Biography, Videos and Interviews

He rushed onto the Hollywood scene in a big way. Leonardo DiCaprio would find fame in the box office hit Titanic but he would prove again and again that he was a force to be reckoned with in Hollywood. There would be many more movies to make and Leonardo DiCaprio would find he had his choice of the best of them.

DiCaprio was born in 1974. His father was an artist and Leonardo was named after Leonardo da Vinci, the legendary artist. His parents divorced while he was very young and he ended up spending a lot of time in museums with his father.

Leonardo spent a lot of time in Germany with his mother and speaks the language fluently. DiCaprio attended local schools in California before his mother finally enrolled him in Los Angeles Center for Enriched Studies.

In 1989, DiCaprio landed a part in Parenthood playing the part of Garry Buckman. He also played the teenage version of Mason Capwell on the soap opera Santa Barbara. 1991 brought with it the release of Critters 3 where he also had secured a role. However, larger than life possibilities still lie ahead.

In 1997, Titanic would skyrocket DiCaprio into another realm of acting. He would become a well known name in Hollywood and quickly become a mega-star. The movie would secure eleven Academy Awards and remains today as the highest grossing movie in the world.

People Magazine quickly secured their nod of approval dubbing him as one of the “Most Beautiful People” various times. He was instantly called a “sex symbol” and every teenage girl around the globe became a DiCaprio fan.

Acting for DiCaprio, didn’t end with Titanic. He went on to secure two more Academy Awards (the first came prior to Titanic and was achieved for Best Supporting Actor in What’s Eating Gilbert Grape) including Best Actor for his role in The Aviator and a 2006 win for best actor Blood Diamond.

DiCaprio has been in a relationship with model Bar Refaeli since 2005. He resides in LA and keeps an apartment in New York as well.

Johnny Depp was born in 1963. He was married from 1983 until 1986 to Lori Anne Wilson. He has been affiliated on various occasions with top model Kate Moss. However, his relationships aren’t all that interesting once you look into his acting biography.

Johnny Depp was born in Owensboro, Kentucky. He was the son of a city engineer and a waitress. He has one brother and two sisters. His family moved a lot and Johnny would end up living in more than twenty towns while growing up. Depp has openly admitted that he used to practice “self-harm” and he has the scars to prove it.

Johnny Depp, perhaps first earned his claim to fame when The Viper Room, Johnny’s club became the notorious night club where actor River Phoenix met his drug-related death. However, true Hollywood fame wouldn’t elude him. Johnny Depp was destined to be a big screen movie star.

While Johnny Depp did achieve stardom with his movie Edward Scissorhands, the trilogy that would change his life would be the Pirates of the Caribbean where “Captain Jack Sparrow” would plunge Johnny Depp into a new realm of fame.

Johnny Depp had played in various roles but nothing could prepare him for the newly acquired mega-stardom. Johnny Depp’s lead role in 21 Jump Street where Depp became a 1987 teen idol, didn’t even compare.

Today, Depp continues to revel in the fame and fortune that he has been able to secure. However, in recent years, he has still continued to be one of the more controversial actors. From rumors of drug use to a destroyed New York City hotel suite that he damaged, Depp has a way of gaining attention. Of course, the box office sales haven’t suffered. Johnny Depp’s bad boy image still sells movie tickets.

Bruce Willis was born in 1955 in Germany. His father was an American soldier which may be one of the reasons that Willis still actively supports the military today.

Bruce Willis is best known for his role as John McClain in the popular Die Hard movies. However, he is often mentioned whenever his ex-wife Demi Moore is written about or followed around by the paparazzi. Moore and Willis also have three daughters and share custody of their children.

Considered one of the highest grossing movie stars of all time, Willis is ranked sixth on the list of lead actors bringing in the big bucks. He also falls in at number eight with his supporting film roles.

Winning many awards and securing nominations for his acting abilities, in 2000 he won an Emmy for his Outstanding Guest Actor appearance on the popular television series Friends. Not bad for a man who began his career signing with a band called Loose Goose.

Willis has three siblings and as the oldest, never had plans to attend college right after high school. He went to work at the DuPont Chambers Works in New Jersey right after graduation and soon left to pursue other interests. He joined an R&B Band (Loose Goose) and enrolled in Montclair State University where he performed in the school production Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.

