Interview given by Gazi Mustafa Kemal Pasha to an American Newspaper

On 26 January 2023, an interview with Mustafa Kemal Pasha was published in the European edition of the New York Herald newspaper, while the Lausanne Negotiations, which started on 20 November 1922, were continuing. This interview served to make the Turkish government and Mustafa Kemal better known to the American public. It increased the interest of the American public in Lausanne.

Who was in the Lausanne Peace Conference Delegation?

The cover photo of the article was taken during the Lausanne Peace Conference negotiations. This photograph shows the Turkish delegation attending the conference as a group. In the photograph, the person sitting in the front, in the centre seat is İsmet (İnönü) Pasha, the President of the Turkish Delegation. The other delegates of Ankara are Rıza Nur, Minister of Health, and Hasan Saka, former Minister of Finance. Ankara participated in the conference with a large delegation. As a graduate of Boğaziçi University, it is a matter of pride that Mr Hüseyin Pektaş, the second principal of Robert College, took part in the conference as an interpreter. It is interesting to note that the only non-Muslim in the Ankara delegation was the Chief Rabbi of the Ottoman Empire, Haim Nahum, a French lecturer at the High School of Engineering (ITU). 

In addition to foreign affairs experts, the delegation's advisory committee also included experts from various ministries and members of parliament. Celal Bayar, who founded the Democratic Party and ousted İsmet İnönü from power in 1950, was also a delegate in the Lausanne Delegation. Another interesting name in the delegation is the famous poet Yahya Kemal Beyatlı. He took part in this historical delegation as Press Advisor. 

Developments before Lausanne and the situation of the British

After the 30 August 1922 victory, everything happened very fast. On 9 September Izmir and on 10 September Bursa were liberated from Greek occupation. The Aegean and Marmara regions began to be cleared of the occupation forces. The Greek army was trying to leave Anatolia by sea, and those who could not escape were taken prisoner. On 20 September 1922, French and Italian forces withdrew from Çanakkale, leaving the British alone. 

Meanwhile, on 24 September 1922, the pro-British Ottoman Grand Vizier Damat Ferid Pasha fled Istanbul. Damat Ferid Pasha was one of the leading signatories of the Sevres Treaty, which condemned the Ottoman Empire to very harsh conditions after the First World War. He died on 6 October 1923 (the day the Turkish army entered Istanbul) in Nice, France. His body was not brought to Turkey and was buried in Lebanon.

On 11 October 1922, before the Mudanya armistice agreement signed on 11 October 1922, the British and Turkish forces came to the brink of war. The crisis, called the Chanak Crisis in England, resulted in the removal from power of Prime Minister Lloyd George and Minister of Colonies Winston Churchill, who had a reputation for being hostile to Turks. Thus, Winston Churchill, who was the British Minister of the Navy during the Çanakkale Wars, lost his post as Minister of the Navy after the war was lost. 

During the Dardanelles Crisis, Mustafa Kemal demanded that the Occupation Forces evacuate Eastern Thrace and Dardanelles. Britain refused to leave the Dardanelles area. As Turkish troops approached Gallipoli, Britain was left alone by its colonies such as Canada and Australia, as well as states such as Italy and France, with which it had collaborated in the war. Seeing that the situation was deteriorating, the British government decided to remove the Greek occupation forces from Eastern Thrace on 23 September. 

The Ottoman Empire is effectively abolished

On 11 October, the Mudanya Armistice was signed. Following this, Refet (Bele) Pasha, who was assigned to take over Eastern Thrace on 19 October 1922, arrived in Istanbul. On 28 October 1922, the Entente powers asked the Ottoman and Ankara governments to send delegates for the conference to be held in Lausanne. This call naturally disturbed the Ankara Government and developments accelerated the end of the Ottoman Empire. Ankara decided to abolish the sultanate on 1 November 1922. On 4 November 1922, the last issue of the Ottoman official newspaper Takvim-i Vakayi was published. On 5 November 1922, Refet Pasha instructed the Ottoman Ministries to cease their activities. The Turkish Delegation to Lausanne, headed by İsmet (İnönü) Pasha, arrived in Istanbul on 6 November and on 9 November it was leaving the capital of the collapsed Ottoman Empire for Lausanne. 

The Sultan and the occupation forces of the Entente States were still in Istanbul during this process. Sultan Mehmet Vahdettin VI left Istanbul on a British ship on 17 November, claiming that his life was in danger. 

Lausanne Conference Begins

The first session of the Lausanne conference, which started on 20 November, was held on 21 November. It was very difficult for the conference that started in Lausanne to reach the signature stage. On 22 December 1922, Mustafa Kemal Pasha ordered the armies to be prepared in case the peace agreement was interrupted. As a matter of fact, on 4 February 1923, the Lausanne Peace Conference was interrupted due to important disagreements.

Mustafa Kemal Pasha Interview Published in an American Newspaper While Lausanne was in Progress

In the meantime, it is useful to evaluate the interview with Mustafa Kemal Pasha, published in the European edition of the New York Herald on 26 January 2023, in terms of the Turkish government's efforts to find support in the US public opinion while the Lausanne Peace Conference was in progress. In the interview, Atatürk particularly emphasised the importance of Turkish women in the newly established state. Before analysing the content of the article in more detail, let us take a look at the headlines to find out what issues were of more interest to the American public. The article containing the interview with Atatürk started on the front page of The New York Herald and then continued on the inside page.

The large font headlines on both the front page and the inside page and the portrait painting of Mustafa Kemal Pasha on the inside page indicated the importance given to the news by the newspaper.

The article started with the headline "KEMAL DEMANDS AMERICAN SUPPORT FOR NEW TURKEY" on the main page. The sub-heading underneath was "He claims that the Turkish nation is waging a war of independence to get rid of the domination of Europe, as the USA did before." The next headline on the first page read "Kemal's View from the Tinkling Rock". 

The New York Herald reporter had interviewed Mustafa Kemal at his residence in Çankaya in Ankara. In the interview, it was also nice that the name of Çankaya was translated into English as Tinkling Rock. Calling Mustafa Kemal Pasha as Kemal was a habit of Westerners dating back to the War of Independence. The National Forces fighting for independence were also called Kemalist Forces in the Western Press. The rest of his interview began after the headlines on the inside page: "Christian Minorities Will Be Safe Provided They Obey Turkish Laws."

"Mustafa Kemal rejects further persecution and says the new regime is fully democratic."

"We desire American aid."

"We wish to establish close relations and trade."

"The Veiled Woman is History."

In the content of the article, the first heading reads

"Democratic Regime",

the second heading reads

"Call to Americans"

and the third heading reads

"Harem is now forbidden". 

Considering that this interview was published when the proclamation of the Republic was only 9 months away, we can conclude that the birth of the new Turkish Republic, which was democratic, respectful of women's rights and adhered to the principle of Peace at Home, Peace in the World, was heralded in this interview.