Statue of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk

Statue of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk

Outside the Turkish ambassador’s residence on Embassy Row, located at 1606 23rd Street, on the periphery of Sheridan Circle in northwest D.C.’s DuPont Circle neighborhood, stands a bronze statue of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.  Later, after my bike ride, I would find out that it is one of two statues on Embassy Row depicting Atatürk; the second being a fiberglass statue painted bronze that is located at the Turkish Embassy.  I will have to ride back to check out that one soon.  But in the meantime I wanted to look into who this man was that has two different statues.

A brass plaque located next to it gives some basic information about the Atatürk statue.  It reads:

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (1881 – 1038)
Founder and First President of the Republic of Turkey
The white stone building behind the statue, purchased under Atatürk
in 1936, served as the embassy of the Republic of Turkey
until 1989. It is now the embassy’s official residence.
The two capitals, Ankara and Washington, D.C. became sister
cities in October 2011.
Erected by the Atatürk Society of America on public space
generously granted by the District of Columbia. This statue
was dedicated on the 90th anniversary of the founding of the
Republic of Turkey, October 29, 20113.
Sculptor: Jeffery L. Hall

The statue created by Hall stands before a semicircular stone balustrade which bears a quotation from Atatürk: “Peace at Home / Peace in the World”.  The statue depicts Atatürk standing bare-headed in Western-style business dress of the 1930s, with a three-piece suit and necktie, pocket watch, and sporting wingtip shoes. He is holding the book entitled Nutuk, which translates as “The Speech,” in his left hand, with the title marked on the cover. The closed book is resting on his left hip, with one finger of the left hand marking his place, while he makes a pointing gesture with his right hand.  His tie is in the style that Atatürk wore, with American-style stripes.  And a military medal is emerging discreetly from behind his right lapel.

So it would seem that the very interesting statue that I encountered on this ride was installed by a private organization on public land, while the other statue was erected by the Republic of Turkey on the private grounds of their embassy.  But who was Mustafa Kemal Atatürk?

He was born Ali Rıza oğlu Mustafa, which means “Mustafa son of Ali Rıza,” to Ali Rıza Efendi, a militia officer, title deed clerk and lumber trader, and Zübeyde Hanım, sometime in the early part of 1881 in Salonika, Macedonia (now Thessaloniki, Greece).  As part of a Muslim family, his mother encouraged Atatürk to attend a religious school, which he did reluctantly but only for a brief period of time during his early years.  Later, at the direction of his father, he attended the Şemsi Efendi School, a private school with a more secular curriculum.  When he was only seven years old his father died.  So his mother wanted him to learn a trade.  However, on his own initiative and without consulting her, Atatürk instead applied to the Salonica Military School.  From there he would go on to enroll in the Monastir Military High School, and then the Ottoman Military Academy after that.  He would eventually graduate from the Ottoman Military College in Constantinople in 1905.  

Shortly after graduation, he was arrested by the police for his anti-monarchist activities.  This, along with Atatürk’s academic career, were principal factors that shaped him and provided a foundation that would lead to the military career and political accomplishments that would result in Atatürk being regarded as one of the most important national leaders of the 20th century.

Atatürk came to prominence for his role in securing the Ottoman Turkish victory at the Battle of Gallipoli during World War I.  Following the defeat and dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, he led the Turkish National Movement, which resisted mainland Turkey’s partition among the victorious Allied powers.  Establishing a provisional government in the present-day Turkish capital Ankara, known in English at the time as Angora, he defeated the forces sent by the Allies, thus emerging victorious from what was later referred to as the Turkish War of Independence.  He subsequently proceeded to abolish the decrepit Ottoman Empire and proclaimed the foundation of the Turkish Republic in its place.  Atatürk became the first President of Turkey from 1923 until his death in 1938, and would be remembered as a leader who freed his people from being controlled by other countries and, later, for starting changes that founded the Turkish nation state based on social and economic nationalism.  Many even place him on the same level as is George Washington in America.

Atatürk’s life and accomplishments put him among good company in history.  And similarly, the statue is in good company in D.C. , fittingly standing among statues of such other prominent and transformative 20th-century national leaders as India’s Mahatma Gandhi,  which stands just a quarter mile to the east, and statues of Great Britain’s Sir Winston Churchill and South Africa’s Nelson Mandela, which stand facing each other from across Massachusetts Avenue approximately a mile to the west of Atatürk’s statue at Sheridan Circle.

    
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