Maria Suphi: The woman viewed as war booty

TRABZON  ACCORDING TO BOATMEN'S CHIEF YAHYA, MARIA WAS WAR BOOTY  

First, I would like to share with you how  Yahya Kahya,  who  cruelly held Maria captive, viewed her.  In a text I read just recently, there are conversations  between him  and Filibeli Hilmi, one of Enver Pasha's  loyal  men.  These  conversations  are recorded   in memoirs.  (1922)  Let's take  a look, if you wish. 

In  these conversations, Kahya  views Maria as war booty and  claims  “it is religiously permissible.”  I am not surprised, honestly. 

Since  the godless communists were killed, everything they  brought with them  was war booty.  Russian rubles, gold,  various jewelry  were booty.  Everything inside  Suphi’s briefcase.  And Maria, who was left alive  on the motorboat  and  brought back to shore.  He thought that Islam  permitted this. 

On the night of January 28/29, 1921, two motorboats  approached the Trabzon Pier.  One was empty.  The motorboat that took the Fifteen  off the coast of Sürmene.  The other was the motorboat that brought Kahya and his men.  We do not know  

where the rubles provided by the Comintern  for  organization  and the party documents were seized, nor the  amount  of money.

There is information  that the money was brought in a  safe. This is certain. 

Maria  was no longer   a Komsomolka from Odessa,  the wife of Mustafa Suphi,  but  she was a war trophy. 

In three separate settings,  she was  exploited for a long time. In Kahya's mansion in the potter's district, in the  Nemlizade  Ragıp's  mansion,  and in the hands of a gang of thugs from Rize. 

Her husband and her party comrades  had been brutally murdered before her eyes.  Her fate  was even more unbearable  than those who were murdered that night. 

Maria's  captivity was known in Trabzon. In the  first  days  after the massacre,  the Russian consul in Trabzon, Ali Oruç Bagirov,  received news that a Russian citizen was in Kahya's hands.  I do not know if he made official contact  with the province.  He had Kahya brought to the consulate  and   interrogated him.   The government  reacted with hostility  to Kahya being summoned to the consulate for questioning. It was considered an interference in internal affairs.  Rather than the truth of the claim, they  approached the matter  from the perspective of  a violation of international  law. 

In my opinion,  the provincial administration in Trabzon,  the gendarmerie, and the  infantry  division  commander  knew about the incident.  They chose to remain silent   in the face of the power of Kahya's "Pier Government."  Sami Sabit Karaman, who had served as the infantry 

division  commander  in Trabzon, wanted to question Yahya  about Maria, but Yahya  reportedly said,  “No one can take her from me,”  implying that he had  the approval of Ankara.  In my opinion, Yahya  was trying to create a protective shield 

by claiming that Ankara  was aware of and approved of his actions.     Ankara, 

 regarding the Trabzon  boatmen's guild leader   holding a woman captive as a trophy,  was  could not have approved  of it. 

YAHYA KAHYA, TOPAL OSMAN  AND OTHERS 

Yahya Kahya was primarily a man of Enver Pasha. 

He was assigned  very effectively to the Teşkilat-ı Mahsusa, an Enver Pasha organization.  We know he played a role in the Armenian deportation affairs. 

It is not difficult   to estimate that Kahya  acquired  great wealth  and  stockpiles of weapons  during the war years, and gathered   a strike force  consisting of hundreds of men  around him.   Taking advantage   of the chaotic situation  that emerged   with the armistice,  he had gained  great influence  in the region. 

In the meantime,  it should be noted that Kahya  personally participated in the war   in the Teşkilat-ı  Mahsusa units  on the Russian front (Sarıkamış).  Another important point 

is the fierce struggle  he waged against the Pontic Greeks.  This was a civil war.  One of the results of this war  was the dispossession   of the Pontic Greeks    and the confiscation    of the assets  of the defeated  militants.  When Army Inspector  Mustafa Kemal Pasha  

crossed into Anatolia,  the Pontic movement had reached serious dimensions.  Trabzon Greek Metropolitan Chrysanthos     had gone to the Paris Conference   with the demand 

to establish a Pontic State  in the Black Sea.   He was basing this on historical rights.  He presented a memorandum   to the conference  demonstrating his justification.  The situation along the entire Black Sea coast was quite complex.  The war had ended,     and the Russians had withdrawn.  But    the atmosphere was highly volatile.  what the new status quo  would be   was ambiguous. 

