Atatürk, the War of Independence, Kemalism, and the Left

Leftism, in its shortest, most concise, and simplest definition, requires standing on the side of labor, equality, the oppressed, enlightenment, and independence, and opposing imperialism. Kemalism, meanwhile, is a national liberation revolution that, in a country that had been occupied and reduced to a semi-colonial state, mobilized all pro-independence forces to wage a War of Independence against imperialism and its collaborators, and crowned the victory in that war by establishing a modern Republic based on national sovereignty. In these respects, there is a direct and unwavering bond between the Left and Kemalism. Full independence, anti-imperialism, equality, secularism, revolutionism, collectivism, populism, and a planned economy are common characteristics of both.

Kemalism is an ideology that not only tore up the Treaty of Sèvres—an imperialist project and essentially a doctrine aimed at the Turks—on the battlefields during the War of Independence, but also offers solutions against what Doğan Avcıoğlu defined as the "economic Sèvres." In this regard, Atatürk, the Turkish Revolution, and Kemalism have been a source of inspiration for the entire oppressed world, the Third World, or in Atatürk's own words, the "downtrodden nations," not only because of the success of the War of Independence but also because of the Republic that was the product of that war.

Gazi Mustafa Kemal Pasha's act of organizing the people from the grassroots, starting the work through congresses, opening the Gazi Assembly—the Constituent Assembly—in Ankara on April 23, 1920, after organizing the nation, and managing the war under the will and administration of the Assembly, is also a democratic stance due to its participatory nature and organizational model, alongside all its other features. The Turkish War of Independence, led by Atatürk, constitutes one of the most distinguished and successful examples of both the struggle against imperialism and the organization of national will in human history.

THE JUST, POPULAR, AND REVOLUTIONARY ORGANIZATION THAT BEGAN IN SAMSUN

Mustafa Kemal Pasha moved his headquarters to Havza one week after landing in Samsun on May 19, 1919, and continued his work in Havza from May 25 to June 12. Subsequently, in Amasya, he declared the method, strategy, and organization of the liberation and the founding of the new state to the country and the world once again through the Amasya Circular (June 22, 1919):

"The integrity of the homeland and the independence of the nation are in danger. The government is under the influence and control of the Allied powers and is unable to fulfill the requirements of the responsibility it has assumed. This situation makes our nation appear as if it has ceased to exist. The independence of the nation will be saved by the determination and resolve of the nation itself."

As would be insistently emphasized later at the Erzurum and Sivas Congresses, the Amasya Circular revealed how the spirit of national will, national sovereignty, the National Forces (Kuvayı Milliye), and full independence would be brought to life. It underscored the determination and resolve of the nation. It signaled that the nation would gather under a single umbrella organization in a broad front. The national will would be formed, matured, and organized through congresses. The process would reach its peak with the establishment of the greatest, most supreme, most effective, most competent, most legitimate, and most powerful organization: the Assembly.

The Istanbul Government recalled the "Reis Pasha" (Chief Pasha) to prevent Mustafa Kemal Pasha's efforts. When they received a negative response, they dismissed Mustafa Kemal Pasha from his post on July 8, 1919, 50 days after he landed in Samsun. Mustafa Kemal Pasha was now a civilian. In his own words, he would "continue the struggle in the bosom of the nation as an individual fighter."

Mustafa Kemal Pasha, who was a "rebel" in the eyes of the Palace, the Istanbul Government, and British collaborators, and whom the people knew as the "Sarı Paşa" (Blond Pasha), "Kemal Pasha," "Reis Pasha," "Congress Pasha," and the "Hero of Çanakkale," would now organize the people as a popular leader and a civilian leader. He was aware of how arduous the path he had chosen was. Like every leader and every revolutionary, he was a realist and an organizer. He was also aware of the bronze law of history: "What is built with the sword is destroyed by the sword." Therefore, he would prepare the nation for war to reclaim its occupied homeland and usurped independence.