Willis soon found more experience in Heaven and Earth, an off-Broadway production followed by Fool for Love. Willis soon secured a role in Moonlighting after appearing in Miami Vice and Levi’s commercials. Then, Hollywood came knocking and Willis earned his big break playing opposite Kim Basinger in Blind Date. He was on his way.

By the time Willis secured his role in Die Hard, he was well-known. However, nothing could prepare him for the fame that the movie series would bring him or the popularity that he would suddenly own.

Today, Bruce Willis is a successful businessman, sought-after actor, and a man who defiantly has his own political voice. He has been involved with accusations of a conspiracy theory in the JFK Assassination and believes that today, those same people backing the JFK Assassination hold powerful positions in American politics.

She graduated from Ankara Cumhuriyet Lisesi and started swimming professionally for DSI. In 1982, she and her family moved to Istanbul. AvÅŸar attended a beauty pageant organized by Bulvar magazine which she won. Later, her crown was taken from her when organization found out that she was divorced from a short time marriage. In 1983, she debuted in acting with the movie Haram. In following years, she acted in over 70 movies in the leading role. During this period, she won the best actress prize in Moscow International Film Festival. By the time, she took musical education and showed up in some concerts that are organized nation-wide. AvÅŸar has released 7 albums & 1 single to date.

In 2000, Avşar won the best female singer award by Kral TV. That year, she wrote for Günaydın newspaper as a columnist. Avşar is currently the editor of Hülya (a monthly magazine). She plays tennis on a professional basis and holds a championship in TED 2001 tennis tournament.

Hülya Avşar was previously married to Kaya Çilingiroğlu, but she got divorced in 2005. She has a daughter called Zehra from Kaya. (born January 15, 1998)

Necati ÅžaÅŸmaz (born 15 December 1971 in Sivrice, Elazig) is a famous Turkish actor, who starred in the popular television series Valley of the Wolves and its movie spin-off Valley of the Wolves Iraq.

Necati Şaşmaz was born in Elazığ, Turkey, as a son of Abdülkadir Şaşmaz. He educated in Tourism and Hotel Management both in Turkey and in Canada. He lived in the USA for six years. He came to Turkey for a visit to his parents and decided to return to the USA on September 11, 2001. However because of the terrorist attacks made to the World Trade Center, he abandoned the idea to fly and decided to continue his life in Turkey.

In Istanbul, Necati ÅžaÅŸmaz met with renowned Turkish director Osman Sınav, who offered him the leading role in the Valley of the Wolves. He played the fictional character Polat Alemdar in the series and in the movie. Also now he plays in another follow up of the original seris “Kurtlar Vadisi”, called “Kurtlar Vadisi Pusu”. The show today has very high ratings. Polat Alemdar is more than an actor, people look up to him and view him as a hero who saved many lives and is a robin hood on Turkey. He is a legend, whi is greatly respected. ÅžaÅŸmaz’s position today as one of the most famous actors of Turkey is remarkable, considering that he has no education or background in theater or cinema.

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Early life and family

Kidman was born in Honolulu, Hawaii. Her mother, Janelle Ann (née Glenny), is a nursing instructor who edits her husband’s books and was a member of the Women’s Electoral Lobby. Her father, Dr. Antony David Kidman, is a biochemist, clinical psychologist and author, with an office in Lane Cove, Sydney.[4][5][6] At the time of Nicole Kidman’s birth, her father was a visiting fellow at the National Institute of Mental Health in Washington, D.C. The family returned to Australia when Kidman was four years old and Kidman’s parents now reside in Sydney’s North Shore. Kidman has a younger sister, Antonia Kidman who is a journalist.

She started taking ballet lessons when she was four. She attended Lane Cove Public School in her primary years and later attended North Sydney Girls’ High School. Kidman concentrated on her family responsibilities until her mother’s recovery. She then trained at the Phillip Street Theatre. This led to studies at Sydney’s Australian Theatre for Young People (of which she is now a patron).

[edit] Career

[edit] Early career in Australia (1983–1989)

Kidman’s first appearance in film came in 1983 when, as a fifteen year-old, she appeared in the Pat Wilson music video for the song Bop Girl. By the end of the year she had secured a supporting role in the television series Five Mile Creek and four film roles, including BMX Bandits and Bush Christmas. During the 1980s, she appeared in several Australian movies and TV series, notably including the soap opera A Country Practice, the mini-series Vietnam (1986), Emerald City (1988), and Bangkok Hilton (1989).