On the other hand,   in the North of the Black Sea and in the Caucasus,  a  civil war  was ongoing between the Bolsheviks and  forces  loyal to the Tsarist  regime. 

It would not be wrong  to say that Kahya's sphere of influence extended from the Canik Sanjak to Batum.  Kahya had  dominance over  

all maritime traffic, human movement, and commodity  transportation  from the ports starting from Samsun.  This environment   had turned Yahya into a de facto local

power.  I think it would not be wrong  to call him a kind of government, a warlord.  He had  armed men and gangs  in each of the Black Sea ports:  It is possible to call these groups 

 a port  mafia.  At this point,   let us add that he was in close  cooperation  with Topal Osman Ağa from Giresun.  Their common enemy was the Pontic Greeks.   The struggle they waged against them  

caused the regional hegemony they established   to be overlooked.  The armed men  loyal to Topal Osman Ağa and  Kahya Yahya  constituted the largest  local  force  

against the Pontic groups.  Meanwhile, it is understood that  Kahya's  Teşkilat-ı Mahsusa (Special Organization) connections  loyal to Enver Pasha   continued.  The establishment of the TBMM (Grand National Assembly of Turkey) 

government  did not immediately lead to the establishment of full authority   in Anatolia.  The local power structures 

remained  intact.   The central government  had to  negotiate  with these local actors.  mean  anything. Neither  in an administrative nor a military sense. 

Administration had passed to the Nationalists, but the appointed governors and district governors had to protect the local notables and the oligarchy.   It was  out of the question for them to come face to face with Kahya's   “pier government.” This  was a situation of  “compromise.” 

Other than Sami Sabit Karaman’s   makeshift 13th Infantry Division,  the  government  had no force. When Karaman went to Trabzon,    the division existed in name only. 

The weapons depots left over from the Tsarist army were under  Kahya’s control.

MUSTAFA SUPHI’S LIFE IN RUSSIA 

When the Bolshevik Revolution took place, Mustafa Suphi  was being held  in a prisoner-of-war camp in the Urals. He had been sent there by the Tsarist  regime. 

He had fled from Sinop, where he was in exile,  to Sevastopol with Ahmet Bedevi Kuran.   (May 1914) When the war broke out, because he was a citizen of the  hostile Ottoman State,  he was sent to a prisoner-of-war camp  by the Governor of Kaluga. It is said that there were around a thousand Ottoman  subjects  in this camp.  

As the  war continued,  new prisoners were also brought to the camp.  Towards the end of the  war, Russia fell into a deep crisis.  

The Bolsheviks  took advantage of the disarray of other political forces  and seized power. Russia  had abolished the monarchy  and transitioned to a republic. For a while, Kerensky’s social democratic government remained in power.  After General Lavr Kornilov’s attempted coup,  all balances   shifted.  

The Bolsheviks  seized power through an armed  uprising. 

The prisoner-of-war camps were also  affected by   this  regime change. The Tsarist regime had been toppled, and the Bolsheviks, who promised equality and freedom, had come to power.  

The consolidation of the  revolution would not be easy at all. Tsarist  generals defended the old regime until 1921.    Denikin, Kolchak, and Wrangel.   They fought  against the Reds  in  white uniforms.  This  was  the tsarist  army's  symbol.  

There was a   bloody civil war.   The  civil war  is not the subject of this article.  But I will not pass without saying a few words. On the Crimean peninsula, Wrangel's 150,000-strong army,   besieged by Red Army commander Frunze,   was evacuated  by allied   ships.  Mostly through the efforts of French Admiral Dumesnil.   An article of mine  on this subject was published in 12punto. I recommend   you take a look.  In the autumn of 1920, the streets of Istanbul 

were filled  with refugees.  Not only common people, but the Russian aristocracy, who were forced to leave their country,  also had to live a long life of poverty  in Istanbul.  MUSTAFA SUPHI AND SULTAN GALIYEV JOIN THE THIRD  INTERNATIONAL  (COMINTERN) 

As the prisoner-of-war camps emptied,  thousands of new   Bolsheviks 

had emerged.  Mustafa Suphi was one of them.  He possessed a background that could be utilized in solving the issue  that Lenin and Stalin defined as the “nationalities question.”  He was a figure who had studied in Europe,  received an education in law and political science,   and had listened to Jean Jaures with admiration.  Together with Sultan Galiyev, they joined Stalin's team in Moscow.  This was the era of optimistic utopia, not realpolitik, for socialism.  Peoples liberated from tsarist oppression   would reach socialism  through their own free  choices  and the path  they determined themselves. 

