After a successful military career, Mustafa Kemal turned his attention towards the government hoping to modernize Turkey. He drove back Greek forces that held the port of Smyrna and other large areas, becoming the nation’s hero and quickly gaining popularity among the Turks. However, the country was still divided between two governments, one held by the Sultan Mehemed VI, and the other by Kemal. Kemal knew the only way to do as he pleased with Turkey would be to remove the Sultan from power. In November 1922, the national assembly decided Turkey needed to become a republic. When the people of Turkey did not stand behind him, the Sultan fled the country with his young son leaving Kemal control of the country. Since the Sultan was also acting…show more content… After making the last sultan’s cousin caliph, he forced the caliph to make an appearance at public prayer every Friday, but the caliph had to wear Western clothing rather than the traditional robe and turban of past caliphs. He then, had the national assembly meet, where they voted to remove the caliph completely, which is like removing the pope from Catholicism. Banning the traditional fez, the head cover worn by most men, and the veil, the head cover worn by women, and introducing the western form of headwear known as a beret, Kemal was quickly replacing Islamic traditions with modern western ones. He also removed the ban on alcohol in Turkey, which the consumption of alcohol had always been forbidden in the Islamic religion. These changes lessened religion’s authority and introduced the idea of reform to the Turkish people, giving the government more power and strength to do as it pleased. Although, there was some protest from the older generations, Turkey was generally open to these new modifications, allowing Kemal to make more changes, and further strengthen the role of the…show more content… Kemal admired the idea of parliament as long as he could control the people involved, so he squashed any capable of challenging him before they got the chance. People with talents they could offer society were exiled, enemies that could gain power elsewhere and try to take over Turkey were not allowed to leave the country, some were actually tried and executed, and any political party that might come up with ideas that went against his own were destroyed before they were able to gain popularity. Much like many famous dictators, Kemal refused to let anyone stand in his way of governing Turkey, and most respected him for it. He became known as the Atatürk, Father Turk, because of all that he had done for the country. By preventing anyone from being able to challenge him, Kemal made sure his government was able to expand and had more power than any other part of Turkish
