Ataturk’s cultural policy in the context of “Turk Ocaklari”

Abstract

The social structure in the Ottoman Empire was the most striking testament to the cultural diversity of the state. In the state with a cosmopolitan niche, each existing community had its own cultural understanding. However, this cultural complexity created by the diversity in the country has over time led to various problems and dualism in society. The Turkish Republic, which replaced the Ottoman Empire, radically changed its political, socio-economic, and cultural structure. Ataturk, as the founder of the modern Turkish Republic, was not only a military genius, world-class leader, president but also a person who pursued cultural policy. For a Kazakh researcher, the events and difficulties experienced in cultural life during the period of the republic were little mentioned in the Patriotic historiography. Most of the studies were either articles or the problem was considered superficially. In many of them, cultural issues were included in the educational policy of Turkey. While implementing decisive reforms in the country, Ataturk did not forget to pay attention to the national culture and its significance. In this context, he developed a policy and tried to create a synthesis, uniting Turkish national culture and elements of cultures of other nationalities. Of course, Ataturk’s intention and efforts to bring the Turkish nation to the level of modern civilization played an important role in this. The principles of revolutionism, nationalism and secularism that underlie Ataturk’s cultural policy are the most effective weapons of his struggle. In this he was assisted by the «Turkish Hearths», where the migrated leaders of the Turkic-Muslim peoples of the Russian Empire took an active part. In this regard, this article examines the main aspects of the formation of «Turkish Hearths» and its role in the cultural policy of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.

Key words: Ataturk, Republic of Turkey, “Turkish Hearths”, cultural policy.