Kemal Ataturk's Name Will Become A Street In Jakarta, But The Location Is Still A 'mystery', Said Deputy Governor Riza

Mustafa Kemal Ataturk (Sumber: Commons Wikimedia)

JAKARTA - Deputy Governor of DKI Jakarta Ahmad Riza Patria said the plan to name Kemal Ataturk on the streets of the capital is part of the cooperation between the governments of Indonesia and Turkey. Moreover, the Turkish government has made the name of Indonesian President Soekarno the name of the street.

"So there is indeed a desire from us and the Turkish government so that there is a name from our (figure, red) in Turkey and there is a name from Turkey in us," Riza told reporters in Jakarta, Sunday, October 17.

However, Riza has not explained which road segment will be replaced with the name of the Turkish national figure. "So God willing, this is part of the cooperation between Indonesia and Turkey," he said.

"(The location, red) will be announced later," added Riza.

For information, the Turkish government will name the street in front of the Indonesian Embassy in Ankara with the name Ahmet Soekarno. However, the country wants the naming to be mutual, so there is a discourse about naming a Turkish figure for a road in Jakarta.

Who is Mustafa Kemal Ataturk

On November 10, 1938, Turkey's First President Mustafa Kemal Ataturk died. Mustafa Kemal Ataturk died of cirrhosis of the liver. Mustafa Kemal Ataturk was a revolutionary who co-founded the Republic of Turkey and succeeded in reforming Turkey into a modern state.

Citing Biography, Ataturk has been active in the revolutionary movement since his youth. He became a member of the Young Turks, a revolutionary intellectual movement. He also participated in the Young Turk Revolution of July 1908, which overthrew Sultan Abdülhamid II.

From 1909 to 1918, Ataturk held a number of posts in the Ottoman army. He fought against Italy in the Italo-Turkish War in 1911 and from 1912-1913 fought in the Balkan Wars.

After three years of fighting, the Ottoman war machine collapsed. The Allies began to divide the empire among themselves. Istanbul was the Capital of the Ottoman Empire for centuries.

However, when Ataturk returned to Istanbul after the First World War, Ataturk found the city occupied by Allied forces. He was determined to restore Turkey's sovereignty.

In 1922, Turkey won the war of independence. Ataturk's success against the "invaders" gave him a rival government that increased legitimacy in the eyes of the people.

On October 29, 1923, the Republic of Turkey was declared. Mustafa Kemal Ataturk was a war hero of that independence.

Ataturk has been named President of Turkey. Its power base, Ankara is the capital of the country. For more than 80 years, Turkey has been successfully governed by secular principles, principles introduced by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.

After seizing power, Ataturk took drastic steps to redirect Turkey to the West. Using his power, Ataturk abolished the caliphate system, changed the alphabet, and made Islam a sphere of privacy.

As division commander, Ataturk fought against the Allies in the famous Gallipoli campaign of 1915. Quoting Al Jazeera, the Sultan's legitimacy as ruler lies in his position as Caliph, God's representative on earth, under Ottoman rule.

In addition, state authority comes from Islam. However Ataturk abolished the post of caliph and the last caliph was expelled on March 3, 1924. He also closed all religious courts and schools, banned the wearing of headscarves for public sector employees, abolished the ministry of law qanun and Islamic foundations, lifted the ban on alcohol, adopted the Gregorian calendar replacing the Islamic calendar, and make Sunday a holiday instead of Friday.

He also changed the Turkish alphabet from Arabic letters to Roman letters. Ataturk also mandated that the call to prayer should be in Turkish rather than Arabic, even banning the wearing of the fez hat.