Symbol of our Liberation from the Imperialists: October 6 and Its Importance

I have always wondered why this country is famous for its traitors as well as its heroes! Based on the Mondros Armistice Agreement, the occupying states anchored in front of Haydarpaşa and entered Istanbul. A naval force consisting of British, French, Italian and Greek ships came to the Bosphorus and landed about 35 thousand fully equipped soldiers in Istanbul. 

When Mustafa Kemal Pasha came to Istanbul by train from Adana and got off at Haydarpaşa, he looked at the anchored enemy ships and said "they will leave as they came", perhaps at that moment he had made the decision to clean his homeland, which had begun to be polluted under the boots of imperialism. With that decision and determination, he would start making plans on how and where to start the National Struggle in secret and sometimes open meetings with his friends he gathered in Istanbul.

Faced with the pressure of the occupying forces, the Sultan dissolved the Parliament on March 16, 1920. The command and control of the city passes to the British High Commissioner. The occupiers were arresting Turks in Istanbul under various pretexts, torturing them, confiscating their valuables and forcibly taking their houses from their owners. Capt. Bennett was at the head of these tortures. Bennett and his soldiers were arresting everyone who supported Mustafa Kemal Pasha, who left Istanbul on May 16, 1919 and then lit the torch of liberation in Anatolia. Unfortunately, some treacherous collaborators were also helping them. A manhunt was launched in Istanbul.

The biggest counter-intelligence to the British was provided by Cambaz Mehmet Bey from Topkapili. Later, Topkapili did a good deed and assassinated Capt. Bennett, who was wounded and went to his country, never to return. In the meantime, Turkish officers were forced to salute the occupation officers, even if they were of low rank, and were almost humiliated. Meanwhile, during the occupation period, our people were almost divided into two groups. 

The first group were the collaborators who sided with the occupiers. Some of these were Greek, Armenian and Jewish minorities living in Istanbul. Some of them welcomed the invaders with enthusiasm, humiliated, insulted and mistreated the Turks. A gang leader and serial killer named Chrysantos, who was heroized by the Greeks, killed dozens of Turkish policemen and people under the protection of the British. 

Among these relentless collaborators, unfortunately, there were also many Turks who admired the West. For their own self-interest, they were against the national struggle. The most prominent of these were Grand Vizier Damat Ferit, the journalist Ali