Atatürk’s Legacy: Westernism in contemporary turkey

The Turkish national movement included Islam-oriented circles and supporters of the old regime, as well as believers in the "Eastern Ideal," who saw Turkey as inevitably bound to an emerging East which was to replace the decadent West in both power and civilization. Mustafa Kemal Ataturk is well known for his tolerance for and cooperation with all streams within the movement, even those whose ideas were repulsive to him. Many observers thought that Turkey might indeed be heading away from its western orientation and looking elsewhere for salvation. Turkey wants to be a part of the economic and political system of the entire western world." Many observers thought that Turkey might indeed be heading away from its western orientation and looking elsewhere for salvation. The image of Turkey as a bridge between East and West frequently crops up when Turks discuss their newfound relations with their neighbors, with the socialist bloc, and with the Muslim world.