Atatürk refrained from being dogmatic and described his ideology to be based on science and reason. There are six principles (
ilke) of the ideology:
Republicanism (),
Populism (),
Nationalism (),
Laicism (),
Statism (), and
Reformism (). Together, they represent a kind of
Jacobinism, defined by Atatürk himself as a method of employing political despotism to break down the social despotism prevalent among the traditionally-minded Turkish-Muslim population, caused by, he believed, the bigotry of the
ulema.
Republicanism Republicanism () in the Kemalist framework replaced the
monarchy of the
Ottoman dynasty with the
rule of law,
popular sovereignty and
civic virtue, including an emphasis on liberty practiced by citizens. Kemalist republicanism defines a type of constitutional republic, in which representatives of the people are elected, and must govern in accordance with existing constitutional law limiting governmental power over citizens. The head of state and other officials are chosen by election rather than inheriting their positions, and their decisions are subject to judicial review. In defending the change from the Ottoman State, Kemalism asserts that all laws of the Republic of Turkey should be inspired by actual needs here on Earth as a basic tenet of national life. Kemalism advocates a republican system as the best representative of the wishes of the people. Among the many types of
republic, the Kemalist republic consist of a parliament chosen in general elections, a
president as head of state elected by parliament and serving for a limited term, a
prime minister appointed by the president, and other ministers appointed by parliament. The president does not have direct executive powers, but has limited veto powers, and the right to contest with referendum. The day-to-day operation of government is the responsibility of the Council of Ministers formed by the prime minister and the other ministers. There is a
separation of powers between the executive (president and Council of Ministers), the legislative (Parliament) and the judiciary, in which no one branch of government has authority over another—although parliament is charged with the supervision of the Council of Ministers, which can be compelled to resign by a vote of no-confidence. The Kemalist republic is a
unitary state in which three
organs of state govern the nation as a single unit, with one
constitutionally created
legislature. On some issues, the
political power of
government is transferred to lower levels, to local elected assemblies represented by mayors, but the
central government retains the principal governing role.
Populism Populism () is defined as a social revolution aimed to transfer the political power to
citizenship. Kemalist populism intends not only to establish
popular sovereignty but also the transfer of the social-economic transformation to realize a true populist state. However, Kemalists reject
class conflict and
collectivism. Kemalist populism believes
national identity is above all else. Kemalist populism envisions a sociality that emphasizes
class collaboration and national unity like
solidarism. Populism in Turkey is to create a unifying force that brings a sense of the Turkish state and the power of the people to bring in that new unity. Kemalist populism is an extension of the Kemalist modernization movement, aiming to make Islam compatible with the modern nation-state. This included state supervision of religious schools and organizations. Mustafa Kemal himself said "everyone needs a place to learn religion and faith; that place is a
mektep, not a
madrasa." This was intended to combat the "corruption" of Islam by the
ulema. Kemal believed that during the Ottoman period, the
ulema had come to exploit the power of their office and manipulate religious practices to their own benefit. It was also feared that, were education not brought under state control, unsupervised
madrasas could exacerbate the rising problem of
tarikat insularity that threatened to undermine the unity of the Turkish state.
Sovereignty Kemalist social theory (populism) does not accept any adjectives placed before the definition of a nation [a nation of ...] Sovereignty must belong solely to people without any term, condition, etc.:
Motto Populism was used against the political domination of sheikhs, tribal leaders, and the
Islamic political system of the Ottoman Empire. Atatürk's nationalism aimed to shift the political legitimacy from royal autocracy (by the
Ottoman dynasty),
theocracy (based in the
Ottoman caliphate), and
feudalism (tribal leaders) to the active participation of its citizenry, the Turks. Kemalist social theory wanted to establish the value of Turkish citizenship. A sense of pride associated with this citizenship would give the needed psychological spur for people to work harder and achieve a sense of unity and national identity. Active participation, or the "will of the people", was established with the republican regime and Turkishness replacing the other forms of affiliations that had been promoted in the Ottoman Empire (such as the allegiance to the different millets that eventually led to divisiveness in the empire). The motto "
Ne mutlu Türküm diyene" (English: How happy is the one who calls themselves a Turk) was promoted against such mottoes as "long live the Sultan," "long live the Sheikh", or "long live the Caliph."
