Al-Ahram: A Diwan of contemporary life (648) End of Grey Wolf Egyptians probably did not differ over a personality as much as they did over , the founder of the Turkish republic. While his actions were a source of admiration for some, as Professor Yunan Labib Rizk relates, they were the object of disapproval by others The Grey Wolf was the title of a book by the British writer HS Armstrong about the famous Turkish leader that was translated by Al-Hilal books under the same title in July 1952. Grey Wolf was a symbol the Turks had taken for themselves in their early nomadic days, and it was the name some gave to Ataturk for reviving Turkish nationalism. In the 1920s, Ataturk annulled the caliphate (1924) a few months following the declaration of the republic. And thus the last of the caliphs, Abdel-Mejid, left Istanbul at night for Switzerland. Although the nascent Turkish republic had agreed to concede all of what it claimed were historical rights over Egypt at the Conference of Lausanne that had been held the previous year (1923), religious Muslims in Egypt were saddened by the disappearance of one of the religious constants they had lived in the shadow of since the advent of Islam. This was followed by cultural and political complications for Egyptians. Among them was the ambition of King Fouad I to gain the seat of the caliphate that had been emptied, in hope of adding a religiously legitimising cloak to his autocratic rule in order to confront the liberalism of the Wafd and Liberal Constitutionalists Parties. This struggle was exemplified by the book "Islam and the Basis of Rule" written by Sheikh Ali Abdel-Razeq, which proved that the caliphate was not originally among the fundaments of the true religion. This caused relations between the king and the Liberal Constitutionalists Party to explode, and the whole matter ended with the dissolution of the royal government led by Ahmed Ziwar Pasha. Yet the dream of reviving the caliphate remained alive in the king's son Farouq. And it is surprising to learn that it continues to beguile the dreams of some groups using religion in politics until this day, despite more than 80 years having passed since the caliphate was annulled in Istanbul, the capital that was moved to Ankara under the republic. There were also the reforms that The Grey Wolf instituted, and the connected and effective steps towards Westernisation, through the education and unveiling of girls, the removal of the fez and the donning of the hat, and the use of Latin rather than Arabic letters. The measures all had reverberations in Egypt. The education and unveiling of girls was called for by Hoda Sharawi, and her group began to grow following what took place in Turkey. It reached its zenith with the visit of an Egyptian female delegation led by Sharawi to Istanbul in 1935 to participate in an international women's conference, where she expressed her admiration for the rights Turkish women had gained during the era of the republic. After returning from the international women's conference held in Rome in 1923, and having removed their head coverings, Hoda Sharawi and her two young colleagues Nabawiya Musa and Ceza Nabarawi succeeded in becoming role models to Egyptian women, who soon followed their example. Until the 1980s it was rare to come across a young Egyptian woman wrapped in such clothing. But following the oil cultural invasion and the related religious edicts considering it the religiously legitimate clothing, Egyptian began to wear it again, and to even be creative in doing so. As for removing the fez and donning hats, this was the object of a battle between a number of intellectuals calling for haste in its implementation, led by Mahmoud Azmi, Salama Moussa and Tawfiq El-Hakim, and those who held on to this red headgear on the basis of it being a symbol of Egyptian nationalism. Most of this camp added a religious nature to the fez, although we are sure where they got these arguments. At any rate, they took off their fezzes following the July 1952 revolution, with the army men who had come to power already having removed their fezzes and donned caps and berets in their place. There was also a direct confrontation between the fez and the hat that led to a diplomatic crisis between Cairo and Ankara. It so happened that the Egyptian minister plenipotentiary in Turkey, Abdel-Malak Hamza Bey, went to a celebration held in Ankara Palace Hotel on the evening of 29 October 1932 on the occasion of the anniversary of the declaration of the Turkish republic that was attended by Mustafa Kemal. A surprise awaited him there, for the conqueror Ataturk objected to the fez the minister was wearing. This caused a diplomatic crisis between the two countries, given that Cairo held on to its right for its representatives to wear their national dress, and only ended after the Turkish government apologised. The replacement of Arabic lettering with the Latin alphabet did not reverberate in Egypt, for the situation was different in the new republic that spoke Turkish and wrote it in Arabic, from that of Egypt, with its original Arabic language, Al-Azhar, the guardian of the Arabic language, and the country's cultural wealth in this language. As such, the voices that called for following Turkey's example in this regard were weak, and gained no response worth mention. For all of these reasons, the persona of the Grey Wolf was always present in the collective Egyptian conscience, and his passing away in 1938 could not occur without the attention of Al-Ahram. IN THE YEAR OF HIS PASSING AWAY, Al-Ahram spared no efforts in grasping opportunities to make reference to the man and his accomplishments. Among