3 March 1924 Great crowds had gathered outside the National Assembly, and the building itself was packed by the time he rose to make his speech

Atatürk elected first president of Turkey - archive, 31 October 1923 Read more



Constantinople, Saturday

Mustapha Kemal’s speech in the National Assembly to-day, which has been foreshadowed in some quarters as likely to mark an epoch in Turkish history, referred in general terms to the necessity of purging religion from political ties, unifying the system of education, and rescuing the judicial organisation from the influences under which it has hitherto laboured. The speech was received with enthusiasm by Liberals but coldly by the minority of Clericals and Conservatives.

Great crowds had gathered outside the National Assembly, and the building itself was packed by the time Mustapha Kemal rose to make his speech. After referring to the proclamation of the Republic as a regime which best suited the Turkish nation, the President said that the Republic must be safeguarded in the present and future against all attacks. It was therefore necessary to apply the principles consecrated by experience.

The President’s references to vital issues of the moment were somewhat vague, but were interpreted as endorsing the suppression of the theological schools and the elimination of the Commissars of Pious Foundations and Religious Affairs and the Chief of the General Staff from the Cabinet, while his allusion to the urgent need of purging religion of all political ties is regarded as signifying the death warrant of Khalifate. In conclusion, Mustapha Kemal Pasha referred to Turkey’s foreign relations with foreign States, and expressed regret at the delay in the ratifications of the Lausanne Treaty.

Turkey and The League

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Constantinople, Sunday

Mustapha Kemal Pasha, in his speech in the Assembly at Angora yesterday, referred to the possibility of Turkey joining the League of Nations after the ratification of the Lausanne Treaty, though he added that he did not wish the League to become a means of domination in the hands of a few powerful States, but rather to be an institution capable of insuring harmony and concord among the nations, with power to hear and settle disputes in conformity with international law.