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Ahmet Ertegun's LegacyThe Atlantic Records founder in his own words.


Posted Friday, Dec. 15, 2006, at 1:26 PM ET

(Continued from page 2)

Slate: What did you hear in his voice that made you so confident about him?

AE: Clyde was the most soulful singer in rhythm and blues. People like Clyde McPhatter who came out of the black churches—like Sam Cooke and Aretha Franklin—were all church singers who became great pop singers because gospel singing is very close to the blues.

Slate: You were born in Istanbul and educated in London and Washington?

AE: When I was 2 years old, my father, who was Ataturk's legal adviser, was sent to Switzerland to represent Turkey at the League of Nations. He was also the Turkish ambassador to Switzerland. After that he was the Turkish ambassador to France. So I spent several years of my youth in Paris and then he went to London and was ambassador to the Court of St. James during George V. Then we went to Washington when he was appointed ambassador to the U.S. [under Roosevelt]

Slate: Is it true that the sultan of the Ottoman Empire dispatched your father to go deal with a rebellious general named Mustafa Kemal, who would become Ataturk?

AE: Kemal was the No. 1 general in the Ottoman Empire. He fought the battle of Gallipoli where he defeated the Australian and British troops. He was a great hero and a brilliant young general. He would not give in to the demands of the Allies. So he formed a rebel army in Ankara and my father was sent in 1921 to talk him out of resisting. Then, my father said, "Now I've done my duty to the sultan and if you need my services I am ready to resign from my post and join you."

Slate: How close was your father with Ataturk?

AE: My father was in Ataturk's closest group. They lived together during the War of Liberation in Turkey. He was with him all the time.

Slate: What was your father's impression of Ataturk?

AE: My father believed very strongly in Ataturk. Ataturk was a very powerful man and a man of great vision. But my father was a very religious person. And he prayed five times a day. And he did that throughout his relationship with Ataturk—at a time when it was very brave to do because Ataturk was cutting off the heads of the imams. And people thought that that was foolhardy of my father.

Slate: Do you think Samuel Huntington's Clash of Civilizations describes what is happening today?

AE: Well we're going through something like that. Look, our president speaks to God.

Slate: Was Ataturk an atheist on a personal or political level?

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