There would be no imposition.  As a matter of fact, 

even in the very first days of contact,   Stalin sensed “nationalist” tendencies in Sultan Galiyev and Mustafa 

Suphi.  And he did not like this at all. But  the  the  the   the    the 

the  the  the  the  the  did not reveal it. 

Between March 2-6, 1919,   in Moscow,  the Third International  convened.  This time its name was not  the Socialist International.  It was the Communist   International.  In short, the Comintern. The goal was no longer socialism,  but world communism. 

Mustafa Suphi   was one of the 52  delegates gathered there. He represented  the Turkish   communists. 

Tsarist generals suffered heavy defeats one after another in the Urals, the Caucasus,  and Crimea. The civil war  continued until 1921.   In the spring  of 1920, 

the Red  Army descended into the Caucasus. (March-April)   Local forces,   taking advantage of the power vacuum created after the revolution,  had established   the Menshevik government in Georgia,  the Musavat government in Azerbaijan,  and the Dashnaktsutyun government in Armenia.  In all of these countries,  the Bolsheviks seized power in a short time.   Dr. Nariman Narimanov in Azerbaijan and Mirsaid Sultan-Galiev among the Bashkir Tatars 

were the most important   figures.  Although they had nuances, their ideal 

was socialism.  These figures "cared as much about  Turkishness  as they did about socialism." They did not want to take orders from Moscow.   All communists should be equal. In parties, of course. None of them   should be under the hegemony of the Russian 

Communist Party.    They should not determine their policies under its domination.  BAKU CONGRESS OF THE PEOPLES OF THE EAST 

The Comintern (Communist International)  organized a very large meeting in Baku in the autumn of 1920. Zinoviev,  Bela Kun, and Karl Radek  led the meeting. 

The meeting was named  the Congress of the Peoples of the East. 

 Nearly 2,000  delegates attended.  The world  was   watching.  The  delegates   were  there  to discuss.  John Reed, the author of the book  titled  Ten Days That Shook the World,  was also among the delegation  that came from Moscow. 

Communists made up the overwhelming majority at the meeting. Parties from all over the world  had also sent  representatives.  So had the Grand National Assembly (TBMM) Government.  The common denominator  was the  anti-capitalist  and anti-imperialist   unity of oppressed peoples. 

All the oppressed nations  under the yoke of capitalism were there. 

The Turks  attending the congress were divided. Mustafa Suphi and Ethem Nejat represented the TKP circle.  Dr. İbrahim Tali Öngören had been sent  to represent the Ankara government.  There were also Enver Pasha  and his partisans,  such as Dr. Bahaeddin Şakir. From Turkey,  there was also a  feminist  woman named Naciye Hanım. 

The Comintern  had sent its own leadership cadre from Moscow on a special  train.  The congress   took place   under the tutelage of the Third International.   The atmosphere was quite chaotic. Everyone was trying to voice  their own   ideological enthusiasm  at a high pitch. 

Enver Pasha's speech  ended in a complete fiasco. Suphi's partisans  sabotaged the speech.  The elite members  of the Comintern  did not  attach much importance to him. They even ignored him. 

