A Brief History of İslâhiye Regiment and Martyr Tanker First Lieutenant Alpay Başaran Barracks

Unfortunately, I do not remember the names of most of these barracks, but I know that these barracks were named after soldiers who served in important positions, participated in battles or were martyred.

I was very saddened when I realised that I, like many people, had not thought much about the names of these military barracks and who these names belonged to, due to the lack of historical memory, which I think is a general deficiency in our society. For this reason, I feel it is my duty to share the information I have obtained about the person for whom a barracks is named.

In this context, I will now share the information I have obtained about the military barracks in Islahiye District of Gaziantep, where I served between 1996 and 1998. Although this district is a part of Gaziantep, the military barracks in the district was attached to the 172nd Armoured Brigade in Kahramanmaraş. There were two tank battalions, a mechanised infantry battalion, an artillery battalion, support troops and combat support units such as anti-aircraft batteries and tow companies attached to the brigade. Later, when the 172nd Brigade was moved from the area, an artillery regiment was deployed in this barracks.

According to the information I read during my service and the stories among the locals, the naming of the district was also linked to the establishment of this military barracks. In the last periods of the Ottoman Empire, conflicts arose between the nomadic tribes in the plains and the nomadic tribes in the Amanos. When banditry spread in the region, there was no law and order. Upon this, the Ottoman Empire sent a regiment to a region to put an end to the conflicts and rehabilitate the conflicting parties. The name of this regiment was determined as Islahiye Regiment.

Later, this regiment, which also dried the swamps in the region, started to settle the nomadic tribes where the regiment was stationed. Thus, a settlement called Islahiye emerged. I do not know whether these events are true or not, as I have not confirmed the accuracy of these events with documents. However, when considered together with the rumours that the historical cemeteries within the barracks were the graves of soldiers who died from epidemics such as malaria at that time (There were also those who said that these graves were once the cemetery of a small village on the borders of the barracks), I think that this may be true.

On the other hand, this region is also important from a military point of view. İslâhiye has been a settlement and military garrison since ancient times. The approach route connecting the strategic axis coming from Syria to Central Anatolia passes through here. At the end of the 1st World War, when Ali Fuat Pasha was acting as the 7th Army Commander, his headquarters was here.
Since ancient times, the Fevzi Pasha Pass just north of İslâhiye has been used to cross the Amanos from east to west or vice versa by road. The Baghdad Railway built during the Ottoman period also passes through the tunnels in the area of these passes. There is also a railway station in Islahiye. For this reason, the French used Islahiye as a supply and integration base during the War of Independence.

Near the district, there is a quarry from which the material for most of the ancient statues, including the statues on Mount Nemrut, was extracted. The stones extracted from this quarry were rough shaped and then sent to their destinations. I recommend those who go to the region to see this quarry and the stone sculptures. I also recommend you to eat trout in the place called Göz Başı.

After giving brief information about the region, let us now give information about where the name of the barracks came from. The name of the barracks in İslâhiye is Martyr First Lieutenant Alpay Başaran or Alpay Başaran barracks as it is called among the people. Alpay Başaran was born in Istanbul (Eyüp) in 1944.

On 30 August 1965, he graduated from the Land War College as a tank lieutenant. His registration number was 1965-Tnk.-59. He participated in the Cyprus Peace Operation while serving under the Tank Battalion Command of the 49th Mechanised Regiment of the 39th Division, which was then based in Islahiye.

During this operation, he was martyred on 6 September 1974 while searching for weapons in an area under control. Martyr First Lieutenant Alpay Başaran lies in grave number 200 in Boğaz Martyrdom Cemetery. After his martyrdom, his family was awarded a medal of honour.

I owe my deepest gratitude to our martyr who sacrificed his life for his country.

May God have mercy on him.