kind of state Turkey would build in the future, and according to his own wishes, the future Turkey must be a secular democracy with no monarchy and no theocracy. That is, Mustafa Kemal wanted to establish a republic. However, this idea of his was strongly opposed not only by the feudal forces, but also by Mustafa Kemal's right-hand man, Raubey. He said: "In conscience and affection, I am inseparable from the Sultan and the Caliph ... ... It is my duty to remain loyal to the monarch, and my love for the caliph is the result of my education. If we abolish the sultanate and the caliphate in a hurry, without this authority, which is accustomed to being considered supreme, it will be difficult for us to control the situation, and the result will be failure and disaster. ”
Mustafa Kemal, however, disagreed. He said: "By now, the sultanate and the caliphate system have become the representatives of the religious forces of the big landlords and the surrender factions in the country, and they have long been unpopular. We have grown stronger in resisting foreign aggression and striving for national independence, and we are not at all inferior to them in terms of prestige and popular will. Above all, the army is ours and under our command, which is our most powerful weapon and the most important guarantee for the abolition of the sultanate and the caliphate. You see they have, they have everything, they have only one mouth, can they defend the sultanate and the caliphate with one mouth? ”
Mustafa Kemal's remarks were echoed by many. However, then-Prime Minister Rauf objected, saying: "I participated in the War of Independence in order to expel foreigners and restore the Sultan and the Caliph to their independent masters." Raough's words were echoed by many. After hearing this, Mustafa Kemal said lightly: "The sultanate and the caliphate system have never been maintained by words, they rely on strength." The Ottomans had taken the throne of the Sultan and the Caliphate through violence, and now that we had taken power by force, the Ottomans had to surrender power. If someone opposes and blocks, it is inevitable that everyone will fall to the ground. ”
As soon as these words came out, many opponents were stunned. Because they know that power is now in the hands of Mustafa Kemal. In other words, Mustafa Kemal is still willing to play democracy with them, so as to maintain a superficial harmony. What if Mustafa Kemal doesn't want to play anymore? Since then, many opponents have expressed support for the abolition of the sultanate and the caliphate. Seeing that the threat of force had an effect, Mustafa Kemal also took a step back, saying: "First abolish the sultanate, retain the caliphate, the Ottoman family, can continue to be religious leaders, but can no longer be monarchs." ”
The opposition saw that it still retained the caliphate system, felt that it had earned it, and agreed. In September 1923, Mustafa Kemal established the People's Party. On 29 October, the Republic of Turkey was established, Mustafa Kemal was elected as the first President of the Republic, and Ankara was identified as the capital. In this way, at the insistence of Mustafa Kemal, Turkey eventually became a republic. But how could Mustafa Kemal, who was bent on secularizing Turkey, turn a blind eye to the caliphate's greatest feudal remnants? However, abolishing the caliphate is much more difficult than abolishing the Sultan.
Because the caliph at that time was the pillar of the Islamic world and the head of muslims all over the world. At that time, the opposition was also looking for an opportunity to oust Mustafa Kemal and restore the sultanate. Prime Minister Raough contacted lawmakers opposed to Mustafa Kemal and introduced a bill saying that only people born on Turkish territory after the War of Independence would be eligible to run. Mustafa Kemal's birthplace, Thessaloniki, was later assigned to Greece. If the bill passes, Mustafa Kemal will lose his candidacy for president. After that, Mustafa Kemal used his army to forcibly dissolve the original parliament and form a new parliament.
In the new parliament, most of the members were Mustafa Kemal's supporters. They elected Mustafa Kemal as Speaker and then president of Turkey. After Mustafa Kemal was elected president, he dismissed Raough as prime minister and appointed General Ismet, who supported him, as the new prime minister. In March 1924, after eradicating the threat, Mustafa Kemal abolished the caliphate, along with the inquisition of religious courts and religious schools. Later, clerics across Turkey rebelled under the slogan of restoring the caliphate and calling on Muslims to rebel against mustafa Kemal's government. In February 1925, there was a massive Dervish rebellion, but it was quickly suppressed.
After this rebellion, Mustafa Kemal closed down monasteries, banned the activities of the dervishes, and used severe measures to crack down on any religious forces. However, the clergy were still not dead-hearted, and they used the last trick - to support Mustafa Kemal as caliph, and wanted to use this trick to preserve the caliphate system, but Kemal refused. Mustafa Kemal said that whoever dared to stop the secularization of Turkey sent them to meet Allah, including myself. By 1927, under Mustafa Kemal's iron fist, all religious, political, and military forces opposing him had been suppressed, and Mustafa Kemal was in full power.
Later, it was Mustafa Kemal's series of secular policies. For example, in order not to allow women to wear face coverings, he issued a decree that prostitutes must wear face coverings when they go out. On November 10, 1938, Mustafa Kemal died. On his deathbed, he left a will: if the elected government had a tendency to Islamize, the military could stage a coup to overthrow the elected government without being held accountable. Since then, the Turkish army has always considered itself to preserve the legacy and secularization of the Kemal Revolution, and has repeatedly defended the secularization of Turkey during this period.
For example, after 1946, Turkey gradually moved towards a multi-party system. But since 1950, the People's Party, which Mustafa Kemal personally founded, has not won an election once, and the parties that have won the elections are often Islamist parties. As a result, the Turkish army carried out three major military coups in 1960, 1971 and 1980, successfully defending turkey's secularization. However, it all came to an end with Erdogan's rise to power. After the 2016 7/15 Turkish military coup, many Turkish women ran to the street with Mustafa Kemal's head and cried bitterly. However, Turkish men expressed support for the coup.