Atatürk´s Reforms

Misafir · **10-02-2008**

Atatürk´s Reforms

Turkish: Atatürk Devrimleri or Atatürk İnkılapları) were a series of significant political, legal, cultural, social and economic reforms that were implemented under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk in the early years of the Turkish Republic. The graduates of the Tanzimat-era modern schools, who formed the nation's elites including Atatürk and the members of Republican People's Party, applied their western-inspired modernisation to all areas of government. Central to these reforms were the belief that Turkish society would have to Westernise itself both politically and culturally in order to modernise. Reform movement began with the modernization of the constitution, including the adaptation of European laws and jurisprudence to the needs of the new Republic. This was followed by a thorough secularization and modernization of the administration, with particular focus on the education system. The development of industry was promoted by strategies such as import substitution and the founding of state enterprises and state banks.
It was suggested that Atatürk's reform movement could be described as a revolution rather than just a series of reforms that took two decades to implement. This position based on a fact that they were implemented during the Single-Party period and imposed by the elites to the public. It was proposed that reform movement could not be performed under multiparty period, which public had chance to distanced itself.

Political reforms

When the republic was established the Ottoman Empire was still in existence, with its heritage of religious and dynastic authority. Atatürk's political reforms involved a number of institutional changes. The dynasty was abolished by the Ankara Government, but among the people (though less among the elite), its tradition and cultural symbols remained active. However very carefully planned political change began to affect the complex system developed in the Ottoman Empire. The reforms included, foremost, paving the way for the proclamation of the republic, the abolition of the powers of the Ottoman Dynasty which had ruled since 1383, and ordering the last members of the dynasty to leave the country, on November 1, 1922. The proclamation of the new Turkish state as a republic on October 29, 1923, gave the Turkish nation the right to exercise popular sovereignty by representative democracy. Also during this process, the Caliphate (the nominal leadership of all Muslims in the world) held by the Ottoman Sultan since 1517 was abolished on March 3, 1924.
Not only were all the social institutions of Turkish Society reorganized but also all social and political values and ideology of the state were replaced as well. To understand the reason behind the military apex one has to remember that reforms occurred in the interwar period. The military occupied 16.9% of the professions, while today this is only 3%.

Secularism

and The precursors for the secular reforms can be found in the measures and proposals of the Ottoman Empire (Tanzimat, first constitutionalsecond constitutional era). The Ottomans' failure to embrace the Arab populace was one source of political tension. It was said the reforms, "alienated a segment of its society," and as "the state's hostility to religion became clear,… Islam thus became a political tool in the hands of Arab populace."[citation needed] (see Countercoup (1909)) This factored in the Arab Revolt. Atatürk's reforms thus aimed to escape from the old mistake. Rather than having an Islam emerging solely from opposition to the Kemalist state, have a Kemalist socialization imbibed by a more pluralistic Islam.[attribution needed] The changes toward secularism did not happen overnight in the framework of the new republic. It had a narrative originating from the Ottoman Empire's political experience, a narrative which continues during the 21st century, with a Turkish Islam rooted in Sufism, particularly Naqshbandi Sufi orders, and punctuated by frontier conditions of Turkey. Whether the results were "pluralistic" and "liberal" by chance or by plan is debated.
The changes included abolition of the office of caliphate held by the OttomansMarch 3, 1924, which followed the abolition of the religious education system and the introduction of a national education system on March 3, 1924. Closure of the Islamic courts and the abolition of Islamic canon law gave way to transfer to a secular law structure by adoption from the Swiss Civil Code and other laws.
Atatürk's reforms were not anti-Islamic. Reforms included the establishment of Directorate for Religious Affairs (Turkish: Diyanet İşleri Başkanlığı), with the duty of "to execute the works concerning the beliefs, worship, and ethics of Islam, enlighten the public about their religion, and administer the sacred worshipping places." Reforms visualized a state which stood at equal distance ("active neutrality" rather than "passive neutrality") from every religion, neither promoting nor condemning any set of religious beliefs. Directorate for Religious Affairs become responsible for selection of appropriate policies through careful analysis and evaluation.

