[STARTING UP IN TURKEY]

Looking to celebrate Republic Day in Turkey? Wandering the streets of Turkey today, many foreigners may be flabbergasted: flags at every facade, pennants as far as the eye can see and the Turkish national anthem, "İstiklal Marşı," ("Independence March") playing everywhere. You still wonder what all of this is about? Gee! It's Republic Day in Turkey! The 85th anniversary of the Turkish Republic will be celebrated today with several ceremonies and activities throughout Turkey, marking the establishment of the Turkish Republic on Oct. 29, 1923, by Mustafa Kemal (later "Atatürk"), founder and first president of Turkey. Sure, we already know him all too well. His statue decorates every public square in Turkey, his bust marks the entrance of virtually every school from İstanbul to Hakkari, and his portrait, no doubt, looks at us from the shopkeeper's wall next door. So, who was he? And what did he do to deserve all this honor? Here's a short abstract. Atatürk: A Turkish hero Born in Thessaloniki in 1881, Kemal graduated from military school and joined the Ottoman Army. His hour came when the Ottoman Empire was defeated in World War I. In the Treaty of Sèvres, Anatolia was supposed to be shared among the occupying powers -- France, Greece and Great Britain -- with Turkey to exist as a small Anatolian state. But Kemal, who had already proven successful during the Battle of Gallipoli, didn't settle for that solution and soon started to organize a national resistance movement, mobilizing not only army units but the whole population of Anatolia. Kemal became the undisputed leader of the national War of Independence. By Sept. 18, 1922, victory was confirmed: The last occupying soldier was repelled. On July 24, 1923, when the Lausanne Treaty was signed by the new Turkish government and the former occupying allies, Turkey was guaranteed its complete independence with the same borders as those in the National Pact of 1920 -- the borders it has today. On Oct. 29, 1923 -- 85 years ago -- the Republic of Turkey was announced and Kemal was elected its first president. But that, however, was not everything: After the establishment of the republic, Atatürk started undertaking cultural and socio-political reforms. Aiming to transform the whole country and society from an Islamic empire into a secular republic according to what he saw as the Western model, he abolished the caliphate and sultanate and implemented a constitution to serve as the legal framework for the republican government. He adopted new civil, commercial and penal codes from the central European nation-states, replaced the Arabic alphabet with the Latin and abolished the fez (the oriental cap worn by men) and the veiling of women. And that's just to name some of his reforms. Atatürk is considered today not only a national hero but even more: the founder of "modern Turkey." It's understandable that he is still celebrated with pomp and circumstance on many occasions and especially on Republic Day. But how does this appear to foreigners in Turkey? Are they able to relate to this importance? Will they take part in the celebrations? Or is there something that makes them pause and err, for some reason, on the side of hesitation? Today's Zaman collected some opinions. Foreign perceptions of Republic Day "Well, of course I understand these emotions," says Anna, who is Swedish. "It is something that really attracts me to the Turkish mentality. Turks really know how to celebrate rituals. And this is something important that keeps a society together. Every community needs its common historical and cultural memory." "Sure, but on the other hand, it can also be something dangerous," says Sabrina, her German friend. "Of course, a society needs a common memory to develop its identity, but still there must be space to argue about this identity and to discuss what this memory means today and to ask whether it is still up-to-date." What does she mean exactly? "I mean that, of course, being completely occupied at the end of World War I was a big trauma for the Turks," she says. "And in that perspective, it is absolutely understandable that Atatürk seems to them as the one and only hero. He gave his country its self-confidence." So, where does she see the problem? "Well, when I see that there are still people shouting loudly against imperialism and see themselves surrounded by possible enemies, then this, is in my eyes, is a nationalistic way of thinking, which I don't like and which I find dangerous and antiquated," Sabrina says. A British tourist sees the situation similarly. He remembers that a Turkish friend once said that to become a real democracy, Turkey must first tear down all of its statues of Atatürk. "I would not go so far, but still there is a truth in it. In a democracy, there should be nothing that is forbidden to speak about. But here you can get into trouble when you say something critical about Atatürk or the military in general," he says. Another German, a literature teacher, we met in front of the German bookshop in İstanbul's Taksim district says that she is looking forward to the celebrations. "I really wonder. It is my first time experiencing Republic Day with my Turkish friend. I have heard about it before; last year it is said to have been so great with a light show on the Bosporus," she says. So wouldn't she link the rising nationalism and this kind of celebration? "I know that the Ottoman Empire was actually a multi-colored and thus pretty tolerant state, though today many ethnic groups and religions have problems here. But I would not link this developments to the Republic Day celebrations," she says. Meanwhile, Michael, who is Dutch, doesn't want to be too optimistic in that perspective. "There are people in this country who are definitely trying to use the name of Atatürk," he says. Though he adds, for him Republic Day can be celebrated, of course. Every country has its celebrations, commemorating important historical events such as the founding of the state or other important national days, he points out. "We are doing that, and France and the US, for instance, have their independence days as well," he says. But he says that he was "pretty shocked" when it came out that the Atatürkist Thought Association (ADD) was involved in the Ergenekon affair. "These people have always been important organizers of the celebrations, and as it seems they wanted to use those upcoming emotions for their own purposes," he says. "That is one reason why this year I want to be skeptical of this extreme show." Well, then, make an opinion yourself. Today, you have the chance!

29 October 2008, Wednesday KRISTINA KAMP İSTANBUL