In 1982, she might have appeared in the video for Roxy Music’s song “True To Life”.[citation needed]

[edit] Breakthrough (1989–1995)

In 1989, Kidman starred in the thriller film Dead Calm as Rae Ingram, the wife of naval officer John Ingram (Sam Neill), held captive on a Pacific Ocean yacht trip by the psychotic Hughie Warriner (Billy Zane). The thriller film received generally positive reviews; the staff of Variety.com commented: “Throughout the film, Kidman is excellent. She gives the character of Rae real tenacity and energy.”[7] Meanwhile, critic Roger Ebert noted the excellent chemistry between the leads, stating, “…Kidman and Zane do generate real, palpable hatred in their scenes together.”[8] In 1990, she appeared opposite Tom Cruise in Days of Thunder, a stock car racing movie. After this, Kidman starred with Cruise in Ron Howard’s Far and Away (1992). In 1995, Kidman featured in the ensemble cast of Batman Forever. On November 20, 1993 she hosted Saturday Night Live.[9]

[edit] Critical success (1995–present)

Her second film in 1995, To Die For was a satirical comedy that earned her praise[citation needed] from critics. She won a Golden Globe Award, and five other best actress awards for her portrayal of the murderous newscaster Suzanne Stone Maretto. Kidman and Cruise portrayed a married couple in Eyes Wide Shut in 1999, Stanley Kubrick’s final film.

In 2002, Kidman received an Academy Award nomination for her performance in the 2001 musical film Moulin Rouge!, in which she played the courtesan Satine opposite Ewan McGregor. Consequently, Kidman received her second Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture Musical or Comedy. The same year, she had a well-received starring role in the horror film The Others. While in Australia filming Moulin Rouge!, Kidman injured her knee; as a result, Jodie Foster had to replace her as leading actress in the film Panic Room. In that film, Kidman’s voice appears on the phone, as the mistress of the lead character’s husband.

The following year, Kidman won critical praise for her portrayal of Virginia Woolf in The Hours, in which the prosthetics applied to her made her almost unrecognizable. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress for this role, along with a Golden Globe Award, a BAFTA, and numerous critics awards. Kidman became the first Australian actress to win an Academy Award. During her Academy Award acceptance speech, after tearing, Kidman made a statement about the importance of art, even during times of war: “Why do you come to the Academy Awards when the world is in such turmoil? Because art is important. And because you believe in what you do and you want to honor that, and it is a tradition that needs to be upheld.”[10]

In the same year, Kidman starred in three very different films. Dogville, by Danish director Lars von Trier, an experimental film set on a bare soundstage. Secondly, she co-starred alongside Anthony Hopkins in the film adaptation of Philip Roth’s novel The Human Stain. Cold Mountain, a love story of two Southerners separated by the Civil War, was her final release that year, and garnered her a Golden Globe Award nomination.

In 2004, Kidman appeared in the critically panned[citation needed] remake of The Stepford Wives alongside Glenn Close, Faith Hill and Bette Midler. In September of the same year, Birth, in which the 37-year-old actress’ character has an encounter with a 10-year-old boy (played by Cameron Bright) who attempts to convince her that he is a reincarnation of her dead husband, was met with a mixed reception primarily due to a scene where the boy strips and joins Kidman in the bathtub.[citation needed] Despite this, the film was nominated for the Golden Lion Award at the Venice Film Festival, and Kidman was nominated for another Golden Globe Award. Kidman’s two movies in 2005 were The Interpreter, directed by Sydney Pollack, the film received mixed reviews, though it did become a considerable success at the box office grossing nearly $165 million worldwide, with its $80 million budget, and Bewitched, co-starring Will Ferrell, based on the 1960s TV sitcom of the same name; the latter fared abysmally with critics and made only $131,413,159 at the box office.

In conjunction with her success in the film industry, Kidman became the face of the Chanel No. 5 perfume brand. She starred in a campaign of television and print ads with Rodrigo Santoro, directed by Moulin Rouge! director Baz Luhrmann to promote the fragrance during the holiday season in 2004, 2005, and 2006. The three-minute commercial produced for Chanel No. 5 perfume made Kidman the record holder for the most money paid per minute to an actor after she reportedly earned $US3.71 million.[11] During this time, Kidman was also listed as the 45th Most Powerful Celebrity on the 2005 Forbes Celebrity 100 List. She made a reported US$14.5 million in 2004-2005. On People magazine’s list of 2005’s highest paid actresses, Kidman was second behind Julia Roberts with a US$16 million to US$17 million per-film price tag.[12] She has since passed Roberts as the highest paid actress.