 THE FOUNDING OF THE TKP:  TURKISH SOCIALIST ORGANIZATION 

As for the  founding of the TKP,  let us first  say a few words  about the party's name.  The party circle was initially  referred to as the Turkish Socialist Organization.  Upon its establishment, it took the name  Communist Party of Turkey.  Turkish leftist literature 

views the founding of the party    as a very  symbolic/iconic event. However, when you examine  the speeches  at the founding congress,  you will be disappointed. Many members of the founding committee were  officers and privates who had been taken prisoner by the Russians.   It might seem a bit  strange to the reader, but apart from Suphi, Ethem Nejat,  and a few intellectuals, no one   had any knowledge of socialist literature.  The conversations clearly show this. The number of members  attending the congress  is around 70 people.  The first TKP members were 

soldiers who had escaped from prisoner-of-war camps  and were looking for a way  to return to their families/homes.  I had seen the document containing the founding decisions of the TKP (in digital format) at the International Institute of Social History in Amsterdam.    I must admit that I was excited.  It contained the signatures  of Suphi and the others.  TKP  documents can now be viewed in the virtual environment  in the TÜSTAV archive.  TRUE AND FALSE INFORMATION REGARDING SUPHİ  

First of all, I must state this.  Suphi's family is an Ottoman  elite 

family. 

His father was Mevlevizade Ali Rıza Özütürk.  He had served as a civil administrator  in provinces and districts such as Giresun, Jerusalem, Damascus, Erzurum, Kastamonu, and Edirne.  Something that surprises me is  that his father  was one of the governors of the republican era.  He was the governor of Samsun in 1930.  In many  places, it is written that Suphi  was a graduate of Galatasaray High School (Mektebi Sultani). He is not. 

He is a graduate of Erzurum  High School.  He must have studied there  while his father was the governor  in Erzurum.  After finishing Istanbul Law School, Suphi  went to the Sorbonne in France and studied political science there.  Again, contrary to what is believed, he did not  earn a doctorate.   The thesis he wrote was an undergraduate thesis in political science.  Upon his return,  he taught  at Mektebi Sultani  and the School of Higher Commerce.  When his relations with the Committee of Union and Progress members soured,  they exiled him to Sinop.  He then fled to Tsarist Russia (Crimea) with a group of friends. 

He   was   a  person  who  was  not  well-versed in socialist literature.  introduced him as a   government-opposing  Young Turk. 

Initially,  the treatment he received  was very good. He was a political  refugee. He even   lived a relatively  free life.  He gave French lessons. But the outbreak of the war upset all the balances.  The Yavuz (Goeben)  bombarding Sevastopol  and starting the war  turned everything  upside down. 

Russia locked up  all Ottoman  Turks in a camp  in the Urals.  They were interned. Suphi and his friends  were citizens of an enemy country.  This situation continued until the date the Bolsheviks  took power.  With the revolution, Suphi's life in Russia changed once again.  He must have arrived in Baku with the march of the Red Army. 

 Perhaps Maria   was also with him.  When Suphi  was elected  chairman of the Communist Party,  he must have seen  the potential in himself to become the Lenin of Turkey.   But fate would weave its web  differently for them.  MARIA  MIHAILOVNA IN THE RANKS  OF THE TKP 

Meanwhile, Mustafa Suphi  had met a young woman.  A komsomolka (meaning a young 

female communist). Her name:  Maria. Perhaps they had known each other  since Novorossiysk.  They were married  at the Baku  Officers' Club.  I believe   Maria was a young woman   not even 30 years old. 

Most sources  write that she was from Odessa or Novorossiysk.  She studied economics in Moscow.   From her story,  it is understood that she had  agitation and propaganda  skills.  She was a dedicated  party member.   She was a woman  of conviction. 

Their activities  during the three weeks  they stayed in Kars  directed at the Russian immigrant Molokans  demonstrate this. 

Her real name  is Maria Mikhailovna.  The "Mikhailovna" here is the patronymic  indicating her father's name. It means daughter of Mikhail. Her name in the TKP records, however, is Meryem Suphi.

CORRESPONDENCE  WITH MUSTAFA KEMAL PASHA AND FORMS OF ADDRESS  Mustafa Suphi attempts to establish a relationship of equality in the letter he wrote to Mustafa Kemal Pasha from Baku on behalf of the Turkish participants (communists). The date is June 15, 1920.   

