Only a Turk Can Answer This!!

Ok, thank you for sharing your view on this. However, it does not matter again. I posted a whole page in question not to dispute if I care about it or not. I posted those questions to get an answer about what process of discussion and conclusion that made Turks change their alphabet.

Again, read it clear Miller: Even if Arabs cut themselves in pieces, it did not effect the decision of changing the alphabets to Latin.

If you want your answer Miller, let us say for the sake of argument that "All 250 million Arabs care about it and they are so outraged and cannot sleep their nights for the change of Alphabets and for Arab nationalism in their blood", if Turkey changed their alphabets without considering if Arabs cared or not, then it DOES NOT MATTER. My question wasn't in concern bout If I or any Arab care about it or not. The question was why did they do it? reasons?

Basically, imagine if German met a Turk in 1938 and asked him: Why did you change your alphabets to Latin? 

That answer of the Turk  is the answer im looking for. I hope it sunk this time.

The Osmanli alhpabet did have special sounds that wer change from the arabic alp. for the, ch, sh, etc. sounds

that was definately not the reason for changing it to latin coz our osmanli (not arabic) alphabet was sufficient in the sounds feild, as it was sufficient for many centuries.

since many guys are saying that it was mainly to be more western then, hehe, this possibility lightens up:

To have a better view about the alphabet revolution of Turkey, we should consider the developments before the act of Latin Script usage.

* To change the alphabet was also considered and tried by the ruling Ittihat-Terakki Firka temporarily in 1917. But, because of the concerns of war communication, vulnerabilities, and primary war needs, that idea was dropped after that short trial. Samples of new first Latin alphabet-using texts can be found in some books.  

* Before the Turkish Latin Alphabet acceptance, another similar Latin alphabet was also accepted in Azerbaijan. So, the alphabet reform in Azerbaijan must have sympathized to the reforming rulers of Turkey then. But, after the Turkish alphabet reform, Azerbejican Latin alphabet was changed (in mid 1930s) again to distance those Turkic speaking people's literature by Stalin. 

These are not answers to �ok ge�'s questions, but these factors should be considered revealing secondary evidences in the way to the change of Arabic script in favor of Latin script. 

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So, far in our prevalent Turkish school curriculum, alphabet reform are presented and substantiated with grounds as:

- Arabic script do not fit the needs of Turkish language. (Some writers says, there had been some attempts (by 1900s)  to modify the Arabic script by adding some vowels to satisfy the needs of Turkish language. But, it was said that, those attempts were not supported, so not succeeded to a Arabic script better fitting to Turkish language)

- It would be the ultimate rational and scientific decision to get rid of an alphabet (Arabic) that is backward and preventing development.  So, to adopt the Latin alphabet of the modern world will prevail a quite better and easier learning process to exterminate the illiteracy and ignorance of Turkish public. (Frankly, no alphabet is backward and some of these reasons are superficially used to back up reforms by explaining them in a reasonable manner to the new generations. Obviously, no revolutionary reform would be wooed by common public, understandably a ruling elite in power did so for common good on behalf of public. It is reported that the illiteracy ratio were reduced substantially, thanks to that alphabet reform and mobilization campaigns for education. To be fair, it was not only the alphabet reform contributed that human development, also the reform zeal must have been a big contributer to develop.)

If I elaborate my opinions:

- It (Latin Alphabet reform) had been decided after long process, a vital step in the Turkish modernization and Westernization process. Turkish republic of today reflects the results and achievements of Atat�rk and his companions, some of the reforms succeeded quite well, however we have democracy today, so any reform have to earn public approval first.  

- Turkey is a secular country, accordingly, that alphabet reform served very well to ingrain the secularism. Also, the new Turkish republic denied many remnants of the former Ottoman empire which was predominantly Islamic. The language reform also gave the signal that the religious education, piety, and Ottoman script would no longer have any merit to be accepted and ascended in the government positions. In other words, alphabet reform, deliberately, intentionally and successfully to a certain degree distanced the Turkish people and culture from the past. Say it religion, Arabic alphabet or any other thing. Someone in Turkey sometimes claims that there is something sacred in Arabic script since it is used in Quran. I don't think they are correct, because the Arabic script has been used before the prophets' age; also, it (Arabic script)was originally derived from previous alphabets of the Middle East region.