Popular sovereignty

The Ottoman Empire was a religious empire, but one in which the populace enjoyed some autonomy. See Millet (Ottoman Empire) Official positions included an elected Communal Council, a Chief Rabbi, religious courts, etc. The social decisions were based on religious affiliation and in some cases decisions were taken by religious interpretation.
Atatürk's reforms forced the Religious affairs out of politics, in favor of popular sovereignty. The Ottoman Communal structure was seen as a religious entity (governed by religious doctrines), and government cut the support to these structures. As a result communal structure was changed. With the worsening economic situation, many of the rich families who had donated to the community foundations, schools, hospitals, etc., lost their wealth or emigrated. Without government support the religious communities tried to adjust to the new way, but many failed. However, the same state acted firmly against acts of anti-religious feelings (anti-Semitism), and announced the equality and right of all Turkish citizens to the protection of the Republic. Kemalist reforms even forced a change in the call of prayer from Arabic to Turkish. The politics removed the chance of forming policies based on religion but such as in the Izmir's Jews case, today people with firm religious background are looking for viable ways to continue to enjoy the tolerance of their country without specific government support.
The Turkish Constitution of 1924 gave high importance to the sovereignty and independence of the Turkish state. The system created a government (Prime Minister) and a President, but with the executive and legislative power left at the unicameral Grand National Assembly. The political system included from one side Atatürk (the reformers) and from the other side was Turkey. Opposition formed from reformers constantly pursuing their goal at the parliament which represented Turkey. Atatürk and revolutionaries had to discuss the reforms that they wanted to pursue as the final executive decision was on the Assembly. The classic form of separation of power was largely cosmetic.In this structure the single party had forced through its revolutionary policies through the Grand National Assembly, but every reform was discussed. The elections were representative of social change which helped Atatürk to measure the results of his reforms. Through this form, at least at the legislative level, democracy flourished and give away to true multi-party elections in 1945.

Milestones

November 1, 1922 Abolition of the office of the Ottoman Sultan. October 29, 1923 Proclamation of the Republic - Republic of Turkey. March 3, 1924 Abolition of the office of Caliphate held by the Ottoman Caliphate.

Social reforms

Dress code

Ottoman Empire had a social system based on religious affliation. The religious insignia, which showed the religious authority of the individual, was common place. Dress code targated the insignia used outside times of worship. Step by step a series of laws beginning from 1923 reformed dress. The most famous was the Hat Law of 1925. The fez (Turkish "fes") had originally introduced to the Ottoman Empire's dress code in 1826 by Sultan Mahmud II as a symbol of feudalism. Sultan Mahmud II tried to model the reforms of Peter the Great in Russia. The second major law regarding to dress code was "the Law Relating to Prohibited Garments" of 1934. Antiquated religion-based clothing such as the veil and turban were banned, encouraging Turkish men to wear European attire.

Women's rights

The reforms in family law, the Turkish civil code, including women's suffrage, were "breakthroughs not only within the Islamic world but also in the Western world". Legal equality between the sexes was instituted by changes and balancing many other rules and regulations between 1926 - 1934. Among the main rights given to women, the first time in Turkish history, was the right to vote and own property. Georgia Scott informs us about the complexity of the female rights in Turkey giving a quote from an Architect in Istanbul "My mother and grandmother's covered every day. They could never go outside and feel the air, or go on a boat and feel the mist. My mother still covers. I hate it, and I would never want to like that" .The Turkish women were different from other women's rights groups in that instead of fighting to win their basic rights and equality, they were organized around maintaining and defending Atatürk's reforms and principles of secularism.

Milestones

*November 25, 1925 Change of headgear and dress November 30, 1925dervish lodges. June 21, 1934 Law on family names. November 26, 1934 Abolition of titles and by-names.

