Encyclopedia lists Ataturk as dictator

ANKARA, Turkey, May 31 (UPI) -- The German version of a Microsoft encyclopedia lists Turkish Republic founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk among dictators including Adolf Hitler, a report said.

The German version of the 2006 Encarta Encyclopedia also put Ataturk, whose name translates into father of the Turks, among the ranks of Joseph Stalin and Mao Zedong, Turkish newspaper Zaman reported.

While Ataturk organized armed resistance to drive Allied forces from Turkey during World War I and later set up a one-party government, he is remembered as an "exceptional reformer," the newspaper said.

Ataturk is credited with abolishing the sultanate that had ruled Turkey and replacing it with a republic.

As the republic's first president, he also is remembered for encouraging universal adult education, replacing Islamic institutions with secular organizations and promoting religious and gender equality.

Ataturk died in 1938 at the age of 57.