Excited About The Naming Of Ataturk Street In Jakarta, Ahmad Riza Patria: DKI Regional Government Letters To The Indonesian Embassy In Ankara

Jakarta Deputy Governor Ahmad Riza Patria gave a press statement at the Jakarta City Hall, Thursday, October 21 evening. (Intermediate Photo)

JAKARTA - Deputy Governor of DKI Ahmad Riza Patria The DKI Jakarta Provincial Government has written to the Indonesian Embassy in Ankara (Turkey) regarding the plan to name one of the roads in Jakarta with the name Jalan Ataturk, which is taken from the name of Mustafa Kemal Pasha.

"DKI has submitted a letter to the Indonesian Ambassador to Turkey saying that we certainly appreciate and respect the name proposal submitted by the Turkish government," said Deputy Governor of DKI Jakarta Ahmad Riza Patria at City Hall, Thursday, October 21 evening.

He mentioned that the letter also explained that in Jakarta there are rules related to naming roads. Among other things, there is a process of discussing public hearings if there is a controversy. "However, we have conveyed that there are regulations for the governor's regulation regarding road naming," said Riza.

Among other things, it is arranged so that there will be a process of public hearing if it is felt that the proposed road name will cause controversy. "So, we will conduct a hearing soon," said Riza.

However, his party hopes that the proposed street name is the name of the city. For example,

Istanbul or Ankara, not the name of the character. "We hope it will be like the name we gave in Casablanca, first with the Moroccan government. So it's not the name of the figure but the name of the city," he said.

"Hopefully the ambassador will convey. We hope that later the Turkish government will present alternatives, options," said Ahmad Riza Patria, who is also a politician from the Gerindra Party.

Soekarno

Previously, Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi in a press conference related to a bilateral visit to Turkey on October 12, 2021, said that the Turkish government had given the name Jalan Ahmet Soekarno in Ankara.

"The Turkish government has awarded the new street name in front of the Indonesian Embassy in Ankara the name Jalan Ahmet Soekarno," said the Foreign Minister.

However, this proposal was rejected by several parties who believed that Mustafa Kemal Pasha was a secular figure and was responsible for abolishing the Ottoman Empire.

Meanwhile, according to the Indonesian Ambassador to Turkey Lalu Muhamad Iqbal, Turkey proposed the name Ataturk because Mustafa Kemal Pasha was considered a hero by the Turks, including his move to make Turkey embrace secularism (separating religion and state) and was considered a revision of the decline in authority, influence and the attitude of the sultanate which is far from Islamic values.

Mustafa Kemal Pasha is also considered a liberator of Turkey for refusing and leading the resistance to escape the grip of Western powers who want to control parts of the current Turkish state through the Sevres Agreement (10/8/1920) which stated that the sultanate accepted defeat in World War I to the Allies and agreed to divide Turkey's territory.

"Assessing a person's figure cannot be only from one source, because all policies usually have a certain sociological and political background," he said.

For the people of Turkey, Kemal Pasha or Ataturk is the liberator of the country from Western colonialism. All recognized his services as the founder of the Republic of Turkey. "Even his photos are still on display in government buildings and institutions," said Lalu Muhamad Iqbal about naming a street with Ataturk's name in Jakarta.