Ataturk dragged the Ottoman Empire, kicking and screaming, into the 20th Century.
Ataturk made Turkey a secular republic and battled against political Islam a full 80 years before most of America knew what an "Islamist" was.
He replaced the Arabic script with the Latin alphabet, replaced Islamic courts with a secular civil code based on the Swiss model and a penal code based on that of Italy, and he looked to Western universities as models.
What made modern Turkey the only majority Muslim country in the World that is not, today, totally mired in the backwardness of Islam?
Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.
Did Ataturk maintain cordial relations with the Soviet Union?
Yes, he did. When you live right next door to the 800 pound gorilla, it is only prudent to smile at him.
However, Ataturk did not accept Soviet Communism.
"Friendship with Russia is not to adopt their ideology of communism for Turkey." "Communism is a social issue. Social conditions, religion, and national traditions of our country confirm the opinion that Russian Communism is not applicable in Turkey." ..... Ataturk
Ataturk's influences were Western ..... Not Soviet.
