Were Arabs/Syrians present in the War of Independence?

When HTS leader Jolani came to Turkey, he made the following remark;

"This success came about with the blood of Turks and the blood of Syrians mingling during the War of Independence," he said.

He said it, but is that really how it was? Let us explain.

Atatürk was appointed to Syria/the Sinai front as the Commander of the 7th Army.

He arrived in Nablus on September 1, 1918. He immediately conducted inspections at the front. But the Sinai Front was in ruins, of course. "The front is hanging by a thread. It could fall at any moment," he said. These words are not mine; they belong to Atatürk.

He used these exact sentences. We understand this from the letter he sent to his friend Dr. Rasim Ferit in Istanbul on September 11.

Do you know what one of the reasons for the wretched state of the front was? It was the Arab soldiers from that region who were sent to the Sinai Front from the 5th Army in Damascus. They were mostly local soldiers, that is. A very large proportion of them had deserted the front. As if deserting wasn't enough, they crossed over to the side of the British, with whom the Emir of Mecca, Sharif Hussein, had formed an alliance and fought together.

The number of soldiers who deserted the front was higher than the number of soldiers remaining at the front.

Source: Yusuf Hikmet Bayur. “History of the Turkish Revolution” (Türk İnkılap Tarihi), Turkish Historical Society Publications. Volume 3, Part 3, p. 435. Read it.

The situation is this: You draft them, train them, feed them, put weapons and ammunition in their hands, and send them to the front to protect the homeland, and they desert with their weapons and take refuge with the enemy; is that something that should happen?

But it happened.

It is in the memoirs of the officers who fought on that front.

The remaining Arab (Syrian) soldiers also did not want to fight. Because the British were dropping propaganda leaflets from planes every day to discourage these soldiers from fighting. They were accusing the Turks of 'apostasy and infidelity.' Would the Arabs believe this?

Of course they believed it.

Because they thought the Constitution that the Ottoman Empire accepted in 1908 was a book against the Quran, and they viewed the Constitutional Parliament as a Western-style form of infidelity. The British were also scratching and widening this hole of ignorance among the Arabs.

Furthermore, when the British gave the Arabs plenty of money, the Arab soldiers left the Turkish soldiers alone at the front. They drew closer to the British. They never looked at whether they were Christian or not.

As the 7th Army was retreating, Arab/Syrian soldiers and the local population struck the Turkish soldiers from behind. They mercilessly massacred the prisoners and the wounded. We will write separately about where, when, and how they massacred them.

Without digressing too much;

When the Sinai front collapsed, Atatürk went to Daraa. He held a meeting there with the Army Commanders.

On the night of the day he left, the British raided Daraa. The people of Daraa were staunch supporters of Sharia. And they were hostile to the Turk. When the armed Arab tribes loyal to Faisal, Commander of the Arab Armies, entered Daraa, they mercilessly massacred thousands of Turkish soldiers who were wounded in the hospital. This was a very cruel slaughter. Even the British themselves could not bear this massacre. So much so that even British General Barrow, who came to the city, said in the face of this tragic scene he witnessed: 'Let all Arabs leave Daraa. I do not like this kind of war. This is not a city taken from the enemy, it is practically a slaughterhouse.'”

Mustafa Kemal Pasha left Daraa. He arrived in Damascus on the evening of September 29.

He knew Damascus well, where he had been exiled in his youth. There was something unusual in the city. King Faisal's flag was hanging in the windows. Arab nationalists were celebrating. The city had clearly been lost.

The reason for this was clear. British intelligence chief Colonel Lawrence had entered the city a day earlier in an open-top Rolls Royce, and the people of Damascus had poured perfume and cologne from the windows in his honor. Furthermore, the Commander of the Lightning Armies, Liman Pasha, had given the task of defending Damascus to an Arab general named El-Rikabizade Rıza Pasha on September 22, but this Arab pasha had surrendered Damascus to the British. He himself had joined the enemy ranks.

SUCH CAPTIVITY IS INHUMANE

Colonel Asım Gündüz's 48th Division, with 1,500 riflemen, was acting as a rearguard. And it was under the command of Mersinli Cemal Pasha. It arrived in Damascus on October 2, 1918. Seeing the state of rebellion against the Ottomans in the city, he turned his direction to the village of Duma.

