Mustafa Kemal Atatürk was the founder of the Turkish Republic and the father of Turkish secularism — Kemalism. His visage is everywhere in modern Turkey, but don’t expect that it will be for much longer. The current regime is moving rapidly toward reimposing Sharia, and thus Atatürk has got to go. “Turkey’s first coin without Atatürk now in use,” from the Hürriyet Daily News, June 15 (thanks to Joshua):
The Turkish mint has distributed the Republic’s first coins not to feature Mustafa Kemal Atatürk’s visage on either of its sides, daily Cumhuriyet reported.
The coins, a million of which are now in use, were made as souvenirs to mark the 10th anniversary of the Turkish Olympics, an event in which children from around the world come to Turkey to display their prowess in Turkish.
The use of coins has stirred a public debate as some citizens disliked the new arrangement, saying it was part of planned state propaganda to discredit modern Turkey’s founder.
“It’s unacceptable that these coins, supposedly made as souvenirs, are being used,” one person told Cumhuriyet.