Atatürk
implemented a series of methods and it would be impossible to list them all. A
better description than a list would be the general thought behind these
methods and the aim that Ataturk wanted to achieve: to secularize and modernize
Turkey. He modelled his vision of Turkey on the western world, therefore you
could also say that we was westernizing Turkey.
This included social reforms, and one of them which was perhaps most visible
was the gradual removal of religious clothing from the public, both for men and
women. Interestingly, the laws focused more on the made traditional headwear
the fez. Through removing traditional clothes from public view, the traditional
hierarchy based on religion was challenged.
Another social reform was fully involving women in all spheres of the society,
which was socially novel in the conservative country at the time. Specifically,
Atatürk supported education for women and their political participation.
Atatürk also strengthened education, improved literacy, introduced Latin alphabet
for the Turkish language, introduced western-style surnames and introduced
further changes in the administrative organisation of Turkey and its economy.
