He Planned the Future

Atatürk has been interested in the problems of the country since his school years. With his sharp intelligence, he sensed how the changes in the country and the world would affect the future of their societies, and what societies would be pregnant with. This intuition enabled him to form his plans for the future. Although the plans based on his intuition were considered as impossible dreams by many under the conditions of the day, he never backed down from his journey beyond the horizon. As a result of this journey, modern Turkey has turned from being an ideal to a reality. None of Atatürk's achievements and predictions for the future were the result of coincidence. The following anecdote is an interesting example in that it shows that he pre-plans everything he does:

The days when Mustafa Kemal completed his education at the War Academy... While the circle of friends gradually expanded, Lütfi Müfit (Özdeş), Cafer Tayyar (Winged), Ali Fuat (Cebesoy), his father Fazıl Pasha, Zeyrekli Kazım (Karabekir) were recruited to this special staff. For the first time, the young Academician publishes a secret, manuscript newspaper. Secret conferences also continue. They criticize the sultan and smash the senior executives' team.

This is how the young people whose names I have mentioned above, whose names we haven't heard of yet, get into things like this. Some from its shore, some from its corner... The staff is getting bigger and bigger. But Zübeyde Hanım is in fear. He cannot grasp what his son is dealing with, he cannot connect, "My Mustafa, what are you doing?" The question always remains unanswered… Or “Don't worry, we are doing good things.” with answers such as “My Mustafa, or are you against our sultan, who has the power of seven saints?” “Çakır son” answers questions such as: “Çakır son”, only laughing and kissing his cheeks and hugging his mother…

Now almost all of these young people went to the same schools. They grew up in or near the same conditions. They have been talking, sharing and discussing the same issues for years. But still, there are questions that have the same meaning as Zübeyde Hanım's questions, which they sometimes can't stand and explain!..

What is this young man saying to his friends?

-  "The Sultanate must be destroyed, it will be destroyed" , he says.

-  "The army must be rebuilt" , he says.

"The unification of the  Balkan armies is dangerous for us ," he says.

"A new form of government, a new  army, a new society ," he says.

These are his ambitions. But it seems that his ambitions, even the dreams of his friends, could not be achieved. This was a fact that Fatih told his relatives. One rose to the peaks, while the others struggled on the slopes.

 One evening in Thessaloniki, at the White Tower Casino, young Mustafa, who could not hide his enthusiasm when exciting designs were announced in line with these ambitions, said to a friend,  "I will make you the Minister of War, and you the Minister of Foreign Affairs..." . Someone who thinks it is a nice joke when he starts to distribute positions and positions like this, replied to this joke, "So what will you do to bring us to these positions? Or the king?" when he asked, seriously and with laughter,  “Oh, no! It is more important than that.” gave the answer. There were those who said amen to the prayer that would not happen, and those who were scared and kept silent. But it is a fact that they did not take it seriously that evening! They're not too unfair. But what I don't understand is why one day, at those cheerful dinner tables, when almost all of these daring promises to his friends started to come true, why did the same friends get upset, surprised, angry and afraid?

He has never lied to these close friends... It's all out there!

Source: Nezihe Araz, Mustafa Kemal’in Ankara’sı, İstanbul, 1994, sayfa: 77-78.