- The Turkish Yearbook of International Relations
- Issue: 19
- Atatürk's Reforms: Realization of a Utopia by a Realist
Atatürk's Reforms: Realization of a Utopia by a Realist
Authors : Artun Ünsal
Pages : 27-57
Doi:10.1501/Intrel_0000000193
View : 14 | Download : 7
Publication Date : 1979-05-01
Article Type : Research
Abstract :Abdullah Cevdet, a well-known Turkish writer of the beginning of the century, believed, as did many others, that "There is no second civilization; civilization means European civilization, and it must be imported with batlı its roses and thorns".1 According to him, the rulers of the Ottoman Empire had to abandon the policy of "half-way" borrowings and try to adopt so-called Western civilization. In other words, Turkey had no other way out, but to integrate herself thoroughly into European civilization. A series of articles (**) that appeared in his periodical İçtihad in 1912 under the title "A Very Wakeful Sleep" (Pek Uyanık Bir Uyku), described a visionary view of the future for the country that certainly must have appeared fantastic to his contemporaries. The reverie contained such revolutionary novelties as :Keywords : Atatürk, Realization, Utopia