Laicism symbolized by the Six Arrows
Laicism () in Kemalist ideology aims to banish religious interference in government affairs, and vice versa. It differs from the passive Anglo-American concept of
secularism, but is similar to the concept of
laïcité in France. The roots of Kemalist secularism lie in the reform efforts in the late Ottoman Empire, especially the
Tanzimat period and the later
Second Constitutional Era. The Ottoman Empire was an
Islamic state in which the head of the Ottoman state held the position of the Caliph. The social system was organized according to various systems, including the religiously organized
Millet system and
Shari'ah law, allowing religious ideology to be incorporated into the Ottoman administrative, economic, and political system. In the Second Constitutional Era, the
Ottoman Parliament pursued largely secular policies, although techniques of religious populism and attacks on other candidates' piety still occurred between
Ottoman political parties during
elections. These policies were stated as the reason for the
31 March Incident by Islamists and absolute monarchists. The secular policies of the Ottoman parliament also factored in the
Arab Revolt during World War I. When secularism was implemented in the fledgling Turkish state, it was initiated by the abolition of the centuries-old
caliphate in March 1924. The office of
Shaykh al-Islām was replaced with the
Presidency of Religious Affairs (). In 1926, the
mejelle and shari'ah law codes were abandoned in favor of an adapted
Swiss Civil Code and a penal code modeled on the German and Italian codes. Other religious practices were done away with, resulting in the dissolution of
Sufi orders and the penalization of wearing a
fez, which was viewed by Atatürk as a tie to the Ottoman past. Atatürk perceived the French model as the authentic form of secularism. Kemalism strove to control religion and transform it into a private affair rather than an institution interfering with politics, as well as scientific and social progress. From a political perspective, Kemalism is anti-clerical, in that it seeks to prevent religious influence on the democratic process, which was a problem even in the largely secular politics of the
Second Constitutional Era of the Ottoman Empire, when even non-religiously affiliated political parties like the
Committee of Union and Progress and the
Freedom and Accord Party feuded over matters such as the Islamic piety of their candidates in the
Ottoman elections of 1912. Thus, in the Kemalist political perspective, politicians cannot claim to be the protector of any religion or religious sect, and such claims constitute sufficient legal grounds for the permanent banning of political parties.
Insignia The Ottoman social system was based on religious affiliation. Religious insignia extended to every social function. Clothing identified citizens with their own particular religious grouping; headgear distinguished rank and profession.
Turbans,
fezes,
bonnets, and head-dresses denoted the sex, rank, and profession — both civil and military — of the wearer. Religious insignia outside of worship areas became banned. While Atatürk considered women's religious coverings as antithetical to progress and equality, he also recognized that headscarves were not such a danger to the separation of church and state to warrant an outright ban. But the Constitution was amended in 1982, following the 1980 coup by the Kemalist-leaning military, to prohibit women's use of Islamic coverings such as the
hijab at higher education institutions.
Joost Lagendijk, a
member of the European Parliament and chair of the Joint Parliamentary Committee with Turkey, has publicly criticized these
clothing restrictions for Muslim women, whereas the
European Court of Human Rights has ruled in numerous cases that such restrictions in public buildings and educational institutions do not constitute a violation of human rights.
Reformism Reformism () is a principle which calls for the country to replace the traditional institutions and concepts with modern institutions and concepts. This principle advocated the need for fundamental social change through
reform as a strategy to achieve a modern society. The core of the reform, in the Kemalist sense, was an accomplished fact. In a Kemalist sense, there is no possibility of return to the old systems because they were deemed backward. The principle of reformism went beyond the recognition of the reforms made during Atatürk's lifetime. Atatürk's reforms in the social and political spheres are accepted as irreversible. Atatürk never entertained the possibility of a pause or transition phase during the course of the progressive unfolding or implementation of the reform. The current understanding of this concept can be described as "active modification". Similar to its CUP predecessors, it can be said that Kemalism endorsed
social Darwinism in some way by desiring the Turkish youth to be healthy and physically strong.