The Baku  Congress of the Peoples of the East  has not yet convened. But   he has joined the Third International.  He addresses  Mustafa Kemal as follows:  

President of the Grand National Assembly and Commander-in-Chief of the National Forces, Mustafa Kemal Pasha.  He also introduces himself  as Mustafa Suphi, Chairman of the Central Committee of the Baku Communist Committee.  The letter is delivered    

to Ankara by a courier.  The courier: 

Süleyman Sami.  Mustafa Kemal Pasha replies to the letter on September 13 with the following address: 

“To Mr. Mustafa Suphi, Chairman of the Central Committee of the Turkish Communist Organization”  CHANGES IN POLITICAL BALANCES FROM THE AUTUMN OF 1920 TO THE END OF JANUARY 1921  By September 1920,  the political situation in the Caucasus had become clear.  Bolshevik governments had been established in Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Armenia.  While Suphi was making plans 

 to repeat the October Revolution in Anatolia,  Karabekir Pasha defeated the Armenian Dashnaktsutyun forces.  

He forced the Armenians to peace. 

Before long, the regime in Armenia changed.  The new regime recognized the Treaty of Gümrü.  Now, if you wish, let us examine the changing political balances from the date Suphi was elected chairman of the party until that ominous night of January 28/29, 1921. 

Suphi, as the leader of the Anatolian socialist revolution (Bolshevism)   was  in a position   to  

influence  the course of events.   However,  the local dynamics   were shifting rapidly.  The Ankara government   was consolidating its power. 

The influence of the Soviets  in the region  was also a critical factor.  Suphi's return  to Anatolia  was viewed with suspicion  by the nationalist leadership.  The tragic end 

of the TKP leadership  was the result of these  complex tensions.   while in the excitement of, Enver Pasha had come as far as Batum, and was weighing   the conditions for crossing into Anatolia.  

His goal was to replace Mustafa Kemal Pasha,  and to seize the leadership  of the Anatolian revolution.   He had agents in Ankara and Trabzon. 

The direction in which the  Anatolian Revolution would evolve was not yet clear. 

THE ISSUE OF THE  PEOPLE'S PARTICIPATION PARTY OF TURKEY  (THİF) 

 THİF announced its establishment in Ankara on December 7, 1920. The founding cadre  included deputies such as Nazım Resmor, Mehmet Şükrü Koç, and Sheikh Servet Efendi.  The cadre outside the parliament  included Veterinary  Major Hacıoğlu Salih,  Ziynetullah Nuşirevan, and Sharif Manatov. 

 During these dates, it is difficult to speak of the existence  of a  Kemalist  party in the TBMM (Grand National Assembly of Turkey).  

In Eskişehir, Ethem, Arif Oruç, Hakkı Behiç Bayiç, and Mustafa Suphi had  begun publishing  the "Seyyare-i Yeni Dünya," which imitated the "Yeni Dünya" newspaper that Mustafa Suphi had  started publishing in Moscow. 

The regular army (Kuva-yı nizamiye) was still very  weak. The Kuvayı Milliye (National Forces) commanders were dominant everywhere in Anatolia. Ali Fuat Pasha's  General Command of the National Forces had no practical   influence. Ethem's Mobile Forces (Kuvayı Seyyare) was the most powerful militia  force.  The civil war  was continuing. 

Another important development:  The People's Participation Party  candidate  Nazım Resmor   finished the Ministry of Interior election ahead of Refet Bele.  He became a minister. Mustafa Kemal Pasha  felt the ground  slipping from under him.

 He forced Nazım Bey, as the  Speaker of the TBMM and the natural   head of the Council of Deputies,  to resign. This was the reason  for the enactment of the  candidacy law   numbered 47.  Mustafa  Kemal wanted to form a government consisting of men he trusted.  In his eyes, Nazım Bey  was not  a reliable person.  Mustafa Kemal believed that Suphi wanted to come to Ankara 

as the representative (subcontractor) of Moscow.  He was concerned about determining the nature of the regime  (drawing its ideological   and political boundaries)  in the direction  he intended.  ...  an important step is taken. This is the Populism program.  The program will turn into the Law of Fundamental Organization   within a few months. Date: January 20, 1921. Law  number 85. 