Recently, Kidman appeared in the Diane Arbus bio-pic Fur, she also lent her voice to the animated film Happy Feet, which quickly garnered critical and commercial success, the film grossed over $384 million dollars worldwide. In 2007, she starred in the science fiction movie The Invasion, directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel, and played opposite Jennifer Jason Leigh and Jack Black in Noah Baumbach’s comedy-drama Margot at the Wedding. She also starred in the film adaptation of the first part of the planned His Dark Materials trilogy of films, playing the villainous Mrs. Coulter. However, The Golden Compass’’s failure to meet expectations at the North American box office has reduced the likelihood of a sequel.[13]

She is also set to star in director Wong Kar-wai’s next film, The Lady from Shanghai and Baz Luhrmann’s Australian period film titled Australia, which is set in the remote Northern Territory during the Japanese attack on Darwin during World War II. Kidman will play an English woman feeling overwhelmed by the continent, opposite Hugh Jackman.

On 25 June 2007, Nintendo announced that Kidman is to be the new face of Nintendo’s advertising campaign for the Nintendo DS game More Brain Training in its European market.[14]

Kidman was featured in a series of advertisements for Sky in Italy, speaking Italian during the spots.

It is reported that Kidman will star and produce in an upcoming romantic comedy film called Monte Carlo. She plays one member of a trio of school teachers on holiday who cut short their no-frills sojourn in Paris and head to Monte Carlo, where they pose as wealthy vacationers.[15]

Kidman was originally set to star in The Reader (film) a post-war Germany drama, but due to her pregnancy she had to back out of the film. [16] Shortly after the news of Kidman’s departure, it was announced that Kate Winslet would take over the role. [17]

[edit] Singing
Nicole Kidman and Robbie Williams in the “Somethin’ Stupid” music video
Nicole Kidman and Robbie Williams in the “Somethin’ Stupid” music video

Not known as a singer prior to Moulin Rouge!, Kidman had several well-received vocal performances in the film. Her collaboration with Ewan McGregor on the song “Come What May” from the film’s soundtrack debuted and peaked at 27 in the UK Singles Chart. Later she collaborated with Robbie Williams on the song “Somethin’ Stupid”, a cover of the old swing song on Williams’ swing covers album Swing When You’re Winning. It debuted and peaked at 8 in the Australian ARIAnet Singles Chart, and at number 1 for three weeks in the UK. It was the UK Christmas number 1 Single for 2001.

In 2006, she provided her voice for the animated movie Happy Feet, along with her vocals for her character Norma Jean’s ‘heartsong’, which was a slightly altered version of “Kiss” by Prince.

Early life and family

Born in Los Angeles, California, Jolie is the daughter of actors Jon Voight and Marcheline Bertrand, who died from ovarian cancer in 2007. Jolie is the niece of Chip Taylor, sister of James Haven and the god-daughter of Jacqueline Bisset and Maximilian Schell. On her father’s side, she is of Slovak and German descent,[5][6] and on her mother’s side she is French Canadian and is said to be part Iroquois,[7][8] although Voight once claimed Bertrand is “not seriously Iroquois,” and they merely said it to enhance his ex-wife’s exotic background.[9]

After her parents’ separation in 1976, Jolie and her brother were raised by their mother, who abandoned her acting ambitions and moved with them to Palisades, New York.[10] As a child Jolie regularly saw movies with her mother and later explained that this had inspired her interest in acting; she had not been influenced by her father.[11] When she was 11, the family moved back to Los Angeles and Jolie decided she wanted to act and enrolled at the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute, where she trained for two years and appeared in several stage productions. She later recalled her time as a student at Beverly Hills High School (later Moreno High School), and her feeling of isolation among the children of some of the area’s more affluent families. Jolie’s mother survived on a more modest income, and Jolie often wore second-hand clothes. She was teased by other students who also targeted her for her distinctive features, for being extremely thin, and for wearing glasses and braces.[11] Her self esteem was further diminished when her initial attempts at modeling proved unsuccessful. As her despondency grew, she started to cut herself; later commenting, “I collected knives and always had certain things around. For some reason, the ritual of having cut myself and feeling the pain, maybe feeling alive, feeling some kind of release, it was somehow therapeutic to me.”[12] At 14, she dropped out of her acting classes and dreamed of becoming a funeral director.[13] Her self-loathing led her to embark on a rebellious period in her life; she wore black, dyed her hair purple and went out moshing with her live-in boyfriend.[11] Two years later, after the relationship had ended, she rented an apartment above a garage a few blocks from her mother’s home.[10] She returned to theatre studies and graduated from high school, though in recent times she has referred to this period with the observation, “I am still at heart—and always will be—just a punk kid with tattoos”.[14]

