Arts and Sciences

After the establishment of the Republic of Turkey, the Turkish Letter Revolution is the next most important of the revolutions

Cyprus International University (CIU), Turkish Language and Literature Department Chair Assoc. Prof. Dr. Gürkan Gümüşatam, stating that the new alphabet, which was prepared based on the Latin alphabet and taking the Turkish sound system into account, was accepted on 1st November 1928, went on to say, “The acceptance of the Turkish alphabet is one of the most important revolutions in terms of social and cultural life, after the establishment of the Republic of Turkey (TR).

Advising that Mustafa Kemal Atatürk saw the alphabet reform as a priority subject in the development of the Turkish people, Gümüşatam added that it is for this reason that each year between 1-7 November is celebrated as the Turkish Letter Revolution week.

Expressing that Atatürk saw the learning and teaching of the new alphabet as an issue of patriotism, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Gümüşatam continued, “Within this framework, the acceptance of the new Turkish letters pathed the way for developments in the fields of education and culture in TR; and should be thought as a revolution that brought a rooted change in the social and political fields”.

Gümüşatam explained that following the acceptance of the republic, research was carried out in order to determine the most suitable writing system for the Turkish character via the commissions established and stated that following suggestions and a long discussion, as a result, it was decided that the Latin alphabet writing system was the most appropriate in terms of closeness to Turkish writing and the sound system.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Gümüşatam noted that the Alphabet Revolution should be seen as the first and biggest step in the orientation of the new Turkish Republic towards Western culture, and went on to note, “Atatürk predicted that due to the new Turkish letters of Latin origin, the young Republic would become more compatible with the West”.

Adding that the Alphabet Revolution established the main stage of the innovations within especially the social structure, but in language and culture also, Gümüşatam concluded, "The Turkish Nation's awareness of its own language and its careful approach to its own history has been a great achievement for the Alphabet Revolution, something that should be emphasized".