Legal reforms

Ottoman Empire was a religious empire in which each religious community enjoyed some autonomy . Each millet depending on the belief system governed either by Sharia, Catholic Canon law, or Jewish Halakha. The leading legal reforms instituted by Mustafa Kemal included the complete separation of government and religious affairs and the adoption of a strong interpretation of the principle of laïcité in the constitution. This was coupled with the closure of Islamic courts and the replacement of Islamic canon law (1924 - 1937) with a secular civil code modeled after Switzerland and a penal code modeled after the Italian Penal Code (1924 - 1937). The reforms also instituted legal equality between the sexes and the granting of full political rights to women on December 5, 1934, well before several other European nations.
In 1920, and today, the Islamic Law does not contain provisions regulating the sundry relationships of "political institutions" and "commercial transactions" . The Ottoman Empire dissolved not only because of its outdated systems, but also its traditions were not applicable to the demands of its time. For example, the rules relating to "criminal cases" which were shaped under Islamic LawAge of Enlightenment in Europe modernized the Christian Law. Islamic Law and Christian Law became drastically different. Polygamy has not been practiced by law abiding citizens of Turkey after Atatürk's reforms, in contrast to the former rules of the Megelle. There were thousands of articles in the Megelle which was not used due to their inapplicability. Polygamy in the Ottoman Empire, which was an accepted social phenomenon of Muslim Arab society even today.
Legal reforms of Kemal could be perceived as the last step of failed history of modernization in Ottoman Empire. Ottoman Empire tried to modernized the code with the reforms of 1839 (Hatt-i Sharif). Hatt-i Sharif in the Ottoman Empire tried to end the confusion in the judicial sphere by extending the legal equality to all citizens. In 1841 a criminal code was drawn up. When the Empire dissolved, there was still no legislation with regard to family and marital relationships[10]. The adaptation of laws relating to family and marital relationships is an important step which is attributed to Mustafa Kemal.

Milestones

December 5, 1934 Full political rights, to vote and be elected, to women. March 1, 1926 Introduction of the new penal law modeled after Italian Penal Code. February 5, 1937 The inclusion of the principle of laïcité in the constitution.

Educational reforms

The educational reforms combined with the opening of People's HousesLaw on Copyrights and congresses for discussing the issues of copyright, public education and scientific publishing.

Unification

The unification of education had two important features. The first one was the democratization and the second one was to activate secularism in the field of education. Unification came with three sets of sub-laws. First, All the medreses and schools administered by private foundations or Ministry for Religious Affairs were connected to the Ministry of National Education. Second the money allocated to schools and medreses from the budget of Ministry for Religious Affairs shall be transferred to the education budget. Third the Ministry of Education shall open a religious faculty to raise higher religious experts within Darülfünûn and separate schools to raise imams and hatips.
With the unification of education, along with the closure of the old-style universities, applied a large-scale program of science transfer from Europe. One of the corner stone of educational institutions, University of Istanbul, accepted the German and Austrian scientists, whom the National Socialist regime in Germany had considered `racially' or politically undesirable. This political decision was accepted as the building the nucleus of science as a modern institution in Turkey. The reform aimed to break away the traditional dependency [since the Ottoman Empire] on the transfer of science and technology by foreign experts.

Modernization

On November 1, 1928, the new Turkish alphabet was introduced by the Language Commission at the initiative of Atatürk, replacing the previously used Arabic script. The adoption of the new alphabet, the modernization of language by removing adapted words was part of Mustafa Kemal's program of modernization. The removal of Arabic script was defended on the ground that it was not appropriate for the authentic Turkish phonology, which needs a new set of symbols to be correctly represented. Adaptation of technical vocabulary is a step of modernization, which was tried thoroughly. Vernacularization and simplification of the non-technical Turkish was made on the ground that the language of Turkish people should be comprehensible by the language they use. Good example is the Turkish word "Bilgisayar (Bilgi:Knowledge Sayar:Counter)" which was adapted for the word "Computer". Another important part of Atatürk's reforms encompassed his emphasis on the Turkish language and history, leading to the establishment of Turkish Language Association and Turkish Historical Society for research on Turkish language and history, during the years 1931–2.

