Craig Laundy (Reid, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Tomorrow, Australians of Turkish descent in my community of Reid, like Turkish people worldwide, will pause to remember and commemorate the life of a great visionary and one of history's great leaders—Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.

2015 is the Centenary of Anzac, and for Australians of Turkish decent, in particular, it is a special commemorative day to remember Ataturk, or, as they know him, 'father of the Turks'. Much has been said about this historic figure this year. His high regard for the Anzacs who fought at Gallipoli is well known and his tribute to them is immortalised for all to see on memorials in both Gallipoli and closer to home in Anzac Parade, Canberra. What may be less known was Ataturk's important role after the war in creating a modern, secular Republic of Turkey from the ashes of the Ottoman Empire. He founded the Turkish parliament and was elected its first president in 1923. He instituted reforms in a range of areas. He instituted equal rights for women, reformed the language and introduced a new alphabet and lexicon, established modern banking, encouraged the formation of industry and sought, above all, to raise the literacy and education levels of his countrymen and countrywomen. I join with the Turkish-Australian community and all friends of Turkey in commemorating the passing of a great man, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, on the 10 November 1938—a visionary then and now.