The 26th and 53rd Divisions, attached to the 20th Corps, also arrived in the village of Duma towards morning. They were very tired. And they took a break. The village of Duma was just outside Damascus and in the northeast direction. The 24th Division, unable to pass through the Damascus city center, had also come to the village of Duma and they too had taken a break. Seeing that the units were gathered here, the Arab Committee resorted to all kinds of lies and brought provisions to the Turks. While no one in the region would give food to our soldiers, the villagers of Duma stalled the Turkish soldiers by giving them food until the British arrived. They had informed on them. The soldiers, unable to bear the hunger, were forced to wait for the food given by the Syrians. Yet this was a very bitter trap.

Around 09:00, British cavalry arrived in Duma and took the Turks prisoner. Turkish soldiers who tried to escape fell into the ambush of the Bedouins who had held the eastern entrance of Duma.

Colonel Asım Gündüz from Kütahya, along with the 26th and 53rd Divisions, unfortunately fell prisoner to the British. Stalling people exhausted by hunger with food and provisions and trapping them was an inhumane, very heavy trap.

Mustafa Kemal Pasha left Damascus on the orders of the Commander of the Lightning Armies, Liman Pasha. First to Rayak, and then, by gathering the soldiers, he arrived in Aleppo on the night of October 5. Daraa and Damascus had fallen. But at least he could save Aleppo. But the people of Aleppo joined forces with the British and carried out street attacks against Atatürk. On the other hand, the Desert Bedouin Arabs and the British together marched to the gates of Aleppo.

After all these developments, Istanbul was also in turmoil.

Prime Minister Talat Pasha resigned on October 8, 1918. Vahdettin gave the task to Tevfik Pasha in his place. But Tevfik Pasha was also sick. He was very old. He was senile. The situation was in such chaos.

Mustafa Kemal Pasha went to the eastern part of Aleppo.

Because he had received news that there were disturbances. Tahsin Bey and Cevat Abbas Bey were with him. Suddenly, they found themselves among Arab Bedouins wearing military uniforms. They were almost taken prisoner. Fortunately, they were saved by Mustafa Kemal Pasha's courageous resistance. That day, the people of Aleppo joined forces with the British and Arab Bedouins and put pressure on the Turks. They attacked with street fighting. Mustafa Kemal was caught in the middle of street fighting. He retaliated. He clashed with the people of Aleppo. He was bewildered. He was trying to save Aleppo, but the people of Aleppo were fighting against him.

To save the remaining soldiers and avoid being taken prisoner, Mustafa Kemal Pasha withdrew the 7th Army. He ambushed the British and Arab Bedouins at the Katma/Aktarin point. Mustafa Kemal had won the last battle.

It was called the Battle of Katma.

After this last battle, Mustafa Kemal Pasha became the Commander of the Lightning Armies Group and threw himself into the National Struggle. He fought the War of Independence.

Now, after all these events, come and say "This success came about with the blood of Turks and the blood of Syrians mingling during the War of Independence," is that so? Crows would laugh at this. But some of our partisan crows who pose as historians/writers believe it, that is another matter.

Oh, let me also say this: despite all this 1918 Arab betrayal and rebellion, after Atatürk landed in Samsun, he sent word to the Syrians in November 1919. He called them to fight against the imperialists;

"Let us put aside the disputes between us and turn our weapons against the traitors who want to divide our country!" he said.

But the Syrians did not respond to this call.” Source: Selahi Sonyel, The Turkish War of Independence and Foreign Policy, Turkish Historical Society, p. 191.

It happens, I am writing this in case you might not believe it.

In World War I, we have 1,800,000.00 (one million eight hundred thousand) soldier casualties in the Arab geography, friends. Yes. Just in the Arab geography.

Now they ask, were Arabs/Syrians present in the War of Independence? They were not in the War of Independence, but they were there just before the War of Independence. But they were there like this.

Come on, I understand that some Jolani or Molani doesn't know history, tells lies, and slanders, but you, our fools who spout these lies, what is wrong with you?

Are you not ashamed of the memory of our young soldiers who gave their blood and their lives there?

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