Milestones

Adoption of the new Establishment of March 3, 1924 The unification of education November 1, 1928Turkish alphabet 1931 Establishment of Turkish Language Association for research on Turkish language 1932 Establishment of Turkish Historical Societyhistory January 1, 1928Turkish Education Association for supporting children in financial need and contributing to the educational life. (May 31, 1933) Regulation of the university education

Economic reforms

Economic reforms included the establishment of many state-owned factories throughout the country for the agriculture, machine making and textile industries.
Many of these grew into successful enterprises, only to be privatized during the latter part of 20th century.
Atatürk considered the development of a national rail network as another important step for industrialization. In 1927 he established the Turkish State Railways, developing an extensive rail network in a relatively short timespan.

Milestones

24 July 1923 Abolition of capitulations with Treaty of Lausanne 1933 First
1937 Second Planned economy with Five Year Development Plans
public transportation networks 1925 Establishment of model farms; Atatürk Orman Çiftliği

Criticism

Effectiveness

Some people thought that the pace of change under Atatürk was too rapid as, in his quest to modernize Turkey, he effectively abolished centuries-old traditions. Still, the bulk of the population willingly accepted the reforms, even though some were seen as reflecting the views of the urban elites more than than the generally illiterate inhabitants of the rural countryside, where religious sentiments and customary norms tended to be stronger.
Probably the most controversial area of reform was that of religion. The policy of state secularism ("active neutrality") met with opposition at the time and it continues to generate a considerable degree of social and political tension. However, any political movement that attempts to harness religious sentiment at the expense of Turkish secularism is likely to face the opposition of the armed forces, which has always regarded itself as the principal and most faithful guardian of secularism. A historical example is the case of Prime Minister Adnan Menderes, who was overthrown by the military in 1960.

