HARBIYELI MUSTAFA KEMAL

"... In the summer of 1898, he graduated from Manastir High School. He was now a 17-18-year-old Harp School candidate, self-confident, ambitious to develop and advance, eager to learn, fond of thinking, and balanced in his youthful exuberance, influenced by the ideas of freedom and the country's issues he encountered at Manastir High School... In 1899, Mustafa Kemal was already a Harp School student in Istanbul.

Mustafa Kemal came to Harp School with an interest in freedom and national issues that he developed at Manastir High School. This means that Harp School would prepare him both as an officer and as a rebel against the authoritarian regime by enhancing his feelings of patriotism and freedom. And so it was.

... When Mustafa Kemal later talked about his life at Harp School, he described how he was not able to adapt during his first year of study and could not concentrate on his lessons. However, he passed his exams successfully and was promoted to the next class. When he moved up to the second year, he focused more on his studies... Meanwhile, he also developed an interest in writing beautifully and speaking eloquently... In his final year at Harp School, Mustafa Kemal's situation improved even further. He finished the third and final year, ranking eighth out of 459 students. He graduated from Harp School on February 10, 1902, with the rank of lieutenant, with serial number 1472. He was 21 years old.

... When he informed his mother, Zübeyde, and stepfather, Ragıp Efendi, about his achievement in a letter from Selanik, he carefully chose his words to convey his pride and happiness as well as to please them. Behind this official style of address was the pure and happy resolution of a satisfied and actually positive complex, "They will see what I will become." He had won his first battle in life... When he sealed the letter to be sent to Selanik, he also put a photo in the envelope...

... When Zübeyde, the mother of Lieutenant Mustafa Kemal, received this letter and opened the envelope to see the picture, who knows how tears of joy flowed down her cheeks. The house in Ahmet Subasi neighborhood must have been filled with relatives and neighbors... A child born in this neighborhood 21 years ago had now reached the rank of officer. He had earned his future and grown up as a source of pride for the neighborhood..."

Source: 1- Tek Adam, Şevket Süreyya Aydemir, Remzi Kitapevi, April 2001, Volume 1, ISBN: 975-14-0670-6. Pages: 70-73

2- Atatürk Günlüğü with Sources from Birth to Death, Prof. Dr. Utkan Kocatürk, Atatürk Research Center. 2nd Edition, 2007 Ankara. ISBN: 975-16-1191-1, Page: 3