THE OCCUPATION OF ISTANBUL AND THE ROAD TO ANKARA

The period before Atatürk's landing in Samsun was a tough preparatory phase. Following the Armistice of Mudros signed on October 30, 1918, the occupation, which began de facto with the arrival of the Allied fleets in the Bosphorus and their anchoring off Haydarpaşa on November 13, 1918, gained official status after a while. Istanbul, where occupation forces roamed the streets, would be officially and openly occupied on March 16, 1920, and the 5-year occupation of Istanbul would end on October 6, 1923, 23 days before the proclamation of the Republic.

After the occupation of Istanbul, the Chamber of Deputies (Meclis-i Mebusan) was dissolved by the British, and some deputies were arrested. It was understood once again how right Mustafa Kemal Pasha had been, who had wanted the assembly to meet in Ankara rather than Istanbul from the very beginning but had been unable to convince his colleagues. During that period, Mustafa Kemal Pasha accelerated his efforts for the assembly to be convened in Ankara. At this stage, he wanted the assembly to be opened in Ankara to be characterized as a "constituent assembly." However, his proposal, both politically and legally, was not accepted by the majority of his colleagues. So much so that although the phrase "constituent assembly" appeared in the communiqué issued by Mustafa Kemal Pasha on March 19, 1920, his colleagues objected, and this phrase was removed from the text. In this communiqué, Mustafa Kemal announced that an assembly with extraordinary powers would convene in Ankara to manage and oversee the nation's affairs.

In a telegram he sent to the provinces and army corps on March 19, 1920, Mustafa Kemal Pasha clearly revealed the following painful truth:

"Today, by forcibly occupying Istanbul, an end has been brought to the 700-year life and sovereignty of the Ottoman State."

THE TURKS ARE HEADING TOWARD A REPUBLIC

British intelligence, as well as the Sultan and the government in Istanbul, were closely monitoring Mustafa Kemal Pasha's activities. So much so that after the Erzurum and Sivas congresses, British intelligence in Anatolia sent the following message to London: "The Turks are heading toward a republic." The word "Republic" was also frequently used at the Erzurum Congress (July 23 – August 7, 1919), which was convened under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal Pasha, whose service record at the Ministry of War stated that he was a "Republican." The memoirs of Süleyman Necati Güneri are important in this regard. Likewise, there is information to this effect in the memoirs of the British officer in Anatolia, Alfred Rawlinson.

The Sivas Congress (September 4 – 11, 1919) was a national congress with both its delegates and its decisions. All patriotic, nationalist, and anti-occupation organizations and resistance structures in Anatolia were gathered under a single roof: the Association for the Defense of the Rights of Anatolia and Rumelia. It was declared that "mandate and protection cannot be accepted."

The rapid growth, development, expansion of the base, and organization of the Anatolian movement attracted the attention of the USA immediately after Great Britain. Indeed, the American General Harbord conducted studies both to investigate whether an Armenian state could be established in Anatolia and to gather information about the Anatolian Movement. In this context, he came to Sivas and met with Mustafa Kemal Pasha. General Harbord presented his observations after his 2.5-hour meeting with Mustafa Kemal Pasha—whom he initially viewed as an idealistic, adventurous commander because he stood up to the British—as a report to the US Congress.

The response Mustafa Kemal Pasha gave to the American general's question, "What will be the end if you do not succeed?" reflects the courage, will, self-confidence, and determination of the great revolutionary:

"After a nation has made every conceivable attempt and sacrifice to protect its existence and independence, to say 'you cannot succeed' is to consider that nation dead. As long as the nation lives and endures sacrifices, failure is out of the question. Rather than fluttering like a bird in the hands of the British, we would die fighting with our honor."

The day after the congress ended, on September 12, 1919, the Representative Committee of the Sivas Congress decided to cut off telegraph communication between Anatolia and Istanbul. Telegrams sent by the Istanbul Government would no longer be accepted at telegraph offices. This decision meant that there was now a dual power in Ottoman lands. One was in occupied Istanbul, and the other was in Anatolia, which was waging a War of Independence. This is also a bronze law of history. As Marx said, "Every war is at the same time a civil war."

THE GAZI ASSEMBLY AND NATIONAL SOVEREIGNTY

The Assembly, which opened in Ankara on Friday, April 23, 1920, at 14:00, following a long preparatory process and the congresses that were held, was the pinnacle and embodiment of the idea of national sovereignty. The first constitution adopted by the Assembly on January 20, 1921, the Law of Fundamental Organization (Teşkilatı Esasiye Kanunu), also revealed the constitutional dimension of the dual power period in political science and law. Because there was also a power in Istanbul at that time.

