Mustafa Qemal Ataturk, founder of the Republic of Turkey, statesman, passed away in Istanbul, Turkey. He was born in Thessaloniki, Greece, in 1881. Leading the National Revolution of his people, he opposed the implementation of the Treaty of Sevres (August 10, 1920), which forced Turkey to cede a number of territories in its European part and straits. With the overthrow of the Sultanate, he became the first president of the Republic of Turkey (1923–1938). He was the architect and energetic implementer of democratic reforms in the administrative, justice, education and culture fields. With the secularization of political and social life, starting with the abrogation of the Caliphate, Turkey made a big leap in the economic field, in industry, in agriculture, etc. and in the field of cultural development, social emancipation and its democratization. The reforms of Qemal Ataturk had a wide echo in the Albanian press of the time. The relations of the Turkish Republic of Mustafa Qemal Ataturk with Albania, established before the arrival of Ahmet Zog in power, and until 1928 they were preserved and remained normal. During this period, the Albanian-Turkish agreements of Ankara and Istanbul of 1923 were ratified, which constituted the foundation of friendship between the two countries. On March 13, 1926, Mustafa Qemal Ataturk received the first Albanian minister in Turkey and spoke for the strengthening of friendly ties between the two countries. On November 1, 1926, in the opening speech of the IV Session of the II Legislature of the Grand Turkish Majlis (Parliament), Mustafa Qemal Ataturk declared that Turkey’s relations with Albania were friendly. After the proclamation of the Monarchy in Albania (1928), there was a temporary weakening of the relations between the two states, but after 1931 they were normalized, improved and the cooperation between the two countries in the diplomatic field etc. expanded. (In the photo: Mustafa Qemal Ataturku)
Text: Albanian encyclopedic dictionary – Vol. 1 , Academy of Sciences of Albania, “Kristalina-KH”, Tirana, 2008, page 139-140.
Photo: © https://www.britannica.com/biography/Kemal-Ataturk
Graphic processing: AHCF