Chronologically,   an important development that coincides with these events   is the trial of THİF members at the Ankara Independence Court for the crime of attempting to overthrow the government (the crime of subverting the government).  Hacıoğlu Salih and  Nazım Bey 

are among the convicts.   These names   will also be pardoned  with the 1921 amnesty  law.  As can be seen, 

the ideological  environment is quite  ambiguous, and the foundation of power   does not seem solid at all.  ALI FUAT   PASHA

IS SENT TO MOSCOW  AS AMBASSADOR  Atatürk   valued cooperation with the Soviets  on equal terms and a rational basis. 

He did not want to establish a relationship  through a proxy like Suphi.  Suphi's demand to be the left wing of the Anatolian Revolution  was a step whose content   had not been fully fleshed out.  He could have had minimum and maximum plans.  Ultimately, 

at the end of 1920,  the unreliable forces   opposing Mustafa Kemal   can be listed as follows.   Former Unionists, the Communist Party of Turkey (TKP), the Turkey People's Communist Party (THİF), 

the Baku TKP, some centrifugal  tendencies (such as the Erzurum  autonomous  administration and the Konya  Seljuk government) and  the group of religious people  who did not like the Pasha at all.   The Society for the Protection of Sacred Values.  After the failure of the Gediz raid,  Mustafa Kemal Pasha  appointed his classmate and General Commander of the National Forces, Ali Fuat Pasha, to the post of ambassador to Moscow.  Taking Yusuf Kemal Tengirşenk and Dr. Rıza Nur  along with him.   ...  ...  ... 

...  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  sent to Russia.  This mission  signed the Moscow Treaty   on March 16, 1921.   The chief delegate  was Yusuf Kemal Bey.  THE ENCOUNTER 

BETWEEN ALI FUAT PASHA AND MUSTAFA SUPHI IN KARS  While the Turkish delegation  

was heading to Moscow,  Mustafa Suphi and the TKP delegation  had entered Turkey. The two delegations  met in Kars: December 28,  1920. They had with them  rubles given by the Comintern  in the spirit of  comradely solidarity.  With the gold  rubles carried in chests,  they set out  for Erzurum   three weeks later.  Enver Pasha, who was closely  monitoring the TKP's entry into Turkey, 

exaggerates the amount of money  in a letter he wrote to Naciye Sultan.  He mentions 120,000  rubles. The plausible  amount is 8,000  gold rubles.  It was not possible for the Russians  to give that much money  to the Turkish Communists  at that time.  In fact,  they never really  cared about the TKP either. The Russians  always viewed the TKP  as a satellite party  and treated it       accordingly.  SECRET SESSION  IN PARLIAMENT ON JANUARY 22, 1921:  “THE ISSUE OF PARTICIPATION”  

 When the TKP members  entered Turkey, a secret session was held in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM).  Meanwhile, the issue of the  People's Participation Party of Turkey was also 

 on the agenda. In this secret session,   Atatürk's tone  is very harsh. During my research, I have rarely seen Atatürk with this level of anger.  In his speech, he refers to Suphi and his friends as vagabonds.  I would like to state  that this expression 

surprised me greatly.  In the session where many conservative deputies took the floor, the political    atmosphere was different from  the spring of 1920.  This is a significant     historical moment.   quite  different.   While Yusuf Kemal  and Bekir Sami were being sent to Moscow,   in Ankara,  everyone had practically  become a Bolshevik,  and started wearing  red scarves.  Even Karabekir was talking about how we  had to take part  in the "Eastern  ideal."  The atmosphere had changed. 

THE ROAD FROM ERZURUM TO TRABZON  The 

TKP's (Communist Party of Turkey) Erzurum   to Trabzon journey took place under harsh winter conditions.  By crossing the Kop and  Zigana  mountains.   Under heavy snowfall.

After staying in Kars for three weeks, the delegation reached Erzurum on January 21.  They were not allowed into the city  amidst violent protests.  They were sent off from the station towards Trabzon. I am of the opinion that the Society for the Protection of Sacred Values (Muhafaza-i Mukaddesat Cemiyeti) was behind the organization of these protests.  The  statements made by  Erzurum deputy  Mustafa Durak Sakarya point to this.  Mehmet Emin's wife, Meryem, is left behind in Erzurum because she is ill.  The convoy  travels by   sleighs  and arrives in Maçka in six days. 

