Turkish-Islamic Union was a subject on which Ataturk concentrated with great determination.
He raised it at every opportunity, and bequeathed the establishment of Turkish-Islamic Union to the Turkish nation in these words:
I BELIEVE THAT TURKISH UNION WILL ONE DAY COME TRUE.Even if I do not see it, I will close my eyes to the world in dreams of it. I BELIEVE IN TURKISH UNION, I SEE IT.The new pages of the new history will open with Turkish Union. World peace will be inside these pages. THE EXISTENCE OF TURKISHNESS WILL OPEN NEW HORIZONS FOR THIS DECREPIT WORLD. Then it will be seen what the Sun means, what horizons mean.(Ataturk's Table, İsmet Bozdağ, Kervan Press, 1975, p. 138-143)
What is Ataturk saying? “There will be Turkish-Islamic Union.” The whole Islamic world will unite; countries and states and regimes will maintain their separate existence, but there will be a spiritual union. That is known as Islamic Union. Ataturk’s legacy is the glad tidings foretold by our Prophet (saas), insha’Allah. (From. Mr. Adnan Oktar’s interview on 5 March 2011)
Mustafa Kemal Ataturk described the happiness he would feel at the establishment of Turkish-Islamic Union in these words, noting also the importance of the members of the union maintaining their territorial integrity and independence.
WE WILL FEEL NOTHING BUT JOY AT THE WHOLE ISLAMIC WORLD BEING UNITED AND ALLIED, PHYSICALLY AS MUCH ASSPIRITUALLY.In the same way that we are independent within our own borders, the Syrians and Iraqis must also be able to emerge as an independent power based on national sovereignty. (Mustafa Kemal, 24 April 1920, 4th (secret session)
Ataturk believed that Turkish Union would one day become reality and stressed the necessity of making preparations for this by maintaining sound spiritual bonds by way of language, faith and history.
The nations it now holds tightly in its hand can still slip from its fingers. The world can achieve a new balance. They must then know what Turkey will do. Under our friend’s administration WE HAVE BROTHERS WHO ARE ONE IN LANGUAGE, FAITH AND ESSENTIALS. We must be ready to watch over them. BEING READY DOES NOT JUST MEAN BEING SILENT AND WAITING FOR THE DAY. We must get ready. How are nations to ready themselves for this? By keeping the spiritual bridges strong. Language is a bridge... faith is a bridge... history is a bridge... We must look to our roots and unite within our history that events divided. We must not wait for them (our fellow Turks) to come to us. We must go to them.
On May 9th 1920, a declaration was published in the Sovereignty of the Nation, in the name of the Turkish Parliament and bearing the signature of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, addressing the entire Islamic world.
In that declaration,Ataturk recalled the words of Sultan Yavuz Selim and made it clear how much importance he attached to Turkish-Islamic Union.
...“IN ORDER THAT THE FADING SUN OF ISLAM SHOULD NOT BE COMPLETELY EXTINGUISHED AND SO THAT IT SHOULD SHINE ONCE MORE OVER THE ISLAMIC WORLD” Sultan Selim said,“WE ARE A NATION WHO HAVE RUINED OURSELVES IN ORDER TO ESTABLISH THE SPIRITUAL UNIFICATION OF MUSLIMS.”
(Sovereignty of the Nation, 1st Year, No. 29, 13 May 1336-1920; FO:371/5035, E-6781, 10 June 1920., ISLAMIC UNION AND MUSTAFA KEMAL, Prof. Dr. Metin Hülagü, Timaş Press, Istanbul, 2008)
In another declaration, carried in the journal Sebilürreşad and again bearing the signature of Gazi Mustafa Kemal, ISSUED THE FOLLOWING CALL TO THE ISLAMIC WORLD:
demanding “the manifestation of their material and spiritual assistance, feelings of love and compassion, the beneficence of the Islamic world and fertile and bountiful spiritual bonds.”(Gazi Mustafa Kemal, “Beyanname”, Sebilürreşad, vol. 22, No. 565-566, Month 10, Year 1339, p. 157-158. (Islamic Union and Mustafa Kemal, Prof. Dr. Metin Hülagü, Timaş Press, Istanbul, 2008, p. 48-4)
In a declaration addressed to the Syrian people in Aleppo and Damascus on October 9th 1919, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk indicated that the only solution for the salvation of the Islamic world was the establishment of Turkish-Islamic Union.
“...HE STATED THAT THEIR AIM WAS TO SAVE THE COUNTRY AND ISLAM FROM ANNIHILATION, THAT THEY HAD DECIDED, WITH ALLAH’S HELP, TO WAGE WAR AGAINST THE ENEMIES OF BELIEVERS, that the enemy had been expelled from Konya and Bursa and that jihadists who believed in the truth would soon visit their Arab brothers, that they would soon expel the foe and that THEY NOW NEEDED TO LIVE AS BROTHERS IN THE FAITH. F.O: 371/4233/156717. 16 November 1919., Islamic Union and Mustafa Kemal, Prof. Dr. Metin Hülagü, Timaş Press, Istanbul, 2008, p. 69-70
Ataturk explicitly stated his desire to eliminate the divisions within the Islamic world, in other words his desire for Turkish-Islamic Union, in various articles of a secret agreement signed between Mustafa Kemal and Amir Faysal, son of Saudi King Abdalaziz bin Saud.
Article I: The parties to the agreement regret the current division in the Islamic world and regard it as a sacred duty to eliminate that division, and dedicate themselves to collaborate on that as two nations united religiously, morally and socially. The two nations must assist one another and preserve their religious and territorial integrity with united forces.
At a ceremony to mark the raising of the Afghan flag over the embassy in Ankara on January 10th 1922, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk said there were powerful bonds between Turkey and the entire Islamic world, just as there were between Turkey and Afghanistan, and that it was important for both countries to work together to create a political equilibrium in the world...
Hakimiyet-i Milliye, 1st Year, No. 41, 28 June 1336, p. 3; Sonyel, ibid, Vol. II, p. 230-231
Islamic Union and Mustafa Kemal, Prof. Dr. Metin Hülagü, Timaş Press, Istanbul, 2008, p. 88
These words of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk’s are a clear indication of the importance he attached to the Muslim states and the establishment of Turkish-Islamic Union and that he took significant steps to bring that about.
