Written by Prof. Doc. Şerafettin Turan
-Efforts To Create The Modern Turkey
-Legislature of the Revolution
-Attempts of Economic Development
-The Policy of Surrounding the Country with Railroads
Ataturk, who was requested to solve the government crisis which started with Fethi Okyar’s resignation from the chairmanship of the Council of Ministers, announced his Formula to his friends who were invited to dinner on October28, 1923, as “ we will declare the Republic tomorrow”. Following this, he and İsmet İnönü prepared the necessary amendment to the constitution.
The next day, on October 29, 1923, The Republic was declared. Atatürk, who was chosen The President, appointed İsmet İnönü as the Prime Minister. İnönü’s first period as Prime Minister lasted until November 22,1924. However, when Fethi Okyar, who then undertook the position had to resign 3,5 months later, İnönü again undertook the Office which continued until October 25,1937. Thus, the period of his Office as Prime Minister during Atatürk’s time, constituted a record of 14 years, 8 months and 13 days.
Efforts to Create the Modern Turkey
İnönü’s term as Prime Minister involves the struggle to create the Modern Turkey. The Prime Minister, just like Atatürk; believed in the necessity to enter a new period of struggle, contrary to those who believed that the War of Independence attained its goal with the expulsion of the occupation forces and the signing of the peace treaty. After his return from Lousanne, he said the following in a speech he made at İstanbul University: “ Now, the Turkish nation is charged with a new and difficult duty. We can progress with the same means as any other nation. We need to start with this conviction. Some will be left behind in the beginning and in the middle of this long road we will traverse, but many will continue to the end. (Tarih Vesikaları, No.7, pp.1-7) Moreover, he emphasized the aim of modernisation by saying “The point we aim to attain is the highest advancement and civilisation level in the international community” during the discussion of the Peace Treaty at the Turkish Grand National Assembly.
In fact, the first steps in modernisation, which includes the individual, the society and the state as the three main elements, were taken with the establishment of the capital city of the new state and by giving the real name of the political regime. İnönü, who was faced with questions regarding the official capital of the government and the name of the regime during the Lousanne peace negotiations, emphasized, upon returning to Ankara, the necessity of establishing these points. Consequently, he and 14 MPs, with the agreement of Atatürk, gave a bill that stated “ The capital of the Turkish State is the city of Ankara.” With the acceptance of this bill on October 13, 1923, the problem of the place of the Capital was solved. This was followed by the determination of the regime as Republic via an amendment to the Constitution.
In those years, the procedure whereby governments prepare a program concerning their policies and present it to the National Assembly, was not appropriated. Therefore, after the reading of the list of his cabinet members İnönü spoke as follows: “ The Republic government will put all its efforts into actions rather than words, and into gaining your confidence and the confidence of our nation, with its actions and applications. The method we have appropriated is work, endeavor and the desire to serve.” (Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Hükümetleri, I, p.2 )
Atatürk, convinced that it is not correct to execute the offices of Head of State and Party leader simultaneously, left the ledership of the Republican People’s Party, ad interim ,to İnönü. Following this, with an amendment to the party regulations, it was accepted that Prime Ministers could at the same time be the deputy leader of Republican People’s Party. Such a double duty provided the Prime Ministers with great opportunities in the areas of legislation and execution.
Legislature of the Revolution
The first foundation stones of modern Turkey were laid with the opening of the Turkish Grand National Assembly, the abolishion of the Sultanate, and the declaration of the Republic. However, it was obligatory to realize many legal principles and regulations to establish a modern constitutional state and to equip the individual and the society with contemporary values. The first collective initiative in this respect was made during İnönü’s first period of Prime Ministry. With the acceptance of three separate laws on March 3,1924 ,
–The Caliphate was abolished,
–The Unification of Education was accepted
–Ministries of Canonical Legality, Pious Foundations, and General Staff were abolished.
These arrangements, called the Secularism Legislation, constituted the substructure of Secular Turkey. Long before the abovementioned legislation, İnönü expounded his opinions on the problem of The Caliphate as follows:
“We will never forget that the declaration of a Caliph threw us into the abyss of WWI. We will not forget that the declaration of a Caliph attacked the nation more tracherously than the enemy when the nation wanted to rise on its feet. In any period in history, if a Caliph even contemplates to interfere with the fate of this country, we will break off that head with no hesitation.” (Atatük’ün Söylevi, II,/ 14- 616)
Secularism Legislation was followed by the Constitution dated April 20, 1924.
Soon after, (November 22, 1924), because of the events that took place with the establishment of an opposing party, The Progressive Republican Party, İnönü resigned from office , giving his health as a justification. However,with the Şeyh Sait rebellion gaining a serious dimension, Fethi Okyar did not get a vote of confidence from the National Assembly and resigned (March 3,1925) which resulted in İnönü’s re appointment as Prime Minister.
