The Çerkes Ethem Rebellion was an uprising against the regular army established in Ankara by the Kuva-yi Milliye commander Çerkes Ethem. It was suppressed during the First Battle of İnönü. Çerkes Ethem, who served very successfully during the Kuva-yi Seyyare period, surrendered to the Greek army at the end of this defeat and was declared a traitor by the Turkish Grand National Assembly.
Reasons[]
- Attempt to try the Governor of Ankara without jurisdiction. After suppressing the Yozgat Rebellions, Çerkes Ethem claimed that the practices of the Ankara Governor of the period, Yahya Galip Kargı, caused the uprising. Yahya Galip summoned Kargı to Yozgat on 26 June 1920 to be tried for this crime. This order was rejected by the Speaker of the Turkish Grand National Assembly, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.
- Opposition to the decision regarding the Independence Tribunals. With its decision dated 18 September 1920 and numbered 42, the Turkish Grand National Assembly decided to establish Independence Tribunals to be responsible for the trial of fugitive soldiers and spies. Çerkes Ethem and his brothers stated that they would continue the practice of executing fugitive soldiers and spies by hanging in front of the troops, and did not recognize the court.
- Obstructing the Ministry of Internal Affairs in recruiting soldiers. After the Yozgat Rebellion was suppressed, Çerkes Ethem started collecting soldiers around Yozgat after June 1920. In fact, the authority to recruit soldiers was given to the Ministry of Internal Affairs by the Turkish Grand National Assembly. After the then Minister of Internal Affairs, Colonel Refet Bele, objected to this arbitrary action, Çerkes Ethem sent an insulting telegram to the Minister of Internal Affairs. Çerkes Ethem continued to recruit soldiers on the Western Front. He moved the detachment established in Karacaşehir village of Eskişehir to Kütahya and did not leave it under the control of the Front Command.
- Opposition to the division of the Western Front Command into two parts. Çerkes Ethem and his brothers opposed the decision of the Turkish Grand National Assembly Government to divide the Western Front Command into two parts on 9 November 1920. Çerkez Ethem said that he did not trust the Southern Front Commander, Colonel Refet Bey, and wanted the entire Western Front to remain under the command of Colonel İsmet Bey as before. On the other hand, his brother, Captain Tevfik Bey, had not been reporting for a while, even though he was under İsmet Bey. Çerkes Ethem insisted on the implementation of his wishes despite the Government's decision.
- Resistance to the establishment of a regular army. Çerkes Ethem and his supporters were opposing the decision of the Turkish Grand National Assembly Government to establish a regular army and the participation of the National Forces in this army. Çerkes Ethem's brother, Saruhan Deputy Reşit Bey, said that "army formation is bankrupt all over the world, and the homeland can only be created by the National Forces". He was making speeches that "can save us". The pro-Kuva-yi Seyyare Yeni Dünya newspaper published in Eskişehir was also publishing articles in this direction. However, with the National Forces, the Greek military presence in Western Anatolia could, at best, have been dealt major blows. Completely eliminating the Greek military presence from the homeland could only be achieved by a regular army fighting with a strong strategy.
- Opposing the granting of Commander-in-Chief Authority to the Turkish Grand National Assembly. The decision of the Turkish Grand National Assembly Government to establish a regular army also gave the entire command and management authority of this army to the Turkish Grand National Assembly. While Çerkes Ethem supporters were opposing the regular army, they were also opposing this Commander-in-Chief position of the Turkish Grand National Assembly.
- Opposing the naming of Çerkez Ethem's forces as 1st Kuva-yi Seyyare. During the establishment of the regular army, it was decided to give the name 1. Kuva-yi Seyyare to the forces of Çerkes Ethem in order to distinguish them from other similar formations. Çerkes Ethem opposed this decision, named his own forces General Forces, and declared himself the Commander of the General Forces. Thus, he insisted on an independent command position.
- Conflicts between Captain Tevfik Bey and the Front Command. The Western Front Command decided to establish a field gendarmerie company on 23 November 1920, for the security of the people in the districts liberated from Greek occupation. 1.Captain Tevfik Bey, deputy commander of Kuva-yi Seyyare, is of the opinion that this unit was established to control himself. This force, under the command of Major İbrahim Bey, under the name of Simav and Havalisi Command, was ordered to return by Captain Tevfik Bey. This unit was withdrawn in the face of threats of execution. As of this date, Captain Tevfik stopped reporting to the Front Command. In fact, Captain Tevfik Bey states in a telegram he wrote to Mustafa Kemal on 27 November that "he will not recognize the Western Front".
All these events showed that Çerkes Ethem and his two brothers saw themselves as an independent political-military authority outside the Turkish Grand National Assembly Government and its regular army, and that they were determined to protect this. This situation created a breach in the authority of the Turkish Grand National Assembly Government throughout the country. On the other hand, it also weakened the regular army's recruitment source.
Beginning of the Rebellion[]
It started to take the form of an uprising in the last months of 1920 because Çerkes Ethem did not recognize the political authority of the Turkish Grand National Assembly Government in his region and acted according to his own authority. He started working to attract Çerkez Ethem, Demirci Mehmet Efe, Yörük Ali Efe and Sarı Efe to his side. He is trying to influence these commanders of the National Forces with encrypted telegrams, letters and special messengers. In the encrypted telegram sent by Ethem to Yörük Ali Efe on December 12, 1920, he accuses the Turkish Grand National Assembly Government of being the tool of a few people and states that he is determined to destroy Demirci Mehmet Efe. "We must hold on to each other so that our efforts do not go in vain," he says.
Upon the warning telegram sent by İsmet Bey to Çerkez Ethem and his brother Tevfik Bey in December 1920, Çerkez Ethem gave the following reply:
Innocent nation and soldier brothers! Request that the telegram regarding the salvation of the country that I sent to the disgraced Ankara government, dated 29 May 336, be announced in print. Hey Soldiers! Do not be a tool for evil, be afraid of otherworldly and worldly responsibilities. O people; Do not hesitate to defend your rights against the novices who, inspired by the past, want to sacrifice all kinds of disasters and revolutions, the homeland, and the interests of their interests, so that you may receive divine help. I invited and forced you to defend the country, not to become a tool for evil or personal ambition. Hey officer friends! Avoid being a servant of orders; Be servants of Allah, otherwise I am coming, and the last regret will not be of any use." General National Forces Commander Ethem
In his telegram to the Istanbul Government on January 2, 1921, Circassian Ethem states that he sent a telegram to the Presidency of the Turkish Grand National Assembly requesting the immediate release of the representatives of the Istanbul Government whom Mustafa Kemal took to Ankara on his way back from Bilecik. In this telegram, he also writes that the armies of the Turkish Grand National Assembly Government are in a position to attack him, that his own forces are strong enough to attack, and that he has informed the Greek authorities of this situation.
Supression[]
The Parliament also opposed Kuva-yı Seyyare. The Western Front command demanded that Ethem and Tevfik Bey surrender, claiming that they had committed treason. However, with deputy Reşit Bey joining them, the three brothers met with the Greeks in Uşak. The regular army, under the command of İsmet Bey and Refet Bey, marched on Gediz-Kütahya, which was held by the Kuva-yi Seyyare, in January 1921. The force on Circassian Ethem's side had become much smaller. The commander of the 1st Cavalry Group, Major Derviş Bey, was following. Since Derviş Bey was Ethem's friend, he made him leave all his weapons and ammunition to the Turkish Grand National Assembly forces before taking refuge with the Greeks.
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Mustafa Armağan, "Zafersiz kahraman İnönü" ("İnönü, a hero without victory"), Zaman, February 21, 2010 (Turkish)