Kemal Atatürk

American  

[ke-mahl ah-tah-tyrk, kuh-mahl at-uh-turk] / kɛˈmɑl ˌɑ tɑˈtürk, kəˈmɑl ˈæt əˌtɜrk /

noun

1. Mustafa or Mustapha KemalKemal Pasha, 1881–1938, Turkish general: president of Turkey 1923–38.

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Kemal Atatürk British  

/ kɛˈmɑːl ˈætəˌtɜːk /

noun

1. See Atatürk

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Ataturk, Kemal Cultural  

1. A Turkish soldier and statesman who founded modern Turkey in the 1920s, after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. Ataturk believed that Islamic influence (see Islam) in government had held Turkey back, and in response he established a secular government.

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Other Word Forms

• Kemalism noun
• Kemalist noun

Example Sentences

After the triumph of his nationalist party in the early 1920s, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk established a republic with a constitution and regular elections.

From Textbooks • Dec. 14, 2022

Pamuk’s allegory has not gone unnoticed by the powers that be, earning the Nobel laureate legal trouble for supposedly insulting Turkey’s flag and the nation’s founder, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.

From Washington Post • Oct. 12, 2022

In 2013, an internal Facebook moderation document was leaked, revealing that Facebook moderators were instructed to flag all attacks on Kemal Atatürk, the founder of modern Turkey.

From The New Yorker • Jan. 28, 2017

Although modern Turkey’s founder, Kemal Atatürk, was born in what is now Greece, he moved his capital from Istanbul in European Turkey to Ankara in Asia, a city created from almost nothing.

From The Guardian • Oct. 31, 2016

This helped cement his position as the most potent leader in modern Turkey’s history, with the exception of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, its founder.

From Slate • Apr. 22, 2015