10-02-2008	#1 (mesaj-linki)
Misafir	Atatürk´s Reforms Atatürk´s Reforms Turkish: Atatürk Devrimleri or Atatürk İnkılapları) were a series of significant political, legal, cultural, social and economic reforms that were implemented under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk in the early years of the Turkish Republic. The graduates of the Tanzimat-era modern schools, who formed the nation's elites including Atatürk and the members of Republican People's Party, applied their western-inspired modernisation to all areas of government. Central to these reforms were the belief that Turkish society would have to Westernise itself both politically and culturally in order to modernise. Reform movement began with the modernization of the constitution, including the adaptation of European laws and jurisprudence to the needs of the new Republic. This was followed by a thorough secularization and modernization of the administration, with particular focus on the education system. The development of industry was promoted by strategies such as import substitution and the founding of state enterprises and state banks. It was suggested that Atatürk's reform movement could be described as a revolution rather than just a series of reforms that took two decades to implement. This position based on a fact that they were implemented during the Single-Party period and imposed by the elites to the public. It was proposed that reform movement could not be performed under multiparty period, which public had chance to distanced itself. Political reforms When the republic was established the Ottoman Empire was still in existence, with its heritage of religious and dynastic authority. Atatürk's political reforms involved a number of institutional changes. The dynasty was abolished by the Ankara Government, but among the people (though less among the elite), its tradition and cultural symbols remained active. However very carefully planned political change began to affect the complex system developed in the Ottoman Empire. The reforms included, foremost, paving the way for the proclamation of the republic, the abolition of the powers of the Ottoman Dynasty which had ruled since 1383, and ordering the last members of the dynasty to leave the country, on November 1, 1922. The proclamation of the new Turkish state as a republic on October 29, 1923, gave the Turkish nation the right to exercise popular sovereignty by representative democracy. Also during this process, the Caliphate (the nominal leadership of all Muslims in the world) held by the Ottoman Sultan since 1517 was abolished on March 3, 1924. Not only were all the social institutions of Turkish Society reorganized but also all social and political values and ideology of the state were replaced as well. To understand the reason behind the military apex one has to remember that reforms occurred in the interwar period. The military occupied 16.9% of the professions, while today this is only 3%. Secularism and The precursors for the secular reforms can be found in the measures and proposals of the Ottoman Empire (Tanzimat, first constitutionalsecond constitutional era). The Ottomans' failure to embrace the Arab populace was one source of political tension. It was said the reforms, "alienated a segment of its society," and as "the state's hostility to religion became clear,… Islam thus became a political tool in the hands of Arab populace."[citation needed] (see Countercoup (1909)) This factored in the Arab Revolt. Atatürk's reforms thus aimed to escape from the old mistake. Rather than having an Islam emerging solely from opposition to the Kemalist state, have a Kemalist socialization imbibed by a more pluralistic Islam.[attribution needed] The changes toward secularism did not happen overnight in the framework of the new republic. It had a narrative originating from the Ottoman Empire's political experience, a narrative which continues during the 21st century, with a Turkish Islam rooted in Sufism, particularly Naqshbandi Sufi orders, and punctuated by frontier conditions of Turkey. Whether the results were "pluralistic" and "liberal" by chance or by plan is debated. The changes included abolition of the office of caliphate held by the OttomansMarch 3, 1924, which followed the abolition of the religious education system and the introduction of a national education system on March 3, 1924. Closure of the Islamic courts and the abolition of Islamic canon law gave way to transfer to a secular law structure by adoption from the Swiss Civil Code and other laws. Atatürk's reforms were not anti-Islamic. Reforms included the establishment of Directorate for Religious Affairs (Turkish: Diyanet İşleri Başkanlığı), with the duty of "to execute the works concerning the beliefs, worship, and ethics of Islam, enlighten the public about their religion, and administer the sacred worshipping places." Reforms visualized a state which stood at equal distance ("active neutrality" rather than "passive neutrality") from every religion, neither promoting nor condemning any set of religious beliefs. Directorate for Religious Affairs become responsible for selection of appropriate policies through careful analysis and evaluation. Popular sovereignty The Ottoman Empire was a religious empire, but one in which the populace enjoyed some autonomy. See Millet (Ottoman Empire) Official positions included an elected Communal Council, a Chief Rabbi, religious courts, etc. The social decisions were based on religious affiliation and in some cases decisions were taken by religious interpretation. Atatürk's reforms forced the Religious affairs out of politics, in favor of popular sovereignty. The Ottoman Communal structure was seen as a religious entity (governed by religious doctrines), and government cut the