Conferring the title of Commander-in-Chief to Mustafa Kemal Pasha

The date of August 5, 1921 is one of the important dates of the War of Independence. On this date, the Grand National Assembly of Turkey gave Mustafa Kemal Pasha the title of Commander-in-Chief in order to use his powers on behalf of the Assembly. This issue is often confused with the issue of giving the title of Gazi and Marshal to Mustafa Kemal Pasha. I will try to explain briefly, both in terms of being distinctive and under which conditions this decision was taken.

Out of curiosity, I found and read the minutes of the secret Assembly sessions dated August 4 and 5, 1921, where the Assembly meetings were held on the subject, on the GNAT website. Parliamentary minutes are the minutes in which the spoken word is recorded word for word. In other words, from these minutes, you can read what meetings were held in two days, who spoke and what they said.

First, let's summarize the military situation on August 4, 1921. After the parliament was opened, the first military contacts with the Greeks were experienced in the 1st and 2nd İnönü battles in January and March 1921. In order to maintain the partial success achieved; Turkish forces attacking in the direction of Afyon could not achieve the desired result in the battles of Aslıhanlar and Dumlupınar in April. The recovered Greek Army started a wide front offensive operation on the Eskişehir-Kütahya-Afyon line on July 10, 1921. When the attack of the Greek Army was successful and the situation at the front deteriorated, Mustafa Kemal Pasha moved to the front. In order to prevent the destruction of the Turkish Army and to prevent a worse situation, the Pasha took a strategic decision and ordered the Turkish Army to withdraw to the east of the Sakarya river on July 18, 1921. At that time, the Chief of General Staff of the Turkish Army was Fevzi Pasha, and the Commander of the Western Front was İsmet Pasha. At the point reached; It was certain that the Greek Army would continue its forward operation and force the Turkish Army into a decisive battle. In these circumstances, a decision had to be made politically as well as militarily, and extraordinary measures had to be taken for extraordinary situations. When the discourses of the Front Command and the Ministry of Defense differed, it became clear that the principle called unity of command in the terminology of the soldiers had to be strictly and concretely implemented. In addition to different institutional structures such as the Assembly, the Representative Committee, the Ministry of Defense, the Front Command, which were the focus of power and decision-makers, Mustafa Kemal Pasha also had a charismatic and leading personality, which made it difficult to make quick and quick decisions in extraordinary conditions.

Among the agenda items of the secret session records dated August 4, 1921, there is an item related to the establishment of the Commander-in-Chief. However, the situation of this item was discussed under the same agenda item as the military and finance headings. The reason is clear when you read the minutes. From the details of the speech, we understand that the results of the Kütahya-Eskişehir battles, which started with the attack of the Greek Army and forced the Turkish Army into a backward operation, were questioned in the Parliament. A delegation was sent to the front by the Assembly and there are speeches about the observations of this delegation in the minutes. The Front Command urgently requests 20 thousand additional soldiers and 1500 officers from the delegation. Some of the deputies supported, some criticized, but the common opinion is that the knife rests on the bone and whatever needs to be done should be done.

When the item on the agenda is about the military and finance, Mersin deputy Selahaddin Bey makes a long speech and summarizes the general situation and brings the issue to the creation of a Deputy Commander-in-Chief cadre. He says this can happen in two ways. The first is that the person to be appointed as the Deputy Commander-in-Chief will manage the war from one hand with his headquarters, and the other is that the Speaker of the Assembly directs and manages the war on behalf of the Assembly. Aydin deputy Dr. With his supportive speech, Mazhar Bey states that the subject of command and command is integrated with the personality of Mustafa Kemal Pasha. Mustafa Kemal Pasha does not take the floor and does not speak in the hearing held on August 4, 1921.

In the secret session on August 5, 1921, it is seen that the negotiation article in the minutes of the Assembly was the article "The law proposal on the creation of the Commander-in-Chief and the transfer of this duty to His Excellency the Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey Mustafa Kemal Pasha". This time, Mustafa Kemal Pasha takes the first word in the session. He states that he will assume the authority of the Commander-in-Chief on the condition of using the legitimate authority of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey in order to increase the material and moral strength of the army as much as possible and to further strengthen the supply and dispatch administration, and demands that this authority be recorded for 3 months. Later, Mersin deputy, Selahaddin Bey, said that the expression "Commander-in-Chief" in the proposal would mean the sultan in a sense, and wanted him to be called the Deputy Commander-in-Chief. Mustafa Kemal Pasha took the floor again and states that the words of sultan and deputy commander-in-chief were worn out and that he would not accept a duty with a title other than the title of Commander-in-Chief.

Sinop MP Hakkı Hami Bey states that the expression “all the powers of the Assembly” in the proposal does not find it appropriate as it would disable the Assembly. Mustafa Kemal Pasha takes the floor again and says that the offer is limited to the activities of the Army for three months, and that the administration and administration of the Army will not be based on negotiations and arguments. Then there are speeches for and against. It is requested that the time limit be lifted in favorable speeches. One deputy states that he can be given the title of Commander-in-Chief of the Nation. In negative speeches; They want the authority to be limited to the front line, at least, by saying that the title of Commander-in-Chief will create a new Napoleon, an emperor, and that the gathering of the powers of the Assembly in the person of one person will render the Assembly dysfunctional and cripple the national will.

In response to the speeches for and against Mustafa Kemal Pasha; He said that the real will is in the Assembly, in the moral personality of the Assembly, that the appointment of the Commander-in-Chief is an executive office, that the current situation requires fast and accurate decisions to be taken without discussion about the operation of the Army, and that this authorization does not have a political nature.

Afterwards, negotiations on the articles of the bill were started and the bill was accepted by majority vote and Mustafa Kemal Pasha was appointed as the Commander-in-Chief to use all the powers of the Assembly.

When we look at the content of the speeches and discussions; In the political structure formed in the 1st Assembly, the views of the First Group, which supported Mustafa Kemal Pasha, and the Second Group, which were opponents, came to the fore. However, both groups are not at all compromising on the national struggle, and the common view and wish is to remove the enemy from Anatolian lands as soon as possible. Negotiation details; It is understood that the Second Group was of the opinion that this struggle was made on behalf of the sultan and the caliph, while the First Group had no hope from Istanbul and the sultan, and that they had the idea of ​​the formation of a new state after the national struggle from those days.

As a result, the positive results of this authority given to Mustafa Kemal Pasha were reflected on the front and the Greek advance in Anatolia was stopped with the epic Battle of Sakarya. Psychological superiority has passed to the Turkish side. As a matter of fact, this superiority was crowned with the victory of a pitched battle on the Afyon plain on 30 August 1922, directed and directed by the Commander-in-Chief.

On this occasion; I commemorate with respect and gratitude the members of the 1st Assembly, who believe in victory, are self-sacrificing and determined, who can put the national will and its representative Assembly to the fore in every step they take, even under extraordinary circumstances, and manage to leave their differences aside and act with a common mind.