Originally posted by hitite
I am no Atatürk worshipper but I do respect this guy. Just FYI in the early years of the Republic Mustafa Kemal faced fierce opposition from former CUP members. Any obstacles he faced while head of parliament and later when he was elected to be Commander in Chief in the Sakarya+Dumlupinar battles came from this group who were continuously in touch with Enver who was in Russia and later in Batum in that period. Kemal could not do anything at the time since they were chosen MP's and he needed full support from all fractions which he could only get because they were dire times and they did not have a better choice. If the first few battles with Greeks had been lost Enver would have been back in Turkey to overthrow the Ankara government. Their (ex-CUP members) gradual elimination or subordiantion came after the Greek army was kicked out of Turkey and he became president. So, in short, even though Atatürk had to bear with ex-CUP members for a certain period he really was not on the same political axis, I personally think he was closer to the Turkish Bolsheviks who supported his "war againt the imperialist west" and hence the massive support Kemal got from Russia during this war. Kemal however clear stated many times that he did not see Bolshevism suited for Turkey, even to the Russian envoys and Ambassadors he frequented with very often.
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