A dog barks in front of a statue factory

A dog barks in front of a statue factory manufacturing statues and busts of Turkey's founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk on October 19, 2009 in Istanbul. Ataturk, (1881-1938) who founded modern, secular Turkey on the ashes of the Ottoman empire in 1923, served as its president until his death in 1938. Ataturk is idolized by millions of Turks as the far-sighted man transformed the country, with an iron fist, into a strictly secular republic which has come closer to the West than any other Muslim nation. AFP PHOTO/BULENT KILIC (Photo credit should read BULENT KILIC/AFP via Getty Images)