Ataturk Cemented

I am now cemented in the idea of researching Kemal Ataturk’s message to the Australians,for I have found many interesting things about the message on my journey to find as much information on the whole situation as possible. I have managed to find two books at the library, which I think are going to be very useful. Unfortunately Ataturk, although an important historical figure, usually doesn’t get much of an agenda from historians, for they are busy writing about Buzz Aldrin, or Nelson Mandela. Anyway, here’s my new source information. Cool Fact, Ataturk is not Kemal’s real name, it is a name given to him by the turkish government that literally means “Father of the Turks” seeing that Turkey was born out of the Ottoman empire.

Scholarly source #1

Author: Ulug Igdemir is a veteran of WW1 in the Dardanelles Theatre, once he was out of the military he took up teaching and writing, later writing the book called “Ataturk and the Anzacs”.

Thesis: From what I’ve read, It is about communications from a Turkish ambassador to a memorial organizer in Australia who found out about Ataturk’s message and wanted to create a memorial out of it.

Evidence: He has copies of letters sent between the Ambassador and the memorial organizer, explaining that his words are true and that Ataturk really did say those words.

Purpose: Explain the situation that happened with Ataturk’s message to the Anzac mothers, and to prove that his words were true, and the process of finding that information.

Evaluation: Very reliable, seing as one half of the book is in turkish, and the other half in english, it shows a great chain of events that all have to do with Ataturk’s Message.

Scholarly Source #2

Author: Liz Reed, Senior historian and lecturer of Australian Indigenous Studies at Monash University. The book is titled “Bigger than Gallipoli”.

Thesis: Reed analyses how the commemoration of Gallipoli can be seen as a way for Australia as a nation to reconstruct its identity.

Evidence: Reed uses up her whole 180 page book with things pasted together from sources all around Australia.

Purpose: To show the importance that commemoration plays in the lives of Australians and how that in turn controls how people feel about wars.

Evaluation: Although I have yet to seriously dig in for some good juicy information, I know it’s there, if not in the form of Ataturk’s significance, then definitely on how the Gallipoli campaign affected the Australian people.

Scholarly Source #3

Author: Editor form the New Zealand Ministry of Culture and Heritage.

Thesis: The article gives details of a memorial of Kemal Ataturk in Tarakena Bay, Wellington, New Zealand, which is said to resemble that of the Gallipoli Peninsula.

Evidence: Pictures, Words about the memorial.

Purpose: To educate people on the existence of the memorial. It details that there was an agreement between Turkey, Australia, and New Zealand where the Turks would rename the place of battle to Anzac Cove, to memorialize the dead. In return Australia and New Zealand both had to place memorials to Kemal Ataturk in their capitals.

Evaluation: Nice information, and very user friendly, just not super academic.

Scholarly Source #4

Author: Peter Stanley and David Stephens, Stanley is a professor of the University of New South Wales in Canberra, and Stephens is the secretary of a group called “Honest History”.

Thesis: That Ataturk’s words were not directed at the Anzac mother, or at the Anzacs at all at least directly) but instead his words were an open letter to all “foes” of the Ottomans that fought in Gallipoli.

Evidence: The book “Ataturk and the Anzacs”, which is perfect that I have that as my source, and that this source links up to my other source, I could turn that into something good. Other academic sources are mentioned and used in the argument.

Purpose: To get people to think more about how history can be misleading, and often wrong, simply because those who write it have a personal agenda.

Evaluation: Good source, from the Sydney Morning Herald, a very popular newspaper all over Australia.