Commander-in-Chief

The footsteps of the Greek Army advancing toward Ankara echo along the banks of the Sakarya River. There is talk of moving the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM) to Kayseri, and heated debates are taking place in the Assembly. Following long discussions, on August 5, 1921, the law appointing Mustafa Kemal, President of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, as Commander-in-Chief of the Turkish Army was passed. With this law, in addition to his role as President of the TBMM, Mustafa Kemal assumed the duty of Commander-in-Chief of the Turkish Armies for a period of 3 months, with the authority to exercise all the powers of the Assembly.

The Sakarya River is the final defensive barrier of Anatolia and the lock of Ankara. While the Turks fought to the death to ensure this barrier did not collapse and the lock of Ankara was not broken, the Greek Army was pushing with all its might to raid Ankara, the center of the National Struggle, dissolve the TBMM, and break the Turkish resistance once and for all. Between August 23 and September 13, 1921, one of the longest and bloodiest pitched battles in history, lasting 22 days and 22 nights, would take place right next to Ankara.

The Turkish Army, led by the Commander-in-Chief, would drive the enemy to the west of the Sakarya at the end of 22 days; the Greek Army would shift from an offensive to a defensive position and attempt to establish a front hundreds of kilometers behind the Sakarya.

Alptekin Müderrisoğlu's work, Sakarya, describes those 22 days in an extremely impressive language. The section of the work titled "The Floor Table Set at Zafertepe" should be recorded as an instructive example of the personality and identity a commander-in-chief must possess:

“Commander-in-Chief Mustafa Kemal Pasha and Western Front Commander İsmet Pasha had watched the attack on Duatepe, carried out with five divisions, from the observation post of Colonel Kazım, Commander of the Composite Corps, at Zafertepe. With the excitement of the long and bloody battle, it had not occurred to anyone to eat anything; not a single morsel had been put into their mouths for exactly 24 hours since last night.

Lieutenant Colonel Hayrullah, Chief of Staff of the Composite Corps, had prepared a dinner feast for his guests in honor of the capture of Duatepe. He had a floor table set up on the flat ground right next to the battery telescope pit and had a copper tray placed in the middle. On the tray, there was nothing but a scrawny roasted chicken and four or five slices of black bread.

Mustafa Kemal Pasha, İsmet Pasha, Western Front Chief of Staff Colonel Asım, and Colonel Kazım sat cross-legged at the floor table. The joy created by the capture of Duatepe could be read on all their faces. An army that had remained on the defensive for eighteen days along the banks of the Sakarya had attempted a planned attack for the first time and succeeded. This was a turning point. From now on, it was the Turkish Army's turn to attack. The facial features of the high-ranking commanders, which had been tense for eighteen days, had relaxed and eased with joy for the first time.

Those at the table were waiting for the Commander-in-Chief to take the first bite to begin the meal. As Mustafa Kemal Pasha reached for the bread, he asked Colonel Kazım:

- What did you give the soldiers to eat?

Colonel Kazım was surprised, hesitated, and called out to the Chief of Staff standing a little way off:

- Hayrullah Bey, what were we able to give the soldiers?

- Sir, we had distributed the wheat we found yesterday morning to the units to roast.

Mustafa Kemal Pasha paused for a moment. Then he stood up and walked with thoughtful, distracted steps. The others also got up from the table without touching the chicken or the bread. They followed Mustafa Kemal Pasha.

While the Mehmetçiks (Turkish soldiers) were retaking Duatepe by suppressing their stomachs with roasted wheat and attacking half-hungry and half-full, their Commander-in-Chief could not bring himself to share a scrawny chicken with his comrades-in-arms.”

(1)Sakarya/Alptekin Müderrisoğlu