What is the importance of March 3rd?

Nations that forget their past cannot build a secure future. Every individual living in these lands today should know very well where and how we have come to these days! Thinking about the question "What are the dangers that await us on a path from the past to the future?" prepares our society for the future.

Attila Ilhan says, "The Republic is built on three revolutions." The first two stages, the "War of Independence against imperialism and the democratic revolution against the sultan" have been left behind. As of March 3, 1924, the third stage, "the transformation of society from the ummah stage to the nation stage" was initiated. Each of these three strategies is a revolution in its own right. Therefore, this triple pillar was blended in a law and adopted on March 3. The intellectuals of the republic celebrating this historic day have come to refer to these laws as the "3 Revolutionary Laws". Even today, it is obvious how difficult it was for these laws to be passed and accepted by the Turkish Grand National Assembly. Despite a nation with a low literacy rate, an ummah that had been raised with religious prejudice for years and thought that it was a servant to the caliph, this great triple revolution was implemented with determination. 

Let us quote what happened in the parliament while this law was being passed from Mahmut Goloğlu's book The History of the Republic of Turkey-1 (1924-1930), Revolutions and Reactions, published by İş Bank Culture Publications:

"Fethi Bey, the Speaker of the Assembly, stated that Sheikh Saffet Efendi, MP for Urfa, and 53 of his friends had submitted a bill on the 'Abolition of the Caliphate and the Expulsion of the Ottoman Descendants from Turkey' and that this bill, like the others, should be discussed immediately without being sent to the Committees. The request was accepted and the proposal was read. 

Due to the existence of the Caliphate within the Republic of Turkey, Turkey could not save its domestic and foreign policy from being two-headed. Turkey, which does not accept partnership in its independence and national life, cannot endure apparent or indirect dualism. It has become clear through severe experience that the family of the Sultan, which for centuries has been the cause of the Turkish nation's misfortune and finally, de facto and by treaty, was instrumental in the collapse of the Turkish Empire, in the guise of the Caliphate, will pose an even more potent danger to the existence of Turkey. Every situation and power of this family in relation to the Turkish nation is a danger to our national existence. In fact, since the Caliphate was created in the first Islamic emirates with the meaning and function of 'government', there is no reason why there should be a separate office of Caliphate next to the modern Islamic governments, which are obliged to fulfill all worldly and religious duties. This is the truth. The Turkish nation cannot choose any other course of action in order to safeguard its salvation than to abide by the truth. 

The abolition of the Caliphate is a great revolution in itself. If the Caliphate had not been abolished, the Republic of Turkey, instead of being a unitary nation state within its national borders, would have assumed great risks as the bearer of a controversial structure in terms of international law, which claims responsibility over the entire Muslim population but has no concrete sanctioning power. If the Caliphate had not been abolished, the proclamation of the Republic would have been de facto null and void, as the office of the caliphate would have continued to function as a guardianship authority. One of the most important consequences was that without the abolition of the caliphate, secularism would never have been accepted. Without the abolition of the Caliphate, the Turkish Civil Code would not have been adopted, and our citizenship and women's revolution would not have been realized. Without the abolition of the Caliphate, our legal revolution would not have taken place. 

In order to understand the rationale for the adoption of the Law on the Unification of Education and Training, it is necessary to evaluate Atatürk's following quote well: "Education is what either makes a nation live as a free, independent, glorious and high society or leaves a nation to slavery and poverty." Again, Vasıf Çınar, one of the Ministers of National Education of the period, said in an address to teachers: "The Republic demands from you generations free in thought, free in conscience and free in wisdom." These two great and important words are enough to emphasize how important it is to unify education because Atatürk said that the foundation of the newly established Republic would be culture. 

What is meant by culture here is to create young people, generations and a society raised with a secular, scientific and modern education. The most effective way to ensure national unity and cultural unity is to ensure unity in education. For this reason, with the Law on Tevhid-i Tedrisat (Unification of Education), all educational institutions, including sectarian and community madrasas and schools of foreign minorities, which had not yet been closed down at the time, were transferred to the Ministry of National Education. 

The Ministry of Sharia and Evkaf was abolished as a body that had no place in the modern state structure and was equivalent to the institution of sheikhulislam in Ottoman history; its main duty was to supervise the conformity of the laws enacted with the Sharia and it was a guardianship body in itself. 

Erkan-ı Harbiye Vekaleti was abolished and the management of the Turkish Army was removed from the board of deputies and given to the General Staff, which was an independent structure. In this way, it was aimed to institutionalize the army away from political influences and this structure was very successful. 

With these three revolutionary laws, the basic philosophy of the secular Republic of Turkey was established. In fact, March 3, 1924 was the day secularism began to sprout in Turkey. March 3rd is a revolutionary day, happy day!