In the years following 1926, Mustafa Kemal introduced a radical departure from previous reformations established by the Ottoman Empire.[73] For the first time in history, Islamic law was separated from secular law, and restricted to matters of religion. Mustafa Kemal said:

“ We must liberate our concepts of justice, our laws and our legal institutions from the bonds which, even though they are incompatible with the needs of our century, still hold a tight grip on us."

On 1 March 1926, the Turkish penal code was passed. It was modeled after the Italian Penal Code. On 4 October 1926, Islamic courts were closed. Establishing the civic law needed time, so Mustafa Kemal delayed the inclusion of the principle of laïcité until 5 February 1937.

Ottoman practice discouraged social interaction between men and women in keeping with Islamic practice of sex segregation. Mustafa Kemal began developing social reforms very early, as was evident in his personal journal. He and his staff discussed issues like abolishing the veiling of women and the integration of women into the outside world. The clue on how he was planning to tackle the issue was stated in his journal on November 1915;

“The social change can come by -
(1) educating capable mothers who are knowledgeable about life;
(2) giving freedom to women;
(3) a man can change his morals, thoughts, and feelings by leading a common     life with a woman; as there is an inborn tendency towards the attraction of mutual affection."

"There is no logical explanation for the political disenfranchisement of women. Any hesitation and negative mentality on this subject is nothing more than a fading social phenomenon of the past. ...

Women must have the right to vote and to be elected; because democracy dictates that, because there are interests that women must defend, and because there are social duties that women must perform."

"I have no religion, and at times I wish all religions at the bottom of the sea. He is a weak ruler who needs religion to uphold his government; it is as if he would catch his people in a trap. My people are going to learn the principles of democracy, the dictates of truth and the teachings of science. Superstition must go. Let them worship as they will; every man can follow his own conscience, provided it does not interfere with sane reason or bid him against the liberty of his fellow-men."
 
or

"Mankind is a single body and each nation a part of that body. We must never say 'What does it matter to me if some part of the world is ailing?' If there is such an illness, we must concern ourselves with it as though we were having that illness."

or

"The nation has placed its faith in the precept that all laws should be inspired by actual needs here on earth as a basic fact of national life."

Sunrise over Kapadokya and then Sunset at the Other End of the Valleys - what a day!