such efforts was a long article transmitted from the Daily Scottish replete with admiration and appreciative characterisations of the man. The article's author ended with the following words: "If the conqueror Ataturk had been destined to live another 15 years, I believe that Turkey would have taken its place among the great nations of the world, and would have become one of the strongest guarantees of peace in the Mediterranean." Under the headline "The conqueror's gift to his nation," Al-Ahram lauded the man because he had willed all of his private property in Ankara to the Turkish nation. This included a garden and palace, both called Marmara; a building in which a semi-official newspaper of the Turkish government was issued; and the land adjacent to it. "The Turkish newspapers announced the news of this precious gift from the saviour of the nation with immense gratitude." This act motivated an Al-Ahram reader to write to the "old journalist" who penned the "On the margin" column, asking his opinion given its potential exhortation to "our leaders and our wealthy." The man did not disappoint his reader, and dedicated his column in the 20 May 1938 issue of Al-Ahram to this topic. He wrote, "The rich and the wealthy and the owners of thousands of measures of land and of pounds are neither blind nor short-sighted. They know, like you and me, that there is something called charity, and that it is a religious duty imposed upon all people, and upon them in particular." In this connection, the author of "On the margin" recorded the changes that had taken place in the concept of charity in Europe. He noted that after the traditional means of charity had become incongruous with the modern age, charity had been transformed into a part of modern civil life. "Today in Europe and America, refuges are built for actors and actresses, singers and movie stars. They organise pensions for injured pilots, and open homes for physically disabled fire fighters, drivers, and practitioners of other modern professions." He advised his reader to review the names of charitable institutions in Paris, London, Berlin, and Copenhagen to learn what changes had been made in the notion of charity. Yet the most charming of that published in Al-Ahram the year Ataturk passed away was written by Aziz Khanki in the 9 April issue. It was a long article that occupied most of the first page. The occasion was the visit of the Turkish foreign minister, and the title was "The Turks and Ataturk." Perhaps the secret to the charm of this article is in its first section, in which he described the man's achievements. Its text is copied below: "Turkey today is not the old Turkey. The Turks today are not the Turks of yesterday. Turkey today is the product of a new regime, a new spirit, and a new age. From a sultanate to a republic. From autocratic to democratic. From the authority of an individual to the authority of the nation. From the opinion of an individual to the consultation of the group. From the domination of the Sultan's personal interests to the advancement of the general public's interests. From a trusteeship government to a Kemalist government. From political, financial, legislative, industrial and commercial slavery to political, financial, legislative, industrial and commercial independence. From religious to civil. From heavenly law to positive law. From the Islamic calendar to the Gregorian calendar. From Arabic names to Turkish names. From Arabic numbers to Latin numbers. From Arabic letters to Latin letters. From a language that is a mixture of Farsi and Turkish to a purely Turkish language. From Arab turbans to foreigners' hats." Khanki did not shrink from addressing sensitive issues in his long introduction. He wrote that Turkey, under the rule of Ataturk, had moved from "the veil to uncovering. From separate men's and women's quarters to shared men's and women's quarters. From the fortune of men equalling that of two females to the fortune of men equalling that of women in political and civil rights. From four wives to one wife. From Istanbul to Ankara. From a ministry and minister to an agency and a secretary. From fakhamtilo, abhatilo, dowlatilo, atuftilo, saadatilo, and azzatilo to bey (meaning messieurs or mister). From widespread Ottomanism embracing the loyalty of the Yemeni, the Hijazi, the Egyptian, the Syrian, the Armenian, the Roman, and the Kurdish to distinct Turkism that knows nothing other than the Turkish nation, the Turkish man, the Turkish woman, Turkish interests and Turkish statesmen." Aziz Khanki described what Ataturk did for the state in the following terms. "He led its affairs with the Turkish people and for the Turkish people. All of its blessings were from the nation and for the nation. Its slogan was 'Turkey for the Turks' and 'The Turkish, all the Turkish, and nothing but the Turkish.' The Egyptians knew Turkey in the age of the Sultan Hamid. They knew it in a state of dissolution and deterioration. In an age of fragmentation. In a state of weakness. Europe's statesmen called it the 'sick man' and called its ruler 'the red Sultan'." The author of this article moved from this expressive introduction to calling on Egyptians to visit the new Turkey, which they would find a different matter from that of the old Turkey. "You will find it a country of freedom and independence after it had been a country of oppression and subjugation. A country of strength and prosperity after it had been a country of weakness and poverty. A country of construction and abundance after it had been a country of devastation and misfortune. You will find it a country strong in its men and women. Strong in its determination