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1881	Birth of Mustafa in Salonika
1893	Enters Military Secondary School where he is given the name of Kema
1899	Enters War College in Constantinople
1902	Graduates as lieutenant
1905	Posted to 5th Army in Damascus
1907	Posted to 3rd Army in Salonika
1908	"Young Turk" Revolution in Salonika
1911	Posted to General Staff in Constantinople; goes to Tobruk and Derna with Turkish Forces, promoted to Major
1912	Balkan War; severe defeat, returns home
1913	Appointed Military Attaché in Sofia
1914	Promoted Lieutenant-Colonel; Turkey signs secret alliance with Germany; Russia, Britain and France declare war on Turkey
1915	Appointed to reorganize 9th Division, in Thrace; unsuccessful allied naval attack on Dardanelles; allied military landing at Ariburnu (Anzac); promoted to colonel; appointed to command 16th Army Corps
1916	Allied evacuation of Gallipoli Peninsula; transferred to Caucasus front; promoted to General and Pasa
1917	Returns to Constantinople
1919	Appointed Inspector-General in Anatolia; lands in Samsun; issues "Declaration of Independence" at Amasya; ordered by Government to return; resigns from the army; Nationalist Congress at Sivas and Erzurum; National Pact; new parliament elected; headquarters at Angora
1920	(April 23) First Turkish Grand National Assembly (TGNA) at Ankara
1921	Consecutive battles against different enemies; given title of Gazi and rank of Marshal by TGNA
1922	Izmir is retaken; proclaims abolition of Sultanate
1923	Treaty of Lausanne; People's Party; Second GNA; Angora (Ankara) becomes capital; proclamation of the Republic; becomes President; marries Latife in Izmir
1925	Divorces Latife
1938	Death of Ataturk; succession of Ismet Inonu as President of the Republic

Thousands of his statues or busts and millions of his photos have been erected or hung all over the country. His name has been given to countless institutions, buildings, streets, parks and suchlike.

Foreigners unaware of his accomplishments might think that the Turks are a bit obsessed with a man now dead for approximately 60 years.

No other nation on earth has loved a leader as much as the Turkish nation loves Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.

"Mustafa Kemal Ataturk differed from the dictators of his age in two significant respects; his foreign policy was based not on expansion but on retraction of frontiers; his home policy on the foundation of a political system which could survive his own time. It was in this realistic spirit that he regenerated his country, transforming the old sprawling Ottoman Empire into a compact new Turkish Republic.