Jolie has been long estranged from her father, though a reconciliation was attempted, and he appeared with her in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider. In July 2002, Jolie filed a request to legally change her name to “Angelina Jolie”, dropping Voight as her surname; the name change was made official on September 12, 2002.[15] In August of the same year, Voight claimed that his daughter had “serious emotional problems” on Access Hollywood. Jolie later indicated that she no longer wished to pursue a relationship with her father, and said, “My father and I don’t speak. I don’t hold any anger toward him. I don’t believe that somebody’s family becomes their blood. Because my son’s adopted, and families are earned.” She stated that she did not want to publicize her reasons for her estrangement from her father, but because she had adopted her son, she did not think it was healthy for her to associate with Voight.[16]

[edit] Early work, 1993–1997

Jolie began working as a fashion model at 14. She was signed with Finesse Model Management and modeled in both the United States and Europe, working mainly in Los Angeles, New York and London. At that time she also appeared in numerous music videos, including those of Meat Loaf (”Rock & Roll Dreams Come Through”), Antonello Venditti (”Alta Marea”), Lenny Kravitz (”Stand by My Woman”), and The Lemonheads (”It’s About Time”). At the age of 16, Jolie returned to theatre, and played her first role as a German dominatrix. She began to learn from her father, as she noticed his method of observing people to become like them. Their relationship during this time was less strained, with Jolie realizing that they were both “drama queens”.[11]

Jolie appeared in five of her brother’s student films, made while he attended the USC School of Cinematic Arts, but her professional movie career began in 1993, when she played her first leading role in the low budget film Cyborg 2, as Casella “Cash” Reese, a near-human robot, designed to seduce her way into a rival manufacturer’s headquarters and then self-detonate. Following several undistinguished projects she starred as Kate “Acid Burn” Libby in her first Hollywood picture, Hackers (1995), where she met her first husband Jonny Lee Miller. The New York Times wrote, “Kate (Angelina Jolie) stands out. That’s because she scowls even more sourly than [her co-stars] and is that rare female hacker who sits intently at her keyboard in a see-through top. Despite her sullen posturing, which is all this role requires, Ms. Jolie has the sweetly cherubic looks of her father, Jon Voight.”[17] The movie failed to make a profit at the box-office, but developed a cult following after its video release.[18]

She appeared as Gina Malacici in the 1996 comedy Love Is All There Is, a modern-day loose adaptation of Romeo and Juliet set among two rival Italian family restaurant owners in the Bronx, New York. In the road movie Mojave Moon she was a youngster, named Eleanor Rigby, who falls for Danny Aiello, while he takes a shine to her mother, Anne Archer. In 1996, she also played Margret “Legs” Sadovsky, one of five teenage girls who form an unlikely bond in the film Foxfire after they beat up a teacher who has sexually harassed them. The Los Angeles Times wrote about Jolie’s performance, “It took a lot of hogwash to develop this character, but Jolie, Jon Voight’s knockout daughter, has the presence to overcome the stereotype. Though the story is narrated by Maddy, Legs is the subject and the catalyst.”[19]

In 1997, Jolie starred with David Duchovny in the thriller Playing God, a film portraying a famed L.A. surgeon who is stripped of his medical license and is lured deep into the criminal world where he meets Jolie’s character, Claire. The movie was not received well by critics and Roger Ebert noted that “Angelina Jolie finds a certain warmth in a kind of role that is usually hard and aggressive; she seems too nice to be [a criminal’s] girlfriend, and maybe she is.”[20] She then appeared in the TV movie True Women, a historical romantic drama set in the West, and based on the book by Janice Woods Windle. That year she also played a stripper in the Rolling Stones music video for the song “Anybody Seen My Baby?”