When İnönü took over the Office, he found it necessary to have a special law (Takriri Sükun) passed to submerge the rebellion and to solve the domestic problems it created. As a result of the precautions taken, the Şeyh Sait rebellion was submerged within a short time , but it was deemed necessary to abolish the first opposing party of the Republic period.
After this problem was taken care of, revolutionary steps were taken speedily and in every aspect of life:
The statute ,no 671of November 24, 1925, envisaging the wearing of hats,
The statute ,no 677 of November30 1925,related to the closing down of dervish lodges and the annulment of various titles,
Turkish Common Law no743, of February17, 1926,
The statute ,no1288 of May 20, 1928, related to the acceptance of international numbers
The statute, no1353 of November 1, 1928, related to the acceptance and implementation of Turkish letters,
The statute, no.2590 of November 26,1934, related to the annulment of titles and appelations such as Efendi, Bey, Pasha,
The statute, no.2596 of December 3, 1934,related to the prohibition of certain garbs and apparels.
The fact that these ‘7’ statutes and the statute on the Unification of Education were considered in the 1961 and 1982 Constitutions as “revolution legislation that should be protected”, reflects the importance they carry for Turkey on the way to modernization.
İsmet İnönü revealed his competence in being a statesman and administrator more efficiently in application. As he believed that headgears such as the Fez and the Calpack had no national or religious character, he did not refrain from wearing a hat just like Mustafa Kemal and some other intellectuals, even as far back as the Lousanne negotiations. However, in other transformations, it was necessary that he himself believe in their efficacy and applicability. The most concrete example took place during the acceptace of The New Turkish Alphabet. The discussions about whether to reform the alphabet or to accept a new alphabet based on Latin letters, had started during 1860s. Before WW1, Enver Pasha attempted an application which stipulated that every letter be written separately in the army correspondences, but the attempt failed .İsmet İnönü initially objected to Atatürk’s stipulation of a the change in the alphabet, based on this previous attempt and the difficulty of an enterprise which no revolutionary leader dared attempt. He states this clearly in his memoirs: “At first I opposed this and said to Ataturk : ‘Enver Pasha made such an attempt before the war, but when war was declared he revoked it and we returned to the old application. The same will happen now!’ This is what I said to Atatürk and my warning discouraged him. He dragged the the idea for 2 years.” (Hatırat, II, 221)
However, in 1928, believing that a new alphabet was necessary, he willingly joined the Comission organized for this purpose and put forth his views. Thus, Ataturk used the newly accepted alphabet for the first time in the letter he wrote to him on the night of August 4, 1928. İnönü, on the other hand, supported the new alphabet heartily even before it was accepted, in a speech he gave in Malatya by saying: “ We have started an honourable enterprise which will exalt the present generation in future. This enterprise is the attempt to teach how to read and write to everyone in the Turkish nation without any exception.. It will not be easy to explain to the critics of the future why such a beneficial and poweful step has been postponed until today”. (F.R. Unat, İsmet İnönü, 39). In fact, after the change was accepted, İnönü stopped using the old alphabet to which he was very accustomed, and cautioned and admonished those who did.
Moreover, İnönü heartily supported the efforts pointed out by Atatürk “ to save Turkish language from the bondage of foreign languages”. In the meeting of the Language Comission on February 17, 1929,the following resolution was taken: “ To use the existing Turkish equivalent of words and to find a Turkish equivalent for those that do not have one.” On that very day, in the famous speech he made, which consisted of purely Turkish words, İnönü said:” We have to painfully remember that until now , our language has been a language with open frontiers. Entering this realm did not constitute a crime. What is worse and more distressing is the fact that the children of this country have longed for and searched for such an entry.” With these words he was referring to the attack that Turkish language was faced with and the pathetic fact that Turkish intellectuals adapted to it. Then he continued by saying “unless the necessary precautions are taken our language will be occupied by Western words before being liberated from the occupation of old Eastern words.” Thus, he also forewarned about the present danger of “language pollution”. With this belief, he supported the endeavours of the Turkish Language Institution and pointed to the fact that it was necessary for Turkish intellectuals to abandon their inclination to use words with foreign origin. The message he gave in his speech of September 26, 1941, for the occasion of the Language Holiday , is stil valid today:
“ If Turks , in every field of science, had laboured for their mother tongue as much as they did for foreign languages,Turkish language would have been freed of its deficiencies and would have become an exemplary language of the civilised world. The same practice prevents us today from many developments that could have been attained easily. If every intellectual who can make himself heard and read by the nation considers it a pleasure worth attaining to have one less foreign word in the language, we will be able to eliminate many problems easily. (Ş. Turan, İsmet İnönü , 533) Years later, on August 9, 1953, in the article he wrote for Ulus newspaper, İnönü indicated the importance of the language revolution as follows:
“ Tukish language and Turkish nation have gained independence as a result of the Alphabet revolution. The new alphabet has been the main support for the Republic’s acceptance of the Western civilisation societies.The new letters have carried the Turkish nation from one cultural world to another cultural world. We should say without hesitation: the most important revolutionary step is the acceptance of the new Turkish Alphabet.”