Veterinary Captain Abdülkadir   leaves the group  here.  The captain is from Trabzon.  His older brother  is working as a lawyer  in the city.  He is on good terms with Kahya.  Yahya sends word to the older brother, Lawyer Mehmet: "If you want to save your brother, prevent him from entering the city. Go out and separate him from the convoy somehow." 

 Veterinary Captain Abdülkadir,  with the help of the Maçka district governor and his brother, is separated from the delegation at night under the pretext that he is "ill" or "detained"; 

he is not taken to Trabzon (the port).  Those who left the group in Maçka are: Abdülkadir, Mehmet Emin,   and Süleyman Sami. 

It is said that the last  two names were agents of the Unionists (İttihatçılar).  From the Special Organization (Teşkilat-ı Mahsusa).  These names  have been in the party  since the Baku days.  AN ENVERIST  AN ENVERIST  AN ENVERIST  AN ENVERIST  

AN ENVERIST  PARTISAN: KÜÇÜK TALAT BEY (MUŞKARA)  

One of the important  men of action of the Committee of Union and Progress is Küçük Talat Bey. Talat Muşkara.  To avoid confusion  with Talat Pasha,  they call him  Küçük Talat (Little Talat). He is Enver Pasha's man. 

Küçük Talat is in Trabzon “during the massacre  of the Suphis.” He is the organizer who established and followed  the connections of Halil Kut and Enver Pasha  in Trabzon.  Following the developments, he writes a letter to Halil Pasha,  who is in Tuapse. 

Then he goes there to meet with him.  

As Professor Sungun Savran  points out,  the massacre could very well have been planned by the Enverist party. To ensure that the only alternative to Mustafa Kemal in Anatolia   would be  Enver Pasha.  Mustafa Suphi's arrival  in Anatolia is also a danger for Enver. For this reason, Küçük Talat could be the key man in the organization of the incident. 

Mete Tunçay  also  considers this  a possibility. 

While Professor Mete was working on  “Leftist Movements,”  he received a letter  from Yahya Kahya's son.  The son of Kahya is named Osman Kahya. The date of the letter is December 15, 1967. 

Osman Bey says,  “Time will show that his father acted with a sense of patriotic duty and that the real  murderer   is someone who is worshipped today.”  I think  it is understood 

who he is referring to.  A question also occurred to me.  I would have liked to ask  Osman Bey  that.  “We know what happened to Maria, but...  what happened to the gold the Comintern gave to the TKP (Communist Party of Turkey)?”  THE MURDER OF YAHYA KAHYA, THE ALI ŞÜKRÜ ASSASSINATION, AND THE CAPTURE OF TOPAL OSMAN  DEAD  I would like to ask Osman Bey that. 

“We know what happened to Maria, but...  what happened to the gold the Comintern gave to the TKP?” 

THE MURDER OF YAHYA KAHYA, THE ALI ŞÜKRÜ ASSASSINATION, AND THE CAPTURE OF TOPAL OSMAN   DEAD  I would like to ask Osman Bey that.

“We know what happened to Maria, but...  what happened to the gold the Comintern gave to the TKP?”  THE MURDER OF YAHYA KAHYA, THE ALI ŞÜKRÜ ASSASSINATION, AND THE CAPTURE OF TOPAL OSMAN

DEAD   I would like to ask Osman Bey that.  “We know what happened to Maria, but... 

what happened to the gold the Comintern gave to the TKP?”   THE MURDER OF YAHYA KAHYA, THE ALI ŞÜKRÜ ASSASSINATION, AND THE CAPTURE OF TOPAL OSMAN  DEAD 

Kahya,   due to his cruel  behavior  in Trabzon and its surrounding areas, was arrested on January 12, 1922. He was taken to Sivas to be tried. After a trial that did not last long, Kahya  was acquitted of charges of corruption and tyranny.  He returned to  Trabzon. 

The subject of the case was Yahya's beginning to play the role  of a  feudal lord in Trabzon. 

 In July  1922,   Kahya was killed by an  assassination squad  sent from  Ankara.  Those who  organized the event were İsmail Hakkı  Tekçe  and Topal Osman Ağa. I draw your attention to the fact that the assassination took place before the Great Offensive.  I  note.