support to these structures. As a result communal structure was changed. With the worsening economic situation, many of the rich families who had donated to the community foundations, schools, hospitals, etc., lost their wealth or emigrated. Without government support the religious communities tried to adjust to the new way, but many failed. However, the same state acted firmly against acts of anti-religious feelings (anti-Semitism), and announced the equality and right of all Turkish citizens to the protection of the Republic. Kemalist reforms even forced a change in the call of prayer from Arabic to Turkish. The politics removed the chance of forming policies based on religion but such as in the Izmir's Jews case, today people with firm religious background are looking for viable ways to continue to enjoy the tolerance of their country without specific government support. The Turkish Constitution of 1924 gave high importance to the sovereignty and independence of the Turkish state. The system created a government (Prime Minister) and a President, but with the executive and legislative power left at the unicameral Grand National Assembly. The political system included from one side Atatürk (the reformers) and from the other side was Turkey. Opposition formed from reformers constantly pursuing their goal at the parliament which represented Turkey. Atatürk and revolutionaries had to discuss the reforms that they wanted to pursue as the final executive decision was on the Assembly. The classic form of separation of power was largely cosmetic.In this structure the single party had forced through its revolutionary policies through the Grand National Assembly, but every reform was discussed. The elections were representative of social change which helped Atatürk to measure the results of his reforms. Through this form, at least at the legislative level, democracy flourished and give away to true multi-party elections in 1945. Milestones November 1, 1922 Abolition of the office of the Ottoman Sultan. October 29, 1923 Proclamation of the Republic - Republic of Turkey. March 3, 1924 Abolition of the office of Caliphate held by the Ottoman Caliphate. Social reforms Dress code Ottoman Empire had a social system based on religious affliation. The religious insignia, which showed the religious authority of the individual, was common place. Dress code targated the insignia used outside times of worship. Step by step a series of laws beginning from 1923 reformed dress. The most famous was the Hat Law of 1925. The fez (Turkish "fes") had originally introduced to the Ottoman Empire's dress code in 1826 by Sultan Mahmud II as a symbol of feudalism. Sultan Mahmud II tried to model the reforms of Peter the Great in Russia. The second major law regarding to dress code was "the Law Relating to Prohibited Garments" of 1934. Antiquated religion-based clothing such as the veil and turban were banned, encouraging Turkish men to wear European attire. Women's rights The reforms in family law, the Turkish civil code, including women's suffrage, were "breakthroughs not only within the Islamic world but also in the Western world". Legal equality between the sexes was instituted by changes and balancing many other rules and regulations between 1926 - 1934. Among the main rights given to women, the first time in Turkish history, was the right to vote and own property. Georgia Scott informs us about the complexity of the female rights in Turkey giving a quote from an Architect in Istanbul "My mother and grandmother's covered every day. They could never go outside and feel the air, or go on a boat and feel the mist. My mother still covers. I hate it, and I would never want to like that" .The Turkish women were different from other women's rights groups in that instead of fighting to win their basic rights and equality, they were organized around maintaining and defending Atatürk's reforms and principles of secularism. Milestones November 25, 1925 Change of headgear and dress November 30, 1925dervish lodges. June 21, 1934 Law on family names. November 26, 1934 Abolition of titles and by-names. Legal reforms* Ottoman Empire was a religious empire in which each religious community enjoyed some autonomy . Each millet depending on the belief system governed either by Sharia, Catholic Canon law, or Jewish Halakha. The leading legal reforms instituted by Mustafa Kemal included the complete separation of government and religious affairs and the adoption of a strong interpretation of the principle of laïcité in the constitution. This was coupled with the closure of Islamic courts and the replacement of Islamic canon law (1924 - 1937) with a secular civil code modeled after Switzerland and a penal code modeled after the Italian Penal Code (1924 - 1937). The reforms also instituted legal equality between the sexes and the granting of full political rights to women on December 5, 1934, well before several other European nations. In 1920, and today, the Islamic Law does not contain provisions regulating the sundry relationships of "political institutions" and "commercial transactions" . The Ottoman Empire dissolved not only because of its outdated systems, but also its traditions were not applicable to the demands of its time. For example, the rules relating to "criminal cases" which were shaped under Islamic LawAge of Enlightenment in Europe modernized the Christian Law. Islamic Law and Christian Law became drastically different. Polygamy has not been practiced by law abiding citizens of Turkey after Atatürk's reforms, in contrast to the former rules of the Megelle. There were thousands of articles in the Megelle which was not used due to their inapplicability. Polygamy in the Ottoman Empire, which was an accepted social phenomenon of Muslim Arab society even today. Legal