Mustafa Kemal Atatürk as an intellectual for englightenment of Turkish Nation

Intellectuals are regarded as the people who directly contribute to production, transmissionand criticisim of the ideas. Besides having a sphere of influence in society by means of theirideas Intellectuals, also become experienced in the same social environment. Therefore, it isessential to consider the environment that the intellectuals were born into, the things thatmight have an effect on them while growing up, the characteristics that they acquired also thepolitical and social surrounding in which they are active. After the Western Enlightenmentmovement, the movement of ideas had also begun in Ottoman society. This atmosphere, hadproduced the intellectuals who directed the society in that time. Every individual is affectedby their environment, its social and cultural features and its various movements of thought.While some individuals who are affected by these movements of thought stand for them,some synthesize them according to themselves and create a new idea. These mainly abilitiesof the people of importance, differ them from other people in society. For this reason,?Mustafa Kemal Atatürk? is considered to be an intellectual who kept up with new ideas,evaluated and put them into practice, besides produced new ideas which dynamized thestructure of the Turkish society in a way that was suitable to its structure.Key words: Atatürk, intellectual, englihtenment