Zülüflü İsmail Pasha

Going to Antalya, returning from Yozgat, snow, winter... Returning to the cozy and warm halls of the Çankaya mansion, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk tells the following story to those around him:

-“When we were students in Harbiye, the school's stoves did not burn. All winter, we were shivering. Finally, one day, friends chose me to be the manager. The director was a palace man named Zülüflü İsmail Pasha. We got permission, went to peace; We offered our prayers first to the Sultan and then to the Director. Finally, we came to the subject, we wanted to explain the business. But the principal roared in the very first sentences:

-'What a cold, ungrateful! May the sultan's blessing be on your knees.'

-'Don't you see? How the stoves are burning loudly. Get out of here! Indeed, the Director's stove was roaring. The principal was sweating from the heat, his chest was open, and he thought that the whole school's stoves are burning like this... Guys, in this Çankaya Mansion, sometimes, I think we describe ourselves like this Zülüflü İsmail Pasha...'”

Here, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk was not only a realist, but an outspoken realist who did not shy away from self-criticism.

There really is no leader who does not immerse himself in the air around him from time to time. There comes a time in the lives of all leaders when the veil of human instincts and even human weaknesses that live in the subconscious of each leader can come between the leader and the truth. But the real leader is the one who does not stay behind the artificial, makeshift veil and melt away. ^one

¹ Hikmet Bil, Atatürk’ün Sofrasında, Uncu yayınları, İstanbul 1981, s. 62-65

Source: Atatürk ve Unutulmaz Anıları, Ahmet Gürel, Bülent Türker, Nisan 2009