Historical Experience

Imperialist Language

Colonialism... Warlike imperialism invents a special language to conceal itself. When attacking a country, the imperialist US uses democratic concepts like world peace for a water attack. During this attack, the US doesn't say, "We killed so many people," for freedom. It says, "Dead people were captured." Imperialists don't kill people; they capture those who die while wandering the mountains and slopes.

Tahrir Committee

Adonis Qabbani says, "In summary, normalizing jihadist and terrorist groups like Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, without holding them accountable for their past, creates a great deal of love for the future of the Middle East. Ahmad al-Shara's transformation from an al-Qaeda commander to a political leader sends a message that violence paves the way for power, stifling justice and triggering regional unrest."(1)

What about Türkiye?

Until recently, Abdullah Öcalan was a "baby killer," now he has become a "founding leader." Until recently, Dem was a party that was shunned and shunned, now it has become a companion.

Features of Language

Language cannot change objective reality. But it can transform objective reality into subjective reality. Capitalism exploits billions of people and hides this objective reality from the public. So what should we do? How can we disrupt this language game of capitalism? And so we come to enlightenment.

Third Enlightenment

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk initiated the Third Enlightenment in Islamic society in Türkiye. In this article, I will discuss Mustafa Kemal Atatürk's Enlightenment Revolution.

The first question is: What is enlightenment? Mustafa Günay defines enlightenment as follows: “An enlightened person and citizen is someone who thinks, asks questions, inquires, is aware of their rights as a human being, and strives to protect and develop them.” (2)

Prerequisites for Being an Enlightened Person

The prerequisites for becoming an enlightened person are as follows. First, one must shed being a servant... or a believer. A servant or a believer cannot ask questions... or question. There are no human rights... no freedom of thought or thought in servitude or in belief. Furthermore, Islamic societies have never been believers in history. Islamic societies were destroyed and erased from history by power struggles, driven by profound ignorance.

Citizen

Mustafa Kemal could not establish the Republic of Turkey on the basis of servitude or belief. These two concepts are concepts of the feudal era. Citizenship is a concept related to the republic. In the Amasya Circular, Mustafa Kemal said, "The nation's independence will be saved by its firm decision and resistance."(2) The foundation of Türkiye is a republic, and the foundation of the republic is the enlightened citizen.

Science

Mustafa Kemal laid down the fundamental principle for the citizen of the Republic as follows: "The true path through life is science." Sara Çelik says on this subject: "Rationality and scientific knowledge are two concepts that complement each other. It is not possible to accept any knowledge as science without relying on reason and without passing it through the critical filter of reason. It is not possible to speak of scientific knowledge based on emotions, images or beliefs (…) for this reason, Atatürk frequently emphasized that he gave more importance to reason, science and technology than anything else."(3)

Secularism

Ionna Kuçuradi says on this subject, “Atatürk’s revolution aimed for enlightenment in Türkiye, whose motto was ‘super Aude’ (dare to know) in the sense understood by Kant./The very basic condition of this was secularism; that is, the idea that religious norms should not be decisive in the regulation of public affairs and, by the way, in the regulation of education. Because only then can social regulations be made with principles that enable our people to realize their human potential, principles such as what we call human rights today, and people can dare to know. In this way, enlightened people and enlightened citizens can be raised.”(4)

Philosophy

H. Haluk Erdem states, “One of the Republic's significant achievements in education and culture is the development of philosophy. Philosophy education, in a theoretical sense, began to take root in our country with the university reform. Significant progress has been made in providing independent instruction in programs, establishing departments, and institutionalizing the field. The importance of German professors, especially those from Germany, in the development of philosophy has led to the development of Turkish as the language of philosophy, and the increase in philosophical works. Significant efforts have been made to develop the language of philosophy using the rich resources of Turkish. The increase in international studies in philosophy and the growing need for philosophy can be identified as opportunities provided by the Republic.” (5)

Full Independence

Mustafa Günay says the following about full independence: "Full independence is among the fundamental principles of Atatürkism. This independence also made liberation from imperialist occupation possible. Atatürk, who believed that the Turkish people could only live with honor and dignity through full independence, said: "Full independence undoubtedly means full independence in all areas, such as politics, economy, justice, military service, culture, etc. Lack of independence in any of these areas means the nation and country's true lack of independence."(6)

Nationalism

Şahin Filiz says the following about nationalism: “After achieving national liberation with a great victory, according to Atatürk, the second stage, which would enable the Turkish nation to emerge as a being and to existentially endure, had to be moved on immediately and without delay. The structure of the Ummah prevents a single nation from creating its own existence and consciousness. The Ottoman understanding of the Ummah hindered the objectified existence of the Turks, the founding subjects who founded this state from existing as a nation. Existing as a nation is possible through self-awareness; without this awareness, the achievement of unity in education and training is inconceivable.”(7)

Language

Yusuf Çotuksöken says the following on this subject: “If today’s Turkish, in other words the Turkish of Turkey, has reached the level of a developed language of communication, science, culture, art, and philosophy, with its vocabulary enriched during the language revolution, its suitability for scientific and artistic discourse, and its latent power to meet almost all needs of society (most importantly, its ability to produce new words), it is a fact that the Turkish enlightenment, which aimed to create a new society and a new language and was pioneered by the veteran Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and the intellectuals around him, has had a primary influence on this.”

Revolutionism

When we looked at the society that would found the Republic, what did Atatürk see? The Ottomans, the servile Ummah line, were also backward-thinking… The Turk with the minds of donkeys… Now I have to say this. Three people in history are philosopher-statesmen: Marcus Aurelius, Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, and Gazi Kemal Atatürk.

Atatürk saw the problems with his philosophical knowledge. He did not let himself be carried away by empty dreams.

"There is no history in which the policies of Islamism and Turanism have been successful and have made the world their field of application" (9)

“The political method that we see as bright and applicable is national politics (…) this is what history says, this is what science, reason and logic say.”(10)

Gazi Mustafa Kemal grasped the country's problems through his philosophical knowledge and saw that these problems would not be resolved through time. He revolutionized all aspects of life, and these revolutions, in life and culture, constituted a truly correct life. In this life, the individual is an active, free agent.

I summarized the purpose and philosophy of Kemal Atatürk, who founded the Republic of Türkiye through revolutions. So, what happened next?

-To be continued-

1. Adonis Kabbani, The Dangers of Normalizing Jihadist Groups in Syria, translated by Yunus Emre Ceren, one day, Sunday, July 13, 2025 Y-13

2. ⁠ Mustafa Günay, Enlightenment in the 100th Anniversary of the Republic: Problematic Enlightenments, Thoughts on Democracy Today, Sentez Publishing, Bursa 2023, Y- 269

3. ⁠ Sara Çelik, Thinking about Türkiye in Light of the Enlightenment Dynamics of Kemalism, Sentez Publishing, Bursa 2023, Y-127

4. Ionna Kuçuradi, The Concept of Revolution and Atatürk's Cultural Revolution, Sentez Publishing, Bursa 2023, Y-23

5. ⁠H. Haluk Erdem, The Development of Philosophy in the Republican Period, Republican Philosophy, Çizgi Bookstore, Konya 2023, Y-191

6. ⁠ Mustafa Günay, Age, Y-130

7. Şahin Filiz, ⁠ Atatürk: Philosopher Statesman, Age Y-199

8. ⁠ Kemal Atatürk, Speech II, Turkish Language Association Publications, Ankara 1978, Y-323

9. Ibid., Y-323

10. Ibid., Y-323