Disney+ releases trailer for mini-series 'Atatürk', based on life of Turkish republic's founder

Disney+ has released a trailer for a new series called 'Atatürk' which will focus on the life of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, regarded as the founding father of the Republic of Turkey. 

The trailer focuses on the life of the then Lieutenant-Colonel Mustafa Kemal, before the foundation of modern Turkey, at the Battle of Chunuk Bair - a World War I battle fought between the Ottomans and the British Empire in 1915. 

"Let the enemy stick his dagger to the heart of the motherland, they shall see a man who saves his mother's black destiny,” Lt. Col. Kemal is heard saying in the trailer, an adapted version of the verses written by Ottoman writer Namık Kemal, as reported by the Daily Sabah. 

Turkish actor Aras Bulut Iynemli will play the role of Atatürk, according to the Turkish newspaper, and it has been rumoured that the series will star world-famous actress Emma Watson.

The series is due to be released on 29 October 2023, on the 100-year anniversary of the founding of the Republic of Turkey. 

Atatürk, whose adopted name means "Father of the Turks", is revered in Turkey as the first president and founder of the modern Turkish republic.

However, there is some controversy in the wider Muslim world about his abolition of the Ottoman Caliphate and the strict secular system he imposed.