Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (1881-1938) was a Turkish army officer, revolutionary, and the first President of Turkey, credited with being the founder of the Republic of Turkey. His surname, Atatürk (meaning "Father of the Turks"), was granted to him in 1934 and forbidden to any other person by the Turkish parliament. Atatürk statues have been erected in all Turkish cities, and his face and name are seen and heard everywhere in Turkey; his portrait can be seen in all public buildings, in all schools and classrooms, on all school books, on all Turkish lira banknotes, and in the homes of many Turkish families. In 1951, the parliament issued a law outlawing insults to his memory. In 2007, YouTube, Geocities, and several blogger webpages were blocked by a Turkish court due to the violation of this law.
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