Memoir Historical Investigation for To Set Them Free the Early Years of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk By: Aylin Buyukbayrak
Primary Source: Who is he/what did he look like? This is him, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the hero of Turkey. This painting was done by Hasret Nurdag in 1998. The reason I put this picture here is to show who this person is and how he looked like. When reading, I thought that people would wonder, “Who is he, how does he look like?” Etc. Well that’s him! Blonde hair, ocean blue eyes, it’s Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.
Secondary Source: For my secondary source I chose an article, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk online about Mustafa Kemal Ataturk because the article was related to the book, it was like the shortened way of the book just in a page, explaining the early years of Mustafa Kemal and how he grew up to become a hero. After reading the book I also agreed with the information from the article, so I pulled out some ideas from the book to use it in my paper. For example when he participated in the Young Turk Revolution etc. If you look read the summary of the book, it’s basically what’s on the article.
To Set Them Free The Early Years of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk By: Filiz, Mine Erol and Barbara K. Walker The book “Set Them Free the Early Years of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk,” by Filiz and Mine Erol, and Barbara K. Walker is about the early ages of the hero of Turkey, and how he grew up to become a hero. Mustafa was an intelligent and smart kid when he was young. He always would say that he would like to become a soldier when he grew up and since then he thought that soldiers had interesting costumes, with different shades of green. When he was 12 he was sent to the military school in Istanbul. There, his mathematics teacher gave him the name Kemal (means perfection), and since then he was called Mustafa Kemal. As Mustafa Kemal grew up he went more and more into military work, and then took place in the military. He participated in the Young Turk Revolution of July 1908. He also fought against Italy in the Balkan wars from 1911 to 1912. With that being said as time passed Mustafa Kemal developed Turkey’s military and politics more and more each day. Mustafa Kemal organized the Republican People’s Party, dedicated to the goal of Westernizing Turkey and bringing it forward as a progressive nation. He signed the Treaty of Lausanne on October 29, 1923. This established the Republic of Turkey, and Mustafa Kemal became the country’s first president. Later on in 1935, Mustafa Kemal introduced surnames to Turkey. He, for himself took the name “Ataturk” which means “Father of the Turks.” Three years after this event, on the 10th of November, 1938 Mustafa Kemal Ataturk died, from cirrhosis from the liver. From then on Mustafa Kemal Ataturk is known as the hero of Turkey. Without him Turkey wouldn’t be “Turkey.” It wouldn’t even exist.
Read the Book! I would really recommend students to read this book especially if they are Turkish and want to find out how Turkey became “Turkey,” because it is about the hero of Turkey and the reason that Turkey exist right now. For example it says in the book what Mustafa Kemal Ataturk did to make his country a better place (89) “In one town and village after the other, Mustafa Kemal spoke to the people of his plans, confident of their support for his leadership.” Not only that, but if you are interested in military and politics in Turkey, and how Mustafa Kemal Ataturk developed it and saved the country you would love the book. Another example from the book would be what Mustafa Kemal did (89) “Westernizing Turkey and bringing it forward as a progressive nation.” This man always, since he was young loved the military, here is a quote that he said when he was young (65) “How fine it would be to become a soldier and help my country!”
Primary Source: Nurdag, Hasret. Turkish Paintings. Google, n.d. Web. 11 Oct. 2012. <http://www.turkishpaintings.com/index.php?p=34>. Secondary Source: "Mustafa Kemal Ataturk Biography." Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 11 Oct. 2012. <http://www.biography.com/people/mustafa-kemal-ataturk-20968109>. Book: Walker, Barbara K., Filiz Erol, and Mine Erol. To Set Them Free: The Early Years of Mustafa Kemal Atat端rk. Grantham, NH: Tompson & Rutter, 1981. Print.
