ATATÜRK DECLARES!

Democracy and Freedom

It must never be forgotten that there are ignorant and inattentive people who want the nation to be dominated by one person or certain people in order to gain advantage over them. (January 1923)

According to the world, our greatest power and strength is our new nature and formation. (1922)

Government cannot be built on fear. A government built on unlawfulness can never be permanent. That kind of domination and dictatorship may be necessary during a time of revolution. (March 1930)

Every person has the right and freedom of thought, belief, possessing a political opinion, the choice to fulfil or not to fulfil the requirements of his chosen religion. Nobody can dominate other opinions and consciences.

The freedom of conscience must be considered as one of the most important natural rights of a person and may not be infringed upon.

Freedom is absolutely doing what is wished and wanted.

This definition is the widest meaning of freedom. In this sense of freedom, people have never enjoyed such a freedom and will never do so. As known, Man is a creature of nature. Even nature itself is not absolutely free but depends on universal laws. Therefore, in nature, Man firstly depends on nature’s laws, conditions, reasons and factors. For example, to be born or not has never been up to humans and is not so. After the human was born, even at the first moment, he is indigent to nature and its creatures. He needs to be protected, to be fed, to be taken care of and to be brought up. (1930)

Freedom and independence are my characteristics.

There are death and decay in a country lacking freedom. The mother of development and liberation is freedom. (1906)

No matter how urgent the crises, those emerged from freedom are safer than under the fake security that the strong oppression provides. (1930)

Freedom is the life of the Turks. (1930)

In contemporary democracies, the individual freedoms have special value and importance. From now on, these individual freedoms may be subject neither to the state nor to personal intervention. However, such valuable individual freedom cannot be taken to be absolute in a civilized and democratic nation. What is meant by freedom is social and civilized human freedom. Therefore, while thinking of individual freedom, every individual’s and the entire nation’s common interests and the existence of the state must be taken into consideration. The rights and freedoms of others and the nation’s common interests limit individual freedom.