AKP official's remarks claiming "trauma" over Ataturk's revolutions drwa fire

Dengir Mir Firat, deputy leader of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), has come under fire for telling a reporter that Turkey was "traumatized" by the revolutions of Ataturk, the founder of the Turkish Republic. In remarks quoted in Sunday's New York Times, Firat said that Turkish society had been "traumatized" by the revolutions of Ataturk early in the 20th century, adding, "Overnight they (the Turkish people) were told to change their dress, their language. Their religious ways were dismantled." Firat confirmed his remarks yesterday, saying that they came out of a wide-ranging conversation. He said that every revolution sows social trauma and that his remarks cast neither a positive nor negative light on Ataturk's revolutions. Onur Oymen of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) said yesterday that Firat's words exposed what kind of mentality now rules Turkey. He called it unjust and wrong to describe Ataturk revolutions, which freed the Turkish nation, as a period of oppression. In addition, Parliament Speaker Koksal Toptan said, "It's the revolutions of Ataturk that brought us to the present day." Masum Turker, general secretary of the Democratic Left Party (DSP), also said Firat's remarks revealed the real aims of the AKP. "His remarks aim to open up a debate over Ataturk and shake the basic principles of the republic," he added.