During the days when the First Parliament  was debating the renewal of elections, Topal Osman    killed Trabzon deputy Ali Şükrü Bey at the priest's vineyard.  (March 27, 1923) A while later,  Topal Osman  was also  captured dead  following a   clash.  His body was hung and displayed  in front of the  Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM). 

This entire chain of events  is used in leftist jargon  to pin the murder of the Suphis  on Mustafa Kemal.  I do not think the "Suphis" held a very important place in Mustafa Kemal Pasha's mind.

Especially after the Law on the Commander-in-Chief and the Victory of Sakarya.  The possibility that Yahya was considered  a warlord and a nuisance that needed to be dealt with  is much higher. 

WHILE THE  MOSCOW TREATY  WAS BEING SIGNED,  MARIA  WAS A PRISONER 

IN YAHYA'S  HANDS.  Right at the beginning of the period when Maria was held captive in Kahya's mansion, a treaty was signed between the Turkish and Soviet governments: The Moscow Treaty, March 16, 1921.  TBMM  Maria's  captivity 

in Kahya's mansion  coincided with the early days of the period when  a treaty was signed between the Turkish  and Soviet governments:  The Moscow Treaty, March 16, 1921 

TBMM  government  was represented by Yusuf Kemal Tengirşenk, Ali Fuat Pasha, and Rıza Nur.  A video of the signing ceremony  is available online. Please watch it. 

While the Turkish  and Soviet governments  were agreeing on   friendship and cooperation  in Moscow, a young Bolshevik woman (a Russian citizen) who had witnessed a horrific massacre in Trabzon  was  imprisoned   in the hands of  a local ruler.  While the delegations 

in Moscow (at the Kharitonenko Palace)   were eyeing each other  with cautious  glances,  Maria had been forgotten in a corner of the big picture. 

I am not sure if the Russian Consulate in Trabzon  made a request to Ankara or the provincial administration   regarding Maria.  I have no information  about this. 

VICTORIOUS RED ARMY COMMANDER FRUNZE  WAS IN TRABZON   WHILE PASSING THROUGH  MARIA WAS THERE 

In my opinion,  there is another very significant   event that coincides  with this time frame.  Frunze, who defeated Wrangel's army in Crimea,   was sent to Ankara by the Soviet  administration.  He crossed the Caucasus  via Novorossiysk and Tuapse to reach Batumi.   

From there, he traveled to Trabzon   on the steamship San Nago.  November 25, 1921.  For everyone coming from Russia,  the road to Ankara passed through Trabzon.   The safest way  to reach Ankara  was through the territories of the newly established  

socialist  states  in the Caucasus.  Frunze, along with his 25-person   Soviet delegation,  traveled from Trabzon to Samsun   on the ship Cleopatra.  December 2, 1921.  The meetings between the delegations  were exceptionally productive.  Speeches 

were made.  Turkish  and Soviet  relations were emphasized.  and the Soviet peoples  toasts were raised.  for  

Fevzi Pasha   was sent home  in the later hours of the reception.  You can guess the reason.  

Ultimately, what I want to say is this: While the Red Army commander, the extraordinary representative of the Soviet administration, was passing through Trabzon,   a Bolshevik Komsomolka  was being held captive somewhere in the city.  WHERE COULD 

MARIA BE?  I have a reminder note from 2017. 

I had assumed   that Maria  had passed away  in Trabzon  and might have been buried   in the potter's field.  This is not possible.   The woman in that picture 

in all of our memories 

is not Maria either; it is Emine Muhittinova. Location: Tashkent.  The point I have reached now is this:  Yahya had taken Maria back from Nemlizade Ragıp 

and given her to the Rize pier gang.  In July 1922, 

he was ambushed and killed  by the armed men of the Presidential Guard Regiment commander İsmail Hakkı Tekçe  and Giresun volunteer battalion commander Topal Osman.  At this date, Maria  could not have been in Trabzon.  If Maria was buried,  her grave must be in Rize.  Her secret can be brought to light  through local oral history, forensic medicine, and genetics.  Maria comes to my mind from time to time; we Turks have a moral and conscientious   responsibility regarding the cruelty she endured.  We must find her.  We must find her. 

We must find her.  We must find her. 

We must find her.  We must find her. 

We must find her.  We must find her.  We must find her.  We must find her.  We must find her.