Turkish War of Independence Quotes
Ataturk had been a military hero, but was very much opposed to war and military adventurism not unlike the Dwight Eisenhower and Colin Powell type leaders. However, the one thing that he thought worth the sacrifice of his own and other Turkish lives was Turkish independence and sovereignty. Historically, the Ottoman Empire which Ataturk finally ended, had dominated half of Europe and all of the Mid East at the cost of sovereignty of other nations and Ataturk saw no more important virtue with dying for than national sovereignty. See {125322} and {584501}.
Greek invaders were marching on Istanbul
The Greeks committed many atrocities in their war with Turkey. See {584483}
Ataturk advocated a very strong military establishment that should rarely if ever be used—always preferring a diplomatic, political solution to foreign policy problems.
Ataturk, the great Turkish reformer, was interested in Turkish independence, development, and reform, but was uninterested in the day-to-day administration of government. He knew it had to be done and wanted his friend to be Prime Minister and run the government. Orbay realized that Ataturk would still be the major power in the nation.
He was at that time the chosen delegate to the peace conference. The government officials were unhappy with their agreement. Ataturk overruled the government and the treaty was signed.
Turkey under the Ottomans had been an imperialist, expansionist, empire, fighting and ruling over half of Europe and all of the Middle East. Ataturk argued that fighting and taking casualties should only take place to protect the nation’s independence and not to build or maintain an empire.