and decisiveness. Strong in its money and wealth. And although Egypt, the Arabian Peninsula, Palestine, Syria, Iraq, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Albania, Tripoli, Cyprus, and Crete were stripped from the old Turkey, the new Turkey remains five times larger and more expansive than England." The author of "The Turks and Ataturk" expressed his admiration for "all the political, financial, legislative, industrial, commercial, scientific and literary transformations that have taken place in this expansive country over the last 15 years because the man assuming administration of the country is an actor and not a talker. He does the work of a year in a day, the work of a day in an hour, and the work of an hour in an instant." It was not unusual for Al-Ahram and all the other Egyptian papers to take interest in personal news about the conqueror Ataturk. Typically such news was transmitted from European, and particularly English newspapers. It appears that Al-Ahram did not have a special correspondent in the Turkish capital after it was transferred to Ankara as its correspondent remained in his original base of Istanbul. On 5 May, Al-Ahram transmitted from the Daily Telegraph news that a specialised French doctor had been summoned to Ankara a few weeks earlier to care for President Ataturk. It added that his illness appeared to be unrelated to an earlier one, indicating that the Grey Wolf, who was near 60 at the time, was plagued with illnesses. This was interpreted as being due to the fact that Ataturk had "lived a life that would tire the strongest and sturdiest of physiques." It seems that the Turks held onto the Eastern tradition of concealing news of the health of their rulers. This is made clear by the intent of the Turkish legation in Cairo to lie to Al-Ahram that "the president enjoys perfect health and is doing lengthy exercise as is his custom." As the summer months came to a close and autumn commenced, news began to circulate again about the poor health of the Turkish president. This time, Al-Ahram 's correspondent in Istanbul sent a telegram saying that the Turkish government had issued an official statement on 17 October stating that Kemal Ataturk, the president of the republic, was seriously ill and suffering from a liver disease that had become critical. It had suddenly been discovered that he was in a state of escalating overall weakness, poor digestion and a rapid pulse. And yet as customary with Eastern rulers, another statement was issued in the evening stating that Ataturk's state had improved somewhat during the day. There was no longer any benefit in denial, and two days later a detailed statement was issued that confirmed the poor status of the Grey Wolf. "The president's life can only be saved by a miracle," it said. His heart rate was 108 and his breathing 30, but his temperature was 98.4. This led the second highest statesman, Ismet Inonu, to rush to the capital to be beside the president, especially as the other two people eligible for the presidency, Fawzi Shekmak and Okiar, were not competing with him because the former refused the post and the latter was a member of parliament. Al-Ahram grasped this opportunity to familiarise its readers with the anticipated president Inonu. He was well known for his attachment to England and Russia. "It is said with confidence that four ministers, among them the prime minister and the minister of foreign affairs, have selected him for the post." It seems that the Turkish president was as obstinate in his death as he had been in life. Two days later a medical report was issued stating that the status of Ataturk had improved greatly and that his neurological symptoms had completely disappeared. Yet this did not prevent reference to the fact that the Turkish constitution called for the president of the national council to assume the presidency of the republic if the president of the republic's illness prolonged. Throughout the illness of the Turkish president, many were tempted to state that he was thinking of leaving his post over health-related reasons. On 29 October, Al-Ahram transmitted from the Daily Express newspaper an item stating that Ataturk was thinking of relinquishing his post. The matter reached the extent of stating the name of his successor, Fathi Ikyar, and that his stepping down was conditioned on the latter holding onto the dictatorship "due to the current European situation." The situation remained thus until Thursday, 10 November 1938. The following day, Al-Ahram published a front page photograph of Ataturk above another of his mother and one of himself and his wife, Lady Latifa that occupied the lower half of the page. The headline was "Ataturk is dead." NEWS OF THE PASSING AWAY of the Grey Wolf occupied expansive sections of the Al-Ahram newspaper issued that day. In addition to the space it covered on pages one and three, a number of long-established writers in the newspaper commented on it, at the forefront of whom was Ahmed El-Sawi Muhammad in his famous column "Short and sweet." Al-Ahram began its main article by stating that "Mustafa Kemal has died, or say that Ataturk has died, the father of the Turkish people and the greatest man Turkey has borne in the last century! Turkey's saviour from subordination has died, the kindler of the fire of its revolution against occupation and colonialism, its battlefield leader to the shore of deliverance. The man who placed his people in the rank of human beings has died. The absolute ruler with never bending will, the great reformer who took his people far on the path of reform, has passed on. "The great man who was able to tear up agreements, abrogate that