Nationalists and Islamists pursued by prosecutors
Nicholas Birch THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Thursday, July 10, 2008
ISTANBUL | In a contest for the affections of schoolchildren in their respective countries, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln would have a tough time competing with Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey.
Every school in Turkey has what is called an Ataturk corner, including a bust and list of his accomplishments. Excerpts from Ataturk speeches are part of every public building. His mausoleum in Ankara is a national shrine, and his image appears as a shadow on one mountain twice each summer, a few days before and after the spring equinox.
More recently, Ataturk helped inspire Osama bin Laden, whose primary goal is to restore the position of caliph, or Muslim leader, that Ataturk abolished in 1924.
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