disbanding of the Sufi orders, in addition to banning their meetings and special dress.
Later the same year Mustafa Kemal announced his decision that the people of Anatolia should dress in a "civilized" manner, that is, according to Western fashion. Religious dress was banned, and the famous `Hat Act' of November 1925 stated that all men should wear European-style hats making the wearing of all other headgear a criminal offence. These decrees provoked outraged reactions and were imposed only by means of the Independence Tribunals and not a few executions. Many hundreds of people were arrested in efforts to enforce this law, men of religion being the main targets and victims. Characteristically, Bediuzzaman resolutely refused to discard his turban and gown, and persisted in defying attempts to make him do so till the end of his days, even making his court appearances in them. "This turban comes off with this head! ", he told Nevzat Tandogan, the Governor of Ankara, in 1943 after a very sharp exchange. He was taken from the Governor's Office and transported to prison in Denizli.
The traditional calendars and forms of time-keeping were the next to go. The Western Gregorian calendar and twenty-four hour clock were introduced with effect from 1 January, 1926. Then came the final blow to the Ulema and Islamic establishment: the adoption of European codes of law. The adoption of the Swiss Civil Code removed the last areas where the Seriat was still in force, personal and family law, and the remaining areas of competence of its lawyers.
These changes were not without opponents, even at the highest level, and a conspiracy against Mustafa Kemal in June 1926 provided him with the pretext to do away with many of them. The Independence Tribunals went into action following the discovery of the plot and many were sent to the gallows, whether implicated or not.
By 1928, Mustafa Kemal felt sufficiently secure to adopt first Western numerals, and then the Latin alphabet. The `New Turkish