In remembrance of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk
Cyprus International University remembers Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the Founder of the Turkish Republic, on the 84th anniversary of his death. A ceremony was organized by the Faculty of Science and Letters.
The ceremony started with a moment of silence at 09:05 and the singing of the National Anthem, and continued with the poetry readings in memory of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk by Mehtap Biçer and Meltem Biçer who are students in the Department of Psychology of CIU Faculty of Science and Letters.
Those in attendance at the ceremony were CIU Rector Prof. Dr. Halil Nadiri, Vice-Rectors, Faculty members, and students. Dean of the Faculty of Science and Letters Prof. Dr. Metin Karadağ, Lecturer in the Faculty of Education Assist. Prof. Dr. Osman Emiroğlu and Lecturer in the Faculty of Communication Dr. Göral Erinç Yılmaz were the speakers at a panel organized on the occasion of this Day.
Prof. Dr. Karadağ in his speech at the ceremony stated that Atatürkism also known as Kemalism does not envisage a system on its own but, on the contrary, Atatürkism is essentially a set of certain 'principles' belonging to a historical, philosophical and political 'world view' and, in Mustafa Kemal's own words, 'nothing else but a set of works made in the light of these principles'.
Explaining that Kemalist thought is a 'systematic way of thinking' that includes 'intention', 'intuition', 'design', 'planning', 'discovery', 'view', 'perception', 'reflex' and 'reflection,' Karadağ said, “For this very reason, as Özdemir İnce remarked, Atatürk bears the qualities that make him both 'contemporary of his age' and 'contemporary of our age'.”
Assist. Prof. Dr. Osman Emiroğlu in his speech, pointed out that the education that Atatürk received in his youth and the viewpoints he developed were noticeable in his plans for the future, and said, "It could be that he realized the potential of the people who grow up at a time when the education system was undergoing many reforms."
Emphasizing that Atatürk's philosophy on education did not consist of a single ideology or a single philosophy, Emiroğlu said, “In order to raise people who use what they produce and associate them with real life, internalizing the unchangeable features that make polytechnical and pragmatic people bear human qualities, and also being reconstructive in the realization of the aims of the newly established Turkish Republic are essential.”
Dr. G. Erinç Yılmaz also expressed the efforts of women who have been taking action and producing ideas on this issue since the Ottoman period and in line with Atatürk’s vision of the place of women in modern society, and stated that Atatürk's main effort was to save women from the pressure of traditions and communities, and make them participate in social life as individuals.
Stating that the education of women and men under equal conditions should be considered together with Atatürk's efforts to treat women as individuals and alongside the principle of secularism, Yılmaz emphasized that a new era had begun with the implementation of secular principles, in which the state has been treating all individuals as distinct personalities.
The ceremony ended with the presentation of a documentary on "Atatürk and Women".