Nov. 10, 1938, was a sad day for Turkish people. That was the day the founder of the Republic of Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, passed away in Istanbul. At 9:05 a.m. that day, Turkey lost the man who had given it direction and purpose.

What set Ataturk aside for the Turkish people was his course of action following World War I. The Central Powers had lost and the Ottoman Empire was split into many pieces. The Turkish sultan had no intention of resisting the occupying powers. Having made a name for himself following a handful of masterful military victories in World War I campaigns, Ataturk had made a name for himself among the Turkish people. He quit his position in the army to use his reputation to rally the Turkish people to fight the occupation.

Ataturk established a new government with a parliament, the Turkish Grand National Assembly, so all men and women around the country would have a voice during the fight for independence. He became commander in chief of the resistance forces and united the people. He fought with brilliant military tactics to achieve a resounding Turkish victory.

Ataturk founded the Turkish nation as a Republic, as a country where the only sovereign power would be the people of the nation and nobody else. He reformed the country politically and socially: He introduced emancipation for women, abolished Islamic institutions in government to make the country secular and made education mandatory, as well as widely available.

In 1935, when Turkey instituted surnames for the first time, he got the last name “Ataturk,” which translates directly to Father of the Turks.

All of the things written here are a shallow dip into the pool of what Ataturk did for the Turkish people. He was a man who built a country out of tattered remains, a man who dedicated his life to a people. He was by no means completely perfect. However, he had the vision of a country that would be the crown of the region – a strong, secular republic. All he did was done in order to push the country toward this direction.

Throughout the 91 years of the Turkish republic, regardless of whatever has happened, the country has moved along this path. It has always stuck to democracy and secularism. It has managed to be the most prominent modern republic in the region.

Today, however, Turkey is seemingly moving away from these values. The democratic country that was is slowly giving way to an autocratic regime that cares less about what the people want and more about what the people in power do. The secular ideals of having a ruling body independent of religious influences is seemingly waning away, as more and more religion is becoming a part of politics.

It is at times such as these that the Turkish people should look back on Ataturk’s ideas of a Republic of Turkey. As the Turkish people realize they are moving from the original ideals of Ataturk, they must decide for sure what they want of a Turkish country – do they want a Turkish republic or something else?

If the ideals of Ataturk’s Turkey are not the ideals of the today’s Turkey anymore, that is disappointing. If that is the case, maybe the difficult decision of changing this country’s core ideals must be made.

Nonetheless, before any decision to change Turkey is made, the people of Turkey need to look back on their roots. The people need to understand what Ataturk’s vision was meant to accomplish. They need to realize why Turkey was based on these values, what these values mean to the nation and what these values bring to Turkish society.

In the past years, often actions have been taken without any understanding of Ataturk’s values. If the Turkish people keep acting to change Turkey without understanding Ataturk’s ideals and what they mean, they risk putting the country into further confusion and disarray.

This is Turkey’s biggest challenge to date – even bigger than its fight for independence after World War I. It needs to be handled with utmost care. Otherwise, Turkey might be broken beyond repair.

Yoni Pinto is a Weinberg sophomore. He can be reached at [email protected]. If you want to respond publicly to this column, send a letter to the editor to [email protected].