Early life

President Gül was born in Kayseri. He was brought up in a conservative family environment by his father Ahmet Hamdi, a mechanic, and his mother Adviye. His family has lived in Güllük Camii in Kayseri for about one hundred years.[2]His great-grandfather was an Arab who immigrated from Siirt to Develi around 1915.[3]. Gül was also called with the name Cumhur by his family.[4]

[edit] Education

Gül studied economics at the Istanbul University and wrote his dissertation there. During his graduate education, he studied for two years in London and Exeter. He pursued an academic career after that and worked at the higher education facilities in Adapazarı, collaborating in the establishment of a department for industrial engineering and teaching management courses of future Sakarya University, which founded in 1992. He received a Ph.D. degree from the Istanbul University in 1983. Between 1983 and 1991, he worked at the Islamic Development Bank (IDB). In 1991, Gül became a lecturer in international management.

[edit] First steps in politics

Gül became acquainted with right-wing politics early during his high school years. During his university education, he became a member of Islamist-nationalist Millî Türk Talebe BirliÄŸi (National Turkish Students’ Union) in the line of Necip Fazıl’s Büyük DoÄŸu (Grand Orient) current.[5]

He was elected a member of the Turkish parliament for Refah Partisi (RP, “the Welfare Party”) from Kayseri Province in 1991 and 1995. During these years, he made statements about the political system of Turkey that was designed by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and the Turkish National Movement. These statements caused controversy when his candidacy for the 2007 presidential election was announced by Prime Minister Tayyip ErdoÄŸan.[6]

In 1999, he kept his seat as a member of Fazilet Partisi (FP, “the Virtue Party”) which was afterwards closed by Constitutional Court for its violation of Constitution, successor to Refah Partisi which was also closed by Constitutional Court for its violation of Constitution, especially the principle of secularism. He was among the founders of Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi (Justice and Development Party). He was elected once again to represent Kayseri in 2002* .

[edit] AKP Career

[edit] Prime Minister

After the Justice and Development Party (AKP) won the most votes in the November 2002 general election, Gül was appointed Prime Minister, as AK Party leader Recep Tayyip ErdoÄŸan was unable to assume the role due to a ban on his participation in politics. After Gül’s government secured legislation allowing ErdoÄŸan’s return to politics, the latter took over as Prime Minister on 14 March 2003. Gül was appointed deputy prime minister and foreign minister.

[edit] Foreign Minister

After becoming foreign minister in March 2003, Gül became the key player in Turkey’s attempts to receive an accession date for the European Union and in its attempts to improve relations with Syria and maintaining its relationship with the Turkic-speaking countries of Central Asia and the Caucasus. On February 6, 2007, Gül flew to the United States to meet with U.S. President George W. Bush and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

[edit] Presidential candidacy

Prime Minister ErdoÄŸan announced on April 24, 2007 that Gül would be the Justice and Development Party candidate in the 2007 presidential election. Previously, there had been speculation that ErdoÄŸan himself would be the party’s candidate, which had provoked substantial opposition from secularists.[7][8] When a boycott of opposition parties in Parliament deadlocked the election process, Gül formally withdrew his candidacy on May 6, 2007.

But a few days later, on May 11 when he inquired after the alterations to the Turkish constitution which now allowed the people to elect the president directly rather than a parliamentary vote, Gül announced that he was still intending to run.[9][10]

Following the July 2007 parliamentary election, the AKP renominated Gül as its presidential candidate on August 13; the election was again held as a vote of parliament.[11] On August 14, Gül submitted his candidacy application to parliament and expressed his commitment to secularism at a news conference.[12]

On August 28, 2007, he was elected president in the third round of voting; in the first two rounds, a two-thirds majority of MPs had been required, but in the third round he needed only a simple majority. Gül was sworn in immediately thereafter.[13] The process was a very low-key affair.[14] Gül’s swearing-in was not attended by the Chief of the Turkish General Staff and was boycotted by the opposition Republican People’s Party; then the hand-over of power at the presidential palace was held behind closed doors. Gül’s wife Hayrünnisa, whose wearing of a red headscarf is a factor in the opposition to Gül’s presidency, was not present. This approach continued; the traditional evening reception hosted by the new president at the presidential palace for the countries highest authorities was announced for 11.30 in the morning and wives were not invited. [15]

Gül received messages of congratulation from the US, EU and German authorities while Turkish prime minister Tayyip ErdoÄŸan made a statement saying “a structure doomed to uncertainty has been overcome” (an oblique reference to the deep state theory that Turkey is ruled behind-closed-doors by a secret conspiracy of soldiers and bureaucrats).[16]

[edit] Personal life

On August 20, 1980, Abdullah Gül married Hayrünnisa Özyurt, his first cousin (born 1965), when she was 15 years old. [17] The couple has three children, two sons named Mehmet Emre and Ahmet Münir and a daughter named Kübra.

