The Republic of Turkey replaced its entire alphabet in just three months
In 1928, Turkey executed one of history’s fastest linguistic transformations by abandoning the complex Ottoman Arabic script for a Latin-based alphabet to modernize the nation and boost literacy rates.
President Mustafa Kemal Atatürk initiated this radical reform in November 1928, giving the nation only ninety days to adopt the new Turkish alphabet. The government viewed the traditional Arabic script as too difficult for the Turkish language, contributing to a literacy rate below ten percent at the time.
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