I COULDN'T TEACH THEM TO BE SERVANT
When King Edward VIII of England came to Istanbul to visit
Atatürk, Atatürk gave him a dinner feast. Before the feast:
- Find someone or a cook who knows how
the feasts given in the palace of England are!... he
said.
Finally, they learned from someone who knew the English table
ceremony and arranged the table accordingly... When the king sat
down at the table in the evening, he was pleased to think that
he was in the royal palace. He turned to Atatürk and said:
- I congratulate you and thank you. I thought I was in
England, he expressed his pleasure.
However,
while the food was being served, one of the waiters tripped on
the carpet and dropped all the serving plates he was carrying.
The food scattered on the carpet.The waiter who made this
mistake turned bright red with embarrassment.
The English King, who wanted to turn this incident into an opportunity, said as if to mock Atatürk;
-You have founded a new country, but your excellency, you do not even have a servant to serve you yet.
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk replied without losing his cool;
-You are right, your
excellency, I was able to teach this nation everything, but I could not
teach them how to be a servant.
During the meal, the King asked Ataturk the following question:
-How many soldiers can Turkey send out during a war, Excellency?
Ataturk answered this question as follows:
-This depends on the enemy and the war, Your
Majesty the King. If necessary, all Turks, men and women, are soldiers.
However, we can send out one million trained soldiers.
After thinking for a while, King Edward VIII of England said the
following:
-So, when a war breaks out, you can immediately have a force of two
million.
Ataturk thought that King Edward of England had calculated incorrectly
and said the following:
-No, generally trained soldiers are one
million. In other words, seven or eight percent of the population is
calculated.
The King of England looked at Ataturk with admiration, smiled and nodded
and made the following statement:
-Excellency, I did the right calculation. Your army is one million,
and you are one million in total. The total is two million, as I said.
King Edward VIII wrote a thank you telegram to President Mustafa Kemal Atatürk as soon as he left Turkish soil. The telegram, published in the Cumhuriyet newspaper, read as follows:
"As I leave Turkish soil, I would like to express my most sincere gratitude to your excellency for the friendly reception they have shown me and for the great attention they have shown me, both by your excellency, the official authorities and the Turkish nation. I will preserve a very pleasant memory of my first stay in Turkey. I would like to present you my best wishes before my expressions of gratitude. We are travelling in great comfort on the special train journey your excellency has kindly assigned to me."
In response to this kind telegram from King Edward VIII, President Mustafa Kemal Atatürk wrote a response with equal tact. This response telegram published in the Cumhuriyet newspaper read as follows:
"The telegram that Your Majesty was kind enough to send me when He was leaving Turkish soil touched me deeply. During Your Majesty's stay in our country, which seemed very short to us, the Turkish nation was able to express the high feelings of appreciation and respectful affection it felt for them. Your Majesty attracted all hearts to him. I personally feel the great pleasure of feeling this attraction in all its fullness. The sincere feelings of friendship that I have for the honorable ruler have crystallized with the unforgettable memory left by this first and brief encounter. I wish Your Majesty a very pleasant journey and a happy return to their capital with all my heart, and I request that you accept my most sincere wishes."
