Finally, Turkey may lift veil on Ataturk’s wife

The writings are significant in part because Usakligil refused to comment publicly on Ataturk or the circumstances leading to their wrenching divorce. She died in 1975, surviving her husband by 37 years. Portraits and statues of the soldier-turned-statesman adorn every public building and school — by law. Insulting Ataturk is a criminal offense. But liberal commentators argue that unfettered and objective debate about his legacy is a necessary step in expanding Turkey’s democracy as the country seeks entry into the European Union.

‘‘The disclosure of Latife’s correspondence will be an important first step in this regard,’’ said Ipek Calislar, a veteran Turkish journalist who is writing a biography of Usakligil.

‘‘It will at the very least show us the human side of a man who is only known to us as a soldier and administrator.’’ Others, who fear the documents may tarnish Ataturk’s image, are calling for an extension of a 1980 court order banning their release. The ban expires today.

Dilek Bebe, Usakligil’s great-niece, said previous demands for the correspondence were denied. ‘‘We were ordered to remain silent,’’ she told the daily Hurriyet last month.

The manuscripts include a 178-page diary written in Ottoman script, 20 letters from Usakligil to Ataturk, and four others from him to her, columnist Colasan said. Usakligil’s vow of secrecy has allowed detractors to present a one-sided version of her breakup with Ataturk. ‘‘The image they paint of Latife is one of a shrill and bossy woman who did not know her place,’’ said Calislar, the biographer.

Usakligil’s feminist outlook had a profound impact on Ataturk, Calislar says. He ordered Turkish women to cast off their veils, gave them the right to vote, rendered them equal with men before the law, and banned polygamy under the civil code adopted in February 1926.

Ironically, just months earlier, he had ordered Usakligil to leave the Presidential Palace in Ankara and announced that they were divorced. She returned to Izmir, hoping that he would change his mind. Ataturk did not contact her again. Usakligil never remarried. ‘‘I saw her two days before her death in hospital,’’ her great-niece recalled. ‘‘She had Ataturk’s portrait pinned to her chest.’’ —Lat-wp