Mustafa Kemal (Ataturk) and the Modernization of Turkey

Before Mustafa Kenmal became the president, he was a military leader. He fought for the independence of Turkey which was known as the Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman Empire was a  country full of muslims before Turkey got its independence. Mustafa then became the 1st president of Turkey for 15 years. During the time he was a president of Turkey he tried to modernize the people of Turkey. He wanted the people to dress more like the Europeans and American. He wanted the people to be more secular meaning he wanted the people of Turkey to be less religious. One thing he did was he banned fez, a fez was a brimless hat that the people of Turkey wore. He also didn't want the people to wear the long dresses. He stated that he wanted the state of Turkey to have free privileges of certain stuff. He created a Secular government before he passed away.