reforms of Kemal could be perceived as the last step of failed history of modernization in Ottoman Empire. Ottoman Empire tried to modernized the code with the reforms of 1839 (Hatt-i Sharif). Hatt-i Sharif in the Ottoman Empire tried to end the confusion in the judicial sphere by extending the legal equality to all citizens. In 1841 a criminal code was drawn up. When the Empire dissolved, there was still no legislation with regard to family and marital relationships[10]. The adaptation of laws relating to family and marital relationships is an important step which is attributed to Mustafa Kemal. Milestones December 5, 1934 Full political rights, to vote and be elected, to women. March 1, 1926 Introduction of the new penal law modeled after Italian Penal Code. February 5, 1937 The inclusion of the principle of laïcité in the constitution. Educational reforms The educational reforms combined with the opening of People's HousesLaw on Copyrights and congresses for discussing the issues of copyright, public education and scientific publishing. Unification The unification of education had two important features. The first one was the democratization and the second one was to activate secularism in the field of education. Unification came with three sets of sub-laws. First, All the medreses and schools administered by private foundations or Ministry for Religious Affairs were connected to the Ministry of National Education. Second the money allocated to schools and medreses from the budget of Ministry for Religious Affairs shall be transferred to the education budget. Third the Ministry of Education shall open a religious faculty to raise higher religious experts within Darülfünûn and separate schools to raise imams and hatips. With the unification of education, along with the closure of the old-style universities, applied a large-scale program of science transfer from Europe. One of the corner stone of educational institutions, University of Istanbul, accepted the German and Austrian scientists, whom the National Socialist regime in Germany had considered `racially' or politically undesirable. This political decision was accepted as the building the nucleus of science as a modern institution in Turkey. The reform aimed to break away the traditional dependency [since the Ottoman Empire] on the transfer of science and technology by foreign experts. Modernization On November 1, 1928, the new Turkish alphabet was introduced by the Language Commission at the initiative of Atatürk, replacing the previously used Arabic script. The adoption of the new alphabet, the modernization of language by removing adapted words was part of Mustafa Kemal's program of modernization. The removal of Arabic script was defended on the ground that it was not appropriate for the authentic Turkish phonology, which needs a new set of symbols to be correctly represented. Adaptation of technical vocabulary is a step of modernization, which was tried thoroughly. Vernacularization and simplification of the non-technical Turkish was made on the ground that the language of Turkish people should be comprehensible by the language they use. Good example is the Turkish word "Bilgisayar (Bilgi:Knowledge Sayar:Counter)" which was adapted for the word "Computer". Another important part of Atatürk's reforms encompassed his emphasis on the Turkish language and history, leading to the establishment of Turkish Language Association and Turkish Historical Society for research on Turkish language and history, during the years 1931–2. Milestones Adoption of the new Establishment of March 3, 1924 The unification of education November 1, 1928Turkish alphabet 1931 Establishment of Turkish Language Association for research on Turkish language 1932 Establishment of Turkish Historical Societyhistory January 1, 1928Turkish Education Association for supporting children in financial need and contributing to the educational life. (May 31, 1933) Regulation of the university education Economic reforms Economic reforms included the establishment of many state-owned factories throughout the country for the agriculture, machine making and textile industries. Many of these grew into successful enterprises, only to be privatized during the latter part of 20th century. Atatürk considered the development of a national rail network as another important step for industrialization. In 1927 he established the Turkish State Railways, developing an extensive rail network in a relatively short timespan. Milestones 24 July 1923 Abolition of capitulations with Treaty of Lausanne 1933 First 1937 Second Planned economy with Five Year Development Plans public transportation networks 1925 Establishment of model farms; Atatürk Orman Çiftliği Criticism Effectiveness Some people thought that the pace of change under Atatürk was too rapid as, in his quest to modernize Turkey, he effectively abolished centuries-old traditions. Still, the bulk of the population willingly accepted the reforms, even though some were seen as reflecting the views of the urban elites more than than the generally illiterate inhabitants of the rural countryside, where religious sentiments and customary norms tended to be stronger. Probably the most controversial area of reform was that of religion. The policy of state secularism ("active neutrality") met with opposition at the time and it continues to generate a considerable degree of social and political tension. However, any political movement that attempts to harness religious sentiment at the expense of Turkish secularism is likely to face the opposition of the armed forces, which has always regarded itself as the principal and most faithful guardian of secularism. A historical example is the case of Prime Minister Adnan Menderes, who was overthrown by the military in 1960.