Criteria Atatürk defined the Turkish nation as the "people (
halk) who established the Turkish republic". Further, "the natural and historical facts which effected the establishment (
teessüs) of the Turkish nation" were "(a) unity in political existence, (b) unity in language, (c) unity in homeland, (d) unity in race and origin (
menşe), (e) to be historically related and (f) to be morally related". Membership is usually gained through birth within the borders of the state and also the principle of
jus sanguinis. The Kemalist notion of nationality is integrated into the
Article 66 of the Constitution of the Republic of Turkey. Every citizen is recognized as a Turk, regardless of ethnicity, belief, and gender, etc.
Turkish nationality law states that he or she can be deprived of his/her nationality only through an act of treason. Kemalists saw non-Muslims as only nominal citizens, and they have often been treated as
second-class citizens in the Republic of Turkey. The identity of
Kurds in Turkey was
denied for decades with Kurds described as "Mountain Turks". Atatürk stated in 1930: In 2005, the
Article 301 of the Turkish Penal code made it a crime to insult Turkishness (), but under pressure of the EU, this was changed in 2008 to protect the "Turkish nation" instead of Turkish ethnicity in 2008, an 'imagined' nationhood of people living within the
National Pact () borders.
Turkism speaking areas Kemalism focused on the nation-state's narrower interests, renouncing the concern for the "Outside Turks". Pan-Turkism was an
ethnocentric ideology [to unite all ethnically Turkic nations] while Kemalism is polycentric [united under a "common will"] in character. and a unit under the title of "Greater Turkic history and Civilization". The book also gave detailed information about empires which are Turkic such as
Göktürks or "claimed to be Turkic" such as
Scythians,
Xiongnu, and so on. map With the supports of newly founded Turkish Republic,
Pan-Turkist organization known as "
Turkish Hearths", re-established in Atatürk's era to get Turkists' support during the
revolutions. Atatürk was frequently giving speeches on Turkish Hearths after important events occurred in Turkey. Also reopening of Turkish magazine "
Türk Yurdu" which was an organ of Turkish Hearts, was supported. Later, in 1931, Turkish Hearts were closed by Atatürk after they lost their non-political stance, because of their Pan-Turkist views and movements; and with all of its premises, it merged to the ruling party
CHP. Kemalism had a narrower definition of language, which sought to remove (
purify) the Persian, Arabic, Greek, Latin, etc. words from the Turkish language and replace them with either Turkic originated words or derive new words with Turkic roots.
Kemalism and the Hittites " in
Anıtkabir, which are replicas of ancient
Hittite lion statues
Statism Statism (): Atatürk made clear in his statements and policies that Turkey's complete
modernization was very much dependent on economic and technological development. The principle of Kemalist statism is generally interpreted to mean that the state was to regulate the country's general economic activities and engage in areas where private enterprises are not willing to do so. This was the result of post-independence war Turkey needing to redefine the relationship between societal and international capitalism. The war left Turkey in ruins, as the Ottoman Empire was focused on raw materials and was an
open market in the international capitalist system. Post-war Turkey has been largely defined by its agricultural society, which includes many landlords and merchants. The control of people in the Turkish economy is quite evident from 1923 to the 1930s, but they still managed, through foreign joint investment, to establish a state economic enterprise. However, after the
Great Depression, there was a shift to more inward-looking development strategies during an era generally referred to as "etatism". During this era, the state had an active involvement in both
capital accumulation and investment as well as in taking the interest of private businesses into consideration. The state often stepped into economic areas that the private sector did not cover, either due to not being strong enough or having simply failed to do so. These were often infrastructure projects and power stations, but also iron and steel industries, while the masses shouldered the burden of capital accumulation. ==Analysis==