İnönü has had great influence on the modifications and innovations in the fields of education and culture, which carry great importance in the efforts to create modern Turkey by equiping the Republic generations with contemporary values. Within this context, we can mention the shutting down of the medresseh (moslem theological schools), and the opening o new educational institutions of every level as follows: teacher training schools such as Musiki Muallim Mektebi (music teacher training school); Gazi Eğitim Enstitüsü ( Gazi Education İnstitute); Dil ve Tarih Coğrafya Fakültesi (The Faculty of Language, History and Geography); vocational and technical schools; Village Teacher Schools which were the precursors of Village Institutes; The Higher Institute of Agriculture which would train personnel for the agricultural development of the country; Ankara Conservatory which would train artists in music and performing arts; İstanbul Museum of Painting and Statue ; Halkevleri (Community Centers) which are centers of mass education in the real sense of the word; the conversion of İstanbul Darülfünun (Ottoman University) into İstanbul University , and Sanayii Nefise Mektebi into Academy of Fine Arts.
Moreover, during the same period, as general vice president of CHP he put great effort into the determination and definition of the party principles symbolized as ‘6 Arrows’. These six principles, namely, Republicanism, Nationalism, Populism, Etatism, Secularism and Reformism were given legal indemnity by being added to the Constitution on February 5, 1937,with the proposal of İnönü and153 parliamentarians.
When History Of Revolution courses began to be given at institutes of higher education in 1934 with the intention of consciously instilling in young generations the basic characteristics and acquisitions of the Republic, İnönü as Prime Minister, pioneered also in this project. For the realisation of this purpose, a History of Revolution Institute was opened in İstanbul University and the Chair of Turkish Revolution History was established in Ankara Law Faculty. Instruction started at the Institute in İstanbul on March 4,1934, with the first class being taught by the Minister of National Education,Hikmet Bayur. At the Chair in Ankara, the first class was taught on March 20, by Prime Minister İsmet İnönü
İnönü stared the course by saying “ The ongoing revolution of the Turkish Nation started with a war on two fronts :one against foreign invasion and the other against Ottoman order.” He then continued by giving the characteristics of The Turkish Revolution:
“ The Turkish Revolution, in addition to being the independence war of The Turkish nation, has determined the aim of independence as making Turkish nation a superior society. Turkish Revolution rejects the aggressive and invasive greeds toward other human societies. The aim of making Turkish nation a superior society necessitates the continuation of the revolution. The revolutionary characteristic of our life lies in the fact that it was not blindly attached to any dogma for the happines and advancement of the society. This characteristic of the revolution is its main difference between, and superiority to, other old and conservative regimes as well as the new allegations and regimes that exist in a predetermined framework. We have not attached ourselves to narrow and dogmatic conceptions to advance the Turkish Nation.” ( Ülkü, no.14. April 14,1934)
The History of Revolution courses that began to be taught at institutes of Higher Education, were placed into a legal framework by the establishment of The History Of Turkish Revolution Institute. (1942)
Attempts of Economic Development:
During his travel around the country in the beginning of 1923, he explained the objective harboured by the new Turkey as follows:
“The new Turkish State will establish its foundation not with bayonets but with economy that bayonets also depend on. Let us not be proud of our military victory, let us get prepared for new scientific and economic victories!”
The Turkish Economy Congress was organised to determine the measures to be taken for the purpose of attaining this aim. İsmet İnönü who was in Lousanne, conducting the peace negotiations, could not participate in this congress but became the head of the government that would implement these decisions. In fact he himself had taken the first big step for the free atmosphere necessary for economic development by enabling the lifting of Capitulations. The principles of the national economy to be observed were as follows:
–To depend on domestic sources as far as possible, not to be indebted fo foreign sources,
–To be open to private enterprise and foreign capital under specific conditions,
–To protect the value of Turkish currency,
–To give importance and priority to agriculture and agricultural industry,
— To be scrupulous about the balance of budgets,
— To build roads that would provide all types of transportation within the country.
These principles were not a complete application of etatism, but they meant a national economy which envisaged the nationalisation of foreign business organisations. Etatism was to be adopted as a new principle in the 1930s when economic depression in the world became widespread. However, there were important attempts toward industrialisation. The first step was to abolish the Aşar tax (dime levy) which provided great income for the state but which constituted a great burden for the farmers and prevented the development of agriculture. (1925). Parallel to this, the Bank of Industry and Mining was established (1925), followed by the Law of Support of Industry. This law, dated May 28,1927, envisaged various kinds of support to those who planned to found industrial establishments, beginning with provision of land which was free or to be paid for in installments of 10 years, to 30% discount for the transportation of construction material or equipment. This was followed by the establishment of the Bank of Realty and Orphans ( Emlak ve Yetimler Bankası) in 1926, and the Turkish Central Bank in 1930.
