▁to ▁the ▁future ." ▁It ▁was ▁accompanied ▁by ▁a ▁system atic ▁effort ▁to ▁rid ▁the ▁Turkish ▁language ▁of ▁Arab ic ▁and ▁Pers ian ▁loan words , ▁often ▁replacing ▁them ▁with ▁words ▁from ▁Western ▁languages , ▁especially ▁French . ▁At at ür k ▁told ▁his ▁friend ▁F ali h ▁R ı f k ı ▁At ay , ▁who ▁was ▁on ▁the ▁government ' s ▁Language ▁Commission , ▁that ▁by ▁carrying ▁out ▁the ▁reform ▁" we ▁were ▁going ▁to ▁clean se ▁the ▁Turkish ▁mind ▁from ▁its ▁Arab ic ▁roots ." ▁ ▁Ya ş ar ▁N abi , ▁a ▁leading ▁pro - K em al ist ▁journalist , ▁argued ▁in ▁the ▁ 1 9 6 0 s ▁that ▁the ▁alphabet ▁reform ▁had ▁been ▁vital ▁in ▁creating ▁a ▁new ▁Western - orient ed ▁identity ▁for ▁Turkey . ▁He ▁noted ▁that ▁younger ▁Tur ks , ▁who ▁had ▁only ▁been ▁taught ▁the ▁Latin ▁script , ▁were ▁at ▁ease ▁in ▁understanding ▁Western ▁culture ▁but ▁were ▁quite ▁unable ▁to ▁eng age ▁with ▁Middle ▁Eastern ▁culture . ▁The ▁new ▁script ▁was ▁adopted ▁very ▁rapidly ▁and ▁soon ▁gained ▁w ides p read ▁accept ance . ▁Even ▁so , ▁the ▁Turkish ▁Arab ic ▁script ▁non eth eless ▁continued ▁to ▁be ▁used ▁by ▁older ▁people ▁in ▁private ▁correspond ence , ▁notes ▁and ▁di aries ▁until ▁well ▁into ▁the ▁ 1 9 6 0 s . ▁ ▁It ▁was ▁argued ▁by ▁the ▁r uling ▁K em al ist ▁el ites ▁who ▁pushed ▁this ▁reform ▁that ▁the ▁abandon ment ▁of ▁the ▁Arab ic ▁script ▁was ▁not ▁merely