Could the Minor Asian campaign have worked?

 

He was a great general and a good leader, but I think main difference would be the character of the state after the war. There were other generals (he was not the only one who planned the battles) and they could have managed to win the war. But they were not as radical as he was when it came to Westernisation. I am not sure about the Sultanate, but at least the caliphate was not likely to be abolished.  

 

The most famous is probably when he discovered a hatched a plot originating from Izmir around 1925.

 

Wki:  On 4 March 1925, to deal with the Sheikh Said Rebellion, the "Maintenance of Public Order Law" was passed, which gave the government exceptional powers. The law, which was repealed on 4 March 1929, included all the tools and authority to shut down subversive groups. During 1926 a plot to assassinate Mustafa Kemal was uncovered in İzmir. It was found to originate with a former deputy who had opposed the abolition of the Caliphate and had a personal grudge. Quickly the trail turned from inquiry of planners of this attempt to an investigation carried out ostensibly to uncover subversive activities and actually used to undermine those with differing views regarding the cultural revolution. The sweeping investigation brought before the tribunal a large number of political opponents, including Karabekir, the leader of PRP. A number of surviving leaders of the Committee of Union and Progress, who were at best second-rank in the Turkish movement, including Cavid, Ahmed Şükrü, and Ismail Canbulat were found guilty of treason and hanged.^[35] During these investigations there was a link, a support, that was uncovered among the members of the PRP to the Sheikh Said Rebellion. The PRP was dissolved following the outcomes of the trial. The pattern of organized opposition, however, was broken. This action was the only broad political purge during Atatürk's presidency. Mustafa Kemal's saying "my mortal body will turn into dust, but the Republic of Turkey will last forever" was regarded as a will after the assassination attempt.^[

 

 Another was this: http://www.atmg.org/Ataturk1.html

 

During the tumultuous years of Ottoman disintegration, Greek governments sent under cover agents to Anatolia to organise rebel groups in order to disrupt order and massacre local population. These gangs viciously murdered women, children, elderly indiscriminately in their own villages. Their attempt to assassinate Ataturk on his arrival to Samsun in 19 May 1919 is described by Greek author Hristos Samuelidis in his book "Black Sea":