Another legal regulation for the development of industry and trade was the establishment of the High Economy Council.(1927). This council undertook active duties for a certain time but was abolished after the application of the First Five Year Plan as it lost its effectiveness.
The increase in the economic relations and commercial trade with western countries made it necessary to replace old measurement units with the metric system.(1931).
The Law of Conserving The Value of Turkish Currency was enacted in 1930 and the equivalent of 1 Sterling was determined as 1.030 kuruş. Then, when French Frank became more effective in world markets, 1TL was equal to 6.363 Frank.
While these developments took place in the economy, the principle of “etatism” as İnönü called it, was adopted and included in the party program of CHP. When this principle began to be interpreted in different manners, İnönü stated, in the article he wrote for the journal Kadro (no.22), that it was not a doctrine and had nothing to do with socialism or communism. According to him, etatism became evident automatically. In fact he explains this in his memoirs as follows:
“Our etatism was born on its own accord. After the building of railroads was begun, we discussed which one of the big requirements outside of the regular services of the state, were to be addressed. We considered the infrastructure installations and also the requisites for establishing the government in Ankara. Also what new move was to be made for the culture cause? These became our issues which increased annually in importance and ratio. This is my explanation of how our etatism was born automatically and by necessity.” (II, 226)
When the application of the etatism principle began, it became inevitable to attach it to a plan. İnönü’s visit to Soviet Russia in April 1932 was beneficial for the preparation of development plans. With the support of the technical committee from Soviet Russia, the first Five Year Industrial Plan was prepared.(1934). The execution of the plan was given to the newly established Sümerbank and three different institutions were established for the purpose of finding and managing the mining and energy sources: Mineral Research and Exploration Institute, Etibank, and Electrical Power Resources Survey Department.
Before the end of the First Plan, the Second Five Year Industrial Plan was prepared in 1936. Thus, many important infrastructure and industrial investments were realised until October 1937, when İnonü resigned from the office of Prime Minister: cloth factories were opened in Nazilli, Ereğli and Kayseri; Malatya cloth factory, Gemlik artificial silk factory and Karabük iron and steel plant were founded; and İzmir paper and cardboard factory started production.
The Policy Of Surrounding the Country With Railroads
An important undertaking during İnönü’s presidency was to give priority to the bulding of railroads. Atatürk, in the ‘ 9 Precepts program’ that he promulgated in April 1923, said: “Every
enterprise and attempt will be started for the railroads that we urgently need.” İnönü demonstrated the importance of this propensity when he said: “ Railroads are the country’s security weapons more than guns and cannons. They are the vehicles that provide national unity.”
This policy, which was reflected in the anthem for the tenth anniversary of the Republic with the verse “ we entwined the motherland with iron nets”, was carried out in two directions: to install new railway routes, and to nationalise the railroads owned by foreign companies.
Within the boundaries of Turkey , which was determined with the Lousanne peace aggreement, there were 124 kilometers of broad and 3,733 kilometers of narrow lines totalling to 4,130 kilometers of railroads.While the railroad construction was advancing at full speed with enthusiasm, the leader of the newly established Progressive Republican Party, Fethi Okyar, and his friends began to oppose this. According to them it was unfair to impose the expensive burden of railroads on a single generation. As a result, railroads turned into a pricipal topic of dispute between CHP and the Progressive Republican Party. However, İnönü made no concessions from his decisive position. In the ceremony on August 30,1930, organised for the arrival of the railroad to Sivas he replied to the criticisms as follows:
“ The vehicles which aided us in repressing the defeatism of the Sultan who rebelled against the establishment of The Turkish National Assembly in the war of independence were the remaining first railroads of 5-600 km.between Konya, Afyon, Eskişehir and Ankara. If we had owned an Ankara-Erzurum railroad, it wold have been dubious for Europe to embark on the Sakarya military expedition…
The railroad policy has become the primary national independence issue for the national state, an issue of national unity and national existence that is impossible to delay.”
To his opponents he said: “we have appropriated our nation with 1,800 kilometers of railroads which are the grand means of national unity, national being. How can you consider all this a mistake?” He then emphasized that “the policy that has been followed for the past ‘7’ years is not a cul de sac but a masterpiece that has protected the national being despite everything.”
With this determination, within the 15 years until 1938, 2,954 kilometers of new routes were opened , the routes owned by foreigners were bought and the total length of railroads was increased to 7,132 kilometers.
