Mustafa Kemal (Ataturk) and the Modernization of Turkey

The word secular means of or pertaining to worldy things, basically non-religious. Mustafa Kemal (aka Ararurk) was a turk who was basically the first president of modern turkey. Think of him as a George Washington figure. He wasnt really fond of the Turkish way of life at the time, which was almost completly circled around religion. When he became the leader he passed various laws and promoted several different styles. To rid of the religious influence in Turkey, he showed the Turks how to dress as their neighbors the Europeans. Instead of a robe with a fez, he said to wear a shirt, jacket, pants and a brimmed hat. Not only did he change the Turks' fashion sense, but he also changed some of their laws. He actually banned the wearing of a fez, a religious sort of headgear. He applied new governmental ways to the current Turkish one. He applied more secular themes to these Coesxisting laws.