-  The Arabic alphabet, along with religious world interpretation, was also considered a symbol of the decayed past. It was regarded similar to wearing fez, so served to distinguish who are for the reforms and who are against. Not democratically, but that was the interim period of the new republic. Arabic alphabet was an evidence to a westerner, once entering in Turkey, they were in the Orient. So, one of the eastern originated ingredients of identity was changed to a western one, which is the modern western world norm. Our Turkish identity gained a pillar of western tendency. Although these supposed aims of reforms were, fairly achieved, there were expenses of the alphabet reform which were detrimental. But, no revolutionary reform can be done without thornssss.

- Although they are obvious, I want to review the negative and positive effects of the alphabet reform. Since the interim period for the Latin alphabet was short (3 month I think), they say many of the %5 literate people, before learning the new Latin script, felt alienated to this reform and went on using the Arabic script in their writings. But the new generation, especially teachers, who were only educated with the new alphabet happened to be genuine and zealous pioneers of new republic.   Since the new generation, having learned only the Latin alphabet, in their interest, defended the modernization reforms of the republic [ to ascend to the state of modern civilizations]. 

On the other hand, it is sad not to be able read the literature before the Latin alphabet. Even if a turk now knows the Ottoman script, it is very difficult to understand the literature in 1920s-30s  or before.

We are proud and grateful that Atat�rk did show the determination for those reforms, because obviously everyone enjoy the fruits of those cultural reforms.

BTW anykind of assimilation is B A D... Ottoman culture was a hybrid-mutated culture that threw the people at the edge of a serious identity crisis.

If Turks of Turkey suffer from anything related to culture,it is mostly the fault of the Ottomans.

Most of the people can be muslim,thats fine,but taking Islam as a kind of culture(instead of a religion) makes an identity clash(and it did and is still doing,thanks to ottomans) 

In my opinion,which is not so humble for me,Turks should left their ottoman identity away,and be real "Turks"

with all due respect, I think your remark fits better the defintion of "crappy" in this thread so far. You went on and on about that Ataturk had to do so and so and so, however, you have not given a single reasoning why did he had to do what he had to do? We all know what he did, rather here, we are reasoning the motivation of his decisions. If you had put some effort in reading the previous posts, you would have appreciated every single post here.

700 years of Ottoman rule and taking religion as an identity was a positive point and not the opposite. In fact, it is the only thing that allowed the Ottomans to excercise the protector position on many landscapes from Algeria to the Crimean Khanate.

It only became a crisis in the mid 1800's with the rise of nationalism in Ottoman European proviences, leading to 1912 Balkan war and later (where preveviously Bosnians and Albanians themselves fought the Ottoman on the basis of nationalism), the formation of all other ethnic identities barriers from Armenians to Arabs.

Lastly, blaming the Ottomans for the identity crash (assuming they are the real cause of it instead of the wave of nationalism) is a total ignorance of the greater good they have done. Just think deep that if Ottomans didn't exist, maybe Western Turkey, Istanbul, European Turkey and all the heritage left in the Balkans won't exist. the Ottomans also unified various khanates in Eastern Anatolia.

That is true, it is more precise to say Perso-Arabic alphabits Mortaza.

By the way, when did you apply to the Saudi Citizenship?

Maybe that is what Attila meant by identity crisis (just a joke obviously).

Id love to be an Saudi citizen but i dont like the wahabi rejim

Ok im now a Egyptian mamluke Baybars al-Bunduqdari 

My avatar is a Baybars (mameluk) coin with baybars on the lion sticked on it.

Anyhow, I was jus wondering since I saw first the Turk with a Saudi flag and then when I saw Mortaza I realized it is a joke

Not joke. At this times, becoming a citizen of Saudi is fine.