ap

Skip to content
Letters | The history of Turkey’s first president
Thursday, September 17th 2026

Trending:

ap
Letters

The history of Turkey’s first president

By | openforum@denverpost.com
PUBLISHED:
Getting your player ready...
A Turkish police officer scans the area from a platform, backdropped by posters of Turkish Republic founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, left, and Turkey's current president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, on May 17, 2015.
Lefteris Pitarakis, Associated Presss file
A Turkish police officer scans the area from a platform, backdropped by posters of Turkish Republic founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, left, and Turkey's current president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, on May 17, 2015.

Re: July 18 letter to the editor.

Letter-writer William H. Rutledge Jr. stated that Gen. Kemal Ataturk was elected as Turkey’s first president. Actually, his birthame was Mustafa Kemal and he took the name Ataturk, or Great Turk, later. The book “The Grey Wolf” is a good read of the history of Ataturk. He banned the veil and fez for starters on a ruthless journey for “secular democracy.”

Phyllis Baker, Littleton

Submit a letter to the editor via or check out our for how to submit by e-mail or mail.

More in Letters