According to John F. Kennedy, he was "one of the greatest figures of our century." Winston Churchill called him "a great hero," and former French President Charles de Gaulle said, "He was the greatest achiever among all the world leaders, because he modernized his nation". The great man is Ataturk, the idol of the Turks. His original name is Mustafa Kemal, but in 1934 his constituents gave him the name Ataturk, which means, "Father of the Turks." He was the first president of the Republic of Turkey, and without his reforms and leadership, Turkey would not be what it is today. His endeavor was to modernize Turkish life; he wanted to give his nation happiness, better life standards and equality. In his view, modernization of the nation and the state could become real by replacing Arab alphabet with Latin alphabet, giving women the right to vote and participate in the congress, and abolishing the Ottoman Empire's sovereignty with a secular government and a contemporary constitution.
             Turkey is the first Muslim-dominant nation that became a republic; there are also small Christian and Jewish minorities living in the country. October 29, 1923 is an exceptional day in Turkish history, because on that day the theocratic Ottoman Empire came to an end with the declaration of the Republic of Turkey by Ataturk. In 1924, Ataturk introduced the parliamentary system to the nation, and in a 4-5 year period, he changed and modernized the whole law system. In creating the new constitution, secularism played an important role for the establishment of the new governmental and educational institutions. Ataturk always considered religion as an individual's choice, so he created a secular system, in which everyone in society is free to practice his or her religion. Ataturk once said, "We are a nation without classes or special privileges," and this quote reflects his motivation of establishing...