With the opening of the Assembly in Ankara in 1920, there was now officially and de facto a dual power and a two-headed state administration in the country. An assembly in Ankara was, in a sense, an alternative to the assembly in Istanbul, in a sense its continuation, and in a sense, it represented a revolutionary break from it. Because against the Istanbul Government, there was now the state of the Assembly in Ankara against the Sultanate. The Anatolian movement, the Ankara government, the TBMM (Grand National Assembly of Turkey) state, the Kuvayı Milliye members, and the defenders of rights also had a state, a government, and a constitution.

Many people in Anatolia, Istanbul, and especially London knew that making a constitution meant establishing a state. They saw that a new state was being established and that the form of government of this state would be a republic based on national sovereignty. For example, Hoca Raif Efendi (Raif Dinç), who was elected to the Assembly as a Deputy for Erzurum, told the 15th Army Corps Commander Kazım Pasha (Kazım Karabekir) upon his return from Ankara to Erzurum, with a sad expression, that they were heading toward a Republic in Ankara. Kazım Pasha also sent a telegram to Mustafa Kemal Pasha recounting what Hoca Raif Efendi had said.

The Assembly, established under extraordinary conditions and unusual circumstances, implemented the principle of national sovereignty in Anatolia. The constitution made by that assembly was in force, as was the 1876 Constitution (Kanun-i Esasi). In fact, the 1876 Constitution (which had important changes made to it in 1909—this was the first change, and it would be changed five more times later) had to remain partially in force between 1921 and 1924. Because there was a government in Istanbul, even if it was under occupation, and the Istanbul Government, which maintained its existence even if only formally, was bound by the Kanun-i Esasi.

The first article of the 1921 Constitution decreed that sovereignty belonged unconditionally to the nation, and the second article decreed that the legislative and executive powers belonged to the Grand National Assembly. The third article signaled a new state by mentioning the State of Turkey. However, although it was called the State of Turkey, there was no explicit provision regarding the form of government or regime of this new state.

It should also be noted that the National Pact (Misak-ı Milli), which was unanimously adopted by the last Chamber of Deputies that met in Istanbul on January 28, 1920, and announced to the public on February 17, essentially ignored the Ottoman State; in other words, it signaled that a new state, the State of Turkey, was being established. Indeed, the Assembly that opened in Ankara in 1920 was an assembly that waged war and established a state. Some of the deputies were members of the last Ottoman Chamber of Deputies. The first law of the first Assembly was the Animal Tax (tax on small livestock). This law was the last law passed by the last Ottoman Chamber of Deputies. In this respect, it also symbolically points to a continuity.

THE SPIRIT OF THE GAZI ASSEMBLY

The Gazi Assembly derived its legitimacy both from the sanctity of the cause it pursued, the sublimity of its goal, and the victories it won on the battlefield. By establishing the Republic, it both signed the founding of the new state and changed the root, source, meaning, and function of sovereignty. It brought sovereignty down from the heavens to the earth, stripped it of its religious nature and made it secular, and took it from the Sultan and gave it to the nation. In other words, with the Republic proclaimed on October 29, 1923, the child born on April 23, 1920, was actually given its name. The name and regime of the state, which was de facto established in 1920, were officially set in 1923.

The official name of the Assembly established on April 23, 1920, did not contain the term "Turkey." It was called the Grand National Assembly. However, Mustafa Kemal Pasha used the term "Grand National Assembly of Turkey" in his speeches, and it was officially used for the first time in the Council of Ministers Decree dated February 8, 1921, and this expression became permanent. The name "Grand National Assembly of Turkey" was used in the Treaty of Gümrü, signed with Armenia on December 3, 1920, which was the first international treaty signed by the government of the Grand National Assembly. The name "Grand National Assembly of Turkey" was also used in the friendship treaties signed with Afghanistan on March 1, 1921, and with Russia on March 16.

