Celâl Nuri. The issue was raised again in 1923 during the first Economic Congress of the newly founded Turkish Republic, sparking a public debate that was to continue for several years. Some suggested that a better alternative might be to modify the Arabic script to introduce extra characters to better represent Turkish vowels. A language commission responsible for adapting the Latin script to meet the phonetic requirements of the Turkish language was established. The resulting Latin script was designed to reflect the actual sounds of spoken Turkish, rather than simply transcribing the old Ottoman script into a new form. The current 29-letter Turkish alphabet was established. The script was founded by an Armenian, Hagop Martayan Dilaçar. Appreciating his contribution, Atatürk suggested to him the surname Dilaçar (literally meaning "language opener"), which he gladly accepted. It was a key step in the cultural part of Atatürk's Reforms. The Language Commission (Dil Encümeni) consisting of the following members: Atatürk himself was personally involved with the commission and proclaimed an "alphabet mobilisation" to publicise the changes. In 1926 the Turkic republics of the Soviet Union adopted the Latin script, giving a major boost to reformers in Turkey. On 1 November 1928, the new Turkish alphabet was introduced by the Language Commission at the initiative of Atatürk, replacing the previously used Perso-Arabic script. The Language Commission proposed a five-year transition period; Atatürk saw this as far too long and reduced it to three months. The change was formalized by the Turkish Republic's law number 1353, the Law on the Adoption and Implementation of the Turkish Alphabet, passed on 1 November 1928. The law went into effect from 1 January 1929, making the use of the new alphabet compulsory in all public communications. The removal of Arabic script was defended on the grounds that it was not appropriate for Turkish phonology, which needs a new set of symbols to be correctly represented. Literacy drive (Millet Mektepleri) Before the adoption of the new alphabet a pilot program had been established with 3304 class units around Turkey, awarding a total of 64,302 certificates. This program was declared to be unsuccessful and a new organization was proposed which would be used in the drive to introduce the new alphabet. The name of the new organization which would be used in the literacy drive was "Millet mektepleri". National Education Minister Mustafa Necati Bey passed the "National Schools Directive" (Directive)