ratified by states, and demand respect and consideration for his nation among states has died. The great, self-made man was able to make from his weak nation, one with broken wings, exhausted power, worn out, and crushed by the weight of defeat, loss and subordination, into a strong, rising, proud nation with immense dignity that is striding forward and looking upwards in youthfulness and enthusiasm! He was the saviour of the homeland and the reformer of the nation, and the name Ataturk will remain a source of pride for all Turks." Al-Ahram then turned to what it called a "historical glimpse" at the life of Mustafa Kemal, although it was much too long to be a mere glimpse. It was a lengthy translation from which I have excerpted some information about Ataturk not widely known, or at least not to me. Mustafa Kemal was born in 1880 in Thessalonika. His father, Ali Reza, was a low-ranking civil servant in the customs department who later resigned and turned to trade in wood. He had wanted his son to succeed him in his commercial business, but he passed away before realising this wish. Mustafa moved with his mother to a village near Thessalonika where he worked as a peasant farmer and then a sheepherder in his maternal uncle's farm. His life path changed when his mother took him back to Thessalonika and enrolled him in one of its elementary schools, later the middle school in Monastir, and then the military school in Istanbul from which he graduated with the rank of second lieutenant. He then spent three years in the army in the general staff school and graduated in 1905. This biography then addressed much of that which is well known about the Grey Wolf. He joined a covert association for resistance to the Hamid reign and assumed the post of editor-in-chief of the newspaper issued by this association. He participated in defending Tripoli against the Italian invasion, and later in the Balkan wars. He also participated in the movement of the "association of union and advancement" that ended with compelling Sultan Abdel-Hamid to issue the constitution in 1908. He then took part in the battles of the Great War, in which his military talents were made apparent when he succeeded in preventing the allied forces from landing on the Gallipoli Islands. His unparalleled competence ñ according to Al-Ahram 's expression ñ was exhibited in the battle of the Dardanelles, in which the allied forces suffered extensive losses, and from there in the arena of the Caucasus, where luck helped him through the staging of the Bolshevik revolution and the withdrawal of the Russian forces. He was then forced to travel to Carlsbad for treatment of a liver disease when the war ended, a truce was drawn, "and the Ottoman sultanate was torn to pieces, its freemen dispersed." This was followed by the role Mustafa Kemal undertook that characterised him as a national liberator. He succeeded in forcing the defeat of Greek forces during the war that took place from 1921 to 1922 and in evacuating them from Turkish national territory. During that period, Sultan Wahideddin fled from Istanbul, and on 13 August 1923, the national council unanimously elected Mustafa Kemal Pasha as president of the country. As for his achievements mentioned by Al-Ahram in this connection, Ahmed El-Sawi Muhammad recounted them in the "Short and sweet" column of that issue. They were sevenfold: ïAnnulment of the caliphate and separation of religion and the state ïIntroduction of Latin letters, "a model of courage in renewal and reform" ïAbolition of the cylindrical fur cap, the fez, the conical dervish cap, and the turban -- except for religious figures -- as well as the silk wrap, face veil, and veil, all to be replaced with the hat "because attire creates the person" ïAdoption and enforcement of German, Swiss and Italian laws for the good of the country ïAbolition of the oppression of slaves and subordination by lords. ïClosure of Sufi hospices and feudal estates. Abolition of the noble ranks of the Sultan. Rooting out of indolent individuals, conspirators and overly ambitious achievers, even at the highest ranks. ïRaising the morale of the entire people and imbuing it with a sense of indivisible unity in justice, freedom and equality. Independence of his country economically and politically at the same time, and creating what Turkey had lost 1,000 years earlier -- Turkish nationalism as an independent entity about which foreigners have a thousand reprehensions. Yet the interest of Egyptian public opinion in the passing away of the Grey Wolf and his authority being transferred to his successor Inonu was not reflected in official circles in the Egyptian capital. This may have been because Farouq did not consider the death of the man who had done away with the sultan's regime and declared a republic in Turkey an occasion to commemorate him. He sufficed with sending a representative, Said Zulfiqar Pasha, to the Turkish legation headquarters in Cairo to give condolences to officials there. This behaviour was the object of criticism from Egyptian newspapers and expressed by the author of "Short and sweet" in the 7 December issue of Al-Ahram. He was taken aback by this shortcoming, given that England had sent 400 sailors and soldiers and a grand marshal, and France had sent a delegation consisting of its foreign minister, top commanders, and 200 soldiers. Even Greece, Turkey's traditional enemy, had sent its prime minister, two ministers, and 50 soldiers. No one penned a response to the criticism of the prominent Al-Ahram writer, and it seems that officials in the Egyptian government wanted to close the file of the Grey Wolf. History, however, had another opinion.