The members of the First Assembly were deputies who came from Anatolia with a thousand difficulties, some on horseback, some on foot, with quilts on their backs and provisions in their bags. The Assembly was an assembly that was heated by a stove, lit by a gas lamp, whose desks were borrowed from a school in Ankara, and whose podium was a gift from a patriotic carpenter.

DEBATES IN THE REVOLUTIONARY ASSEMBLY THAT ESTABLISHED THE STATE

The entry of the Turkish Army into İzmir on September 9, 1922, was a harbinger that Istanbul would also be liberated from occupation. After this victory, political debates, the duties and responsibilities of the Assembly, and what path to follow politically came to the fore more prominently.

During the First Assembly period, the principle of the unity of powers was applied due to Turkey's conditions and the requirements of war. Ministers were chosen from within the Assembly. They were held accountable to the Assembly. They served on behalf of the Assembly. They took responsibility as the executive organ. The council of ministers was also called the Executive Committee (İcra Vekilleri Heyeti). Therefore, political history is important not only for its military history dimension but also for developments regarding that period in terms of public law and administrative law. The First Assembly Period covers the time between April 23, 1920, and April 15, 1923, and is very important not only in terms of the political regime but also in terms of the legal regime, legal history, and constitutional accumulation. The foundations of public law were laid during that period.

The Gazi Assembly made a constitution under war conditions and occupation conditions. It adopted the 1921 constitution. This constitution was a product of special conditions and was short-lived. Nine months after the opening of the Assembly, it had a special, unique, and pioneering place among the steps toward statehood. The Assembly implemented political participation and the idea of national sovereignty, provided examples of the strongest democracy through very tough negotiations, and was a polyphonic assembly. The deputies were very brave and valiant people who were aware that their primary duty was to save the homeland from occupation. The government was referred to as an assembly government.

Under war conditions, not only liberation from occupation and homeland defense were discussed, but many issues were addressed, and necessary laws were passed. For example, the situation of civil servants and their families who took refuge in the Ankara government from places remaining under enemy occupation, the principles and positions under which these civil servants would serve, the fate of court case files in occupied homeland territories, whether the decisions made by these courts would be implemented, regulations regarding education and health, the deferment of military service for teachers and students, the establishment of the Forestry School, the deferment of military service for those working in agricultural jobs and coal mines, and the establishment of a commission to combat epidemics were among these issues.

WAS OTTOMANISM POSSIBLE ACCORDING TO ATATÜRK?

Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk never found Ottomanism to be convincing, applicable, or realistic. He was also against Tanzimat Ottomanism and the idea of Islamic unity. The fact that civilians and soldiers worked together in the cabinet in the Ottoman State, the presence of a Minister of War and a Minister of the Navy, and the existence of many Grand Viziers with military backgrounds were among the subjects from which the young republic drew lessons.

Atatürk was a leader who also stood out as a teacher who guided society and educated it at the same time. The German General Goltz, who served in the Ottoman Army, also told officers to do more than just military service and to train themselves as social pioneers. Many important commanders of that generation possessed these qualities. For example, Enver Pasha worked on alphabet reform. Cemal Pasha built large boulevards and established model farms in Damascus and Beirut.

There was a Republican spirit in Atatürk that had been noticeable since the French Revolution. His intellectual infrastructure, background, and preparation were very strong. He acted in a very planned manner. According to Atatürk, Republicanism was more than just a type of regime; it was a spirit, a set of values and principles. When the Sultanate was abolished in the same year after the military victory, the path to the Republic was already clearly understood. When the military victory was followed by a diplomatic victory and the occupying enemy was driven out of the country, Atatürk defined the party—a strong party that would wage the political struggle and a structure that would explain the revolutions to the people—as follows: "The political organization of the revolution."

In short, at a breaking point in history, during a process of upheaval on a national, regional, and global scale, after the First World War, the Turkish people, who became a nation while becoming a state and became a state while becoming a nation, saved their homeland and established their state by fighting against imperialism and its local collaborators with a sacred rebellion, a revolutionary claim, a national stubbornness, and a sublime faith. War and revolution were intertwined, carried out together and at the same time. The war was the anti-imperialist War of Independence, and the revolution was the enlightenment revolution. The foundation, spirit, and essence of both were based on national sovereignty and full independence.