The Only Boy, the Only Man Omer and Ahmet, were my two older brothers that I had. We were a threesome. We always played games together, but one day they both got really ill with a disease that was spreading over the whole village in Salonica. That morning of October 29th, 1871 they were both sleeping in their beds, when we discovered that blood was sliding down the corner of their mouth. They had died. My mom cried a lot that day. It was as if someone was beating her up for hours, blood dripping from every point of her body. I was alone for a couple of years. It was only my mom, dad and me, until my mom got pregnant. Today was the day, today was the day, the 28th of November 1893, the day my new sister was being born! I was extremely jubilant. I took a tour of the house about eight times screaming “woo-hoo, woo-hoo!” “Shhhh,” my mom whispered after I had completed my eighth tour, “your father is sick darling, I know you are excited, but you need to be a little quieter, and try not to wake up your father please.” I stopped immediately. I had completely forgotten about my father. He was really ill, and it was serious. The doctor said that if there wasn’t any improvement by today, he might, he might… I didn’t even want to think about it. I stood up and apologized to my mother. It was just 12 o’clock. I decided to spend some time finishing up my schoolwork, so that I could spend the evening with my little sister! Her name was going to be Makbule. Then suddenly I heard a knock on the door. I jumped out of seat, “Oh my gosh! It’s the doctor,” I yelled. Scurrying down the staircase, I made each wooden step squeak. Reaching the door before my mom did I yelled, “hello!” It was a wide short little woman with a pink turban covering her head. She smiled and greeted me in return.
My mom came beside me and greeted the woman, “Would you like anything or should we start right away?” she asked. “Oh thank you, let’s just start right away,” replied the old fat lady. “Mustafa, honey, why don’t you go upstairs now,” my mom told me. Without saying a word I ran up the stairs, as the old lady and my mom limped to the living room. My smile was almost touching my eyes in contentment. After half an hour I heard my mom screaming “aaaaaaaaaaaa.” She stopped for ten seconds and started again. I had nothing to do, so I decided to check on my father in the room next door, right across the stairs. He was sleeping like an angel, one of his hands under his cheek, with a slight smile on his face. I touched his forehead to check the heat. It felt as if I had just touched a warmed up ironer. “Dad,” I whispered. He slowly opened his eyes. “Mom’s giving birth.” He nodded trying to smile as he did it, I knew he was content too. Then he just simply closed his eyes and fell back asleep. Back in my room, I took out my favorite book, The Seven Goats and the Wolf, by Wilhelm and Jacob Grimm, and started skimming through the pictures. Then suddenly I heard a very loud cry that was echoing through the house like a crow screeching. “MY SISTER IS BORN!” I ran down the stairs as fast as I could, and there she was, Makbule, covered all in blood, my mom trying to take deep breaths as she was staring at her. The old lady asked me where our shower was with Makbule in her arms. I noticed the smile she directed at my new-borns sister and I could tell she was proud, so I lead her to the bathroom. There I watched, as she washed the tiny baby, wiping off all the blood from her. She took a random towel from the cupboard, and covered Makbule. Then she handed the
baby over to my mother, “Congratulations darling,” she said, giving a cute little granny smile. My mom smiled back, then kissed Makbule on her forehead. “Mom, Mom can I take her, please?” I pleaded. My mom gently handed the baby to me. “You have to be really careful son. Don’t forget she was just born,” she mouthed to me. I took Makbule into my arms. “You are my sister, you are my Makbule,” I whispered into her ear. For a second, I heard my dad cough. “My dad!” I shouted. With Makbule in my arms I slowly climbed the stairs to my father’s room. “Father, father, look this is Makbule your new daughter!” I hollered. He was struggling to lift his eyelids, turning his head to face us. Just when he was about to open them, his eyelids fluttered briefly and then remained closed. His hand dropped to the side of the bed. I froze, just staring at my dad. I took a step forward leaning to rest my head on his chest, listening for his heartbeat. There was no response. My father, my dad, my valuable. Tears started climbing up, out of my eyes, rolling down my cheeks. It was as if someone had just stabbed me with a knife right through my chest, the pointy edge of it touching my heart cutting a piece out. I heard the old lady ascend up the stairs. As soon as she entered the room, she took Makbule out of my hands, to make sure she was safe. Then she kneeled beside me. “It’s okay young boy, it’s okay. Who can stop a sick man from dying. Look you still have your mother. Be thankful to God. Look at me, I have no one other than myself. You’re now the boy of this family. You need to help in keeping your sister and mom alive.” I tried nodding, but failed. It wasn’t going to be the same anymore, without father, it was never going to be the same. “I love you Father, a lot,” I said in a low tone to him.
"You never know what's going to happen, or when. That's why you have to be ready for anything at any moment. Now I was left alone. With a piece of me missing for the rest of my life. I was left as the only boy in my family, the only man.â&#x20AC;?