Secularism Figures
Mustafa Kemal Ataturk
Ataturk represents a powerful twentieth-century model of state-led secularization.
Notable contribution
Built a secular Turkish republic through sweeping reforms of law, education, script, and state institutions.
Profile notes
- His reforms abolished the Ottoman caliphate and reorganized public law on secular nationalist lines.
- He transformed education, dress, script, and state symbolism in the new republic.
- His legacy remains influential and contested in debates over religion, nationalism, and state power.
