Speaking of the Turks

by bey K. Ziya Mufti-zada

“The offices of the Government are quartered in the largest buildings. An old barrack shelters most of them. Its enormous rooms have been partitioned into offices with a long corridor running between them. Every office has a door on this corridor. On some of these doors there are inscriptions indicating the names of the departments which abide therein. The Department of Foreign Affairs, the Department of Commerce, the Treasury Department, the Department of Agriculture and all other civilian departments are located in this building.

“Another enormous building, a former school, shelters all the departments pertaining to every activity necessary to the national defense. Its offices are arranged on the same style as those for civilian activities. Thus the Nationalist Government has, fittingly, differentiated its war activities from its administrative activities. The departments which are engaged in constructive work, whose activities will secure the nation's development and progress are completely separated from those whose duty is to secure the national defense.

“The two most active civilian departments, or rather the two departments to which the National Government attaches the greatest importance among those engaged in constructive work are the Department of Public Education and the Department of Hygiene and if—as all of us here are absolutely convinced—the programs of these two departments are strictly adhered to, Anatolia will be in a very few years the best educated and the most hygienic country in the Old World.

“The Government conducts its business in the most democratic way possible. The different heads of departments are members of the National Assembly and are, therefore, all chosen directly by the people. They are delegated to manage the departments by the vote of all the members of the Assembly. Each head of department is individually responsible to the Assembly for the good conduct and administration of his department. He is removable by the vote of the Assembly which immediately elects his successor. The heads of the departments have their private offices whose doors are always open to all. As the Government is of the people and for the people any citizen who desires to see one of his deputies concerning a matter connected with his department has the right to come in and is received at once without any formalities. But he has to attend immediately to his business and then he has to leave. Efficiency is the slogan of the National Government and for this purpose all red tape has been completely eliminated. No loitering, no “manana" policy is indulged in. Things that have to be done, have got to be done immediately and no one has the right to interfere for the pleasure of following the dictates of a set routine. Truly this is the most efficient form of government that I have ever seen.

“The National Assembly is located in the only really attractive and modern building of Angora. It has been especially erected to house the Parliament and has a large meeting-room, a reading-room and private offices for the representatives of the people. While it is not luxurious, it is as comfortable and as serviceable as need be. It is situated on a large square not far from the station.

“And now that you have an accurate idea of the general aspect of the capital, now that you know that this is no place for amusements or social activities, you will want to know something more about the people, their ideals and their aims.

“I think that, for all these purposes, I might as well give you a description of the two principal figures who to-day stand out distinctly as the two leaders of the Turkish Nationalist Government; the two national heroes who personify better than any one else the spirit which animates so powerfully Anatolia and the whole Turkish race. One is a man and the other a woman. You surely have already guessed: I am referring to Mustapha Kemal Pasha, the undisputed leader of Turkish manhood, and to Halidé Hanoum, the equally peerless leader of modern Turkish women.

“As you know, Mustapha Kemal Pasha is not only the promoter, but the soul and the brain of the new Turkey. That he represents exactly all Turkish aspirations and embodies the ideals of modern Turkey is best proved by the fact that upon his arrival in Anatolia he was elected by the wish of the people to the Presidency of the National Assembly, the highest executive function, and to the Field Marshalship of the National Army, the highest military function and he has been ever since maintained in both these most responsible positions by the general consensus of the whole nation.

“And this has been done almost against the personal wishes of Mustapha Kemal Pasha. He is neither ambitious nor desirous of holding power. In fact he is what might be called a self-appointed 'power prohibitionist.' and if he remains in power it is exclusively because the people want him to and, being a convinced democrat, he bows his head to the wish of the people. Of course, at the beginning of the movement, when the national aspirations of the Turks sought some one to formulate them and to organize the country, Mustapha Kemal Pasha took the lead without shunning its responsibilities and without a second's hesitation on account of the price that he personally would have to pay should he fail in his undertaking. He set to work with the indomitable patriotic courage which marks national heroes.