He is a dedicated fan of the football club BeÅŸiktaÅŸ J.K..[18]

“There are two Mustafa Kemals. One the flesh-and-blood Mustafa Kemal who nowstands before you and who will pass away. the other is you, all of you here who will go tothe far corners of our land to spread the ideals which must be defended with your lives ifnecessary. I stand for the nation’s dreams, and my life’s work is to make them cometrue.”

Atatürk stands as one of the world’s few historic figures who dedicated their livestotally to their nations.

He was born in 1881 (probably in the spring) in Salonica, then an Ottoman city, now inGreece. His father Ali Riza, a customs official turned lumber merchant, died when Mustafawas still a boy. His mother Zubeyde, adevout and strong-willed woman, raised him and his sister. First enrolled in a traditionalreligious school, he soon switched to a modern school. In 1893, he entered a military highschool where his mathematics teacher gave him the second name Kemal (meaning perfection)in recognition of young Mustafa’s superior achievement. He was thereafter known as MustafaKemal.

In 1905, Mustafa Kemal graduated from the War Academy in Istanbul with the rank ofStaff Captain. Posted in Damascus, he started with several colleagues, a clandestinesociety called “Homeland and Freedom” to fight against the Sultan’sdespotism. In 1908 he helped the group of officers who toppled the Sultan. Mustafa Kemal’scareer flourished as he won his heroism in the far corners of the Ottoman Empire,including Albania and Tripoli. He also briefly served as a staff officer in Salonica andIstanbul and as a military attache in Sofia.

In 1915, when Dardanelles campaign was launched, Colonel Mustafa Kemal became anational hero by winning successive victories and finally repelling the invaders. Promotedto general in 1916, at age 35, he liberated two major provinces in eastern Turkey thatyear. In the next two years, he served as commander of several Ottoman armies inPalestine, Aleppo, and elsewhere, achieving another major victory by stopping the enemyadvance at Aleppo.

On May 19, 1919, Mustafa Kemal Pasha landed in the Black Sea port of Samsun to startthe War of Independence. In defiance of the Sultan’s government, he rallied a liberationarmy in Anatolia and convened the Congress of Erzurum and Sivas which established thebasis for the new national effort under his leadership. On April 23, 1920, the GrandNational Assembly was inaugurated. Mustafa Kemal Pasha was elected to its Presidency.

Fighting on many fronts, he led his forces to victory against rebels and invadingarmies. Following the Turkish triumph at the two major battles at Inonu in Western Turkey,the Grand National Assembly conferred on Mustafa Kemal Pasha the title ofCommander-in-Chief with the rank of Marshal. At the end of August 1922, the Turkish armieswon their ultimate victory. Within a few weeks, the Turkish mainland was completelyliberated, the armistice signed, and the rule of the Ottoman dynasty abolished.

In July 1923, the national government signed the Lausanne Treaty with Great Britain,France, Greece, Italy, and others. In mid-October, Ankara became the capital of the newTurkish State. On October 29, the Republic was proclaimed and Mustafa Kemal Pasha wasunanimously elected President of the Republic.

Atatürk married Latife Usakligil in early 1923. The marriage ended in divorce in 1925.

The account of Atatürk’s fifteen year Presidency is a saga of dramatic modernization.With indefatigable determination, he created a new political and legal system, abolishedthe Caliphate and made both government and education secular, gave equal rights to women,changed the alphabet and the attire, and advanced the arts and the sciences, agricultureand industry.

In 1934, when the surname law was adopted, the national parliament gave him the name”Atatürk” (Father of the Turks).

On November 10, 1938, following an illness of a few months, the national liberator andthe Father of modern Turkey died. But his legacy to his people and to the world endures.

Atatürk’s body was re-interred in this splendid mausoleum in 1953.