One of the things Mausi found a bit astonishing in Ankara was
the almost total absence of women with headscarves. There were
some of course, but not nearly as much as Mausi had expected.
The women in Ankara looked liked the ones in any other European
Capital regarding clothes and hair styles. Thanks to their
interpreter Mausi learnt a bit more about the history of modern
Turkey. After the Turks had unfortunately sided with the Germans
in WW I they took a lot of punishment when the war was lost.
Neighbouring states and also those from farther away like
Britain occupied those parts of the country that had something
to offer. Like oil wells in the south of Anatolia. Between 1919
and 1922 the occupants were driven out by force thanks to a
young officer named Mustafa Kemal Pascha, who had been elected
Head of the Great National Assembly in 1920. After the peace of
Lausanne in 1923 he dismissed the Sultan and tried to transform
Turkey into modern state of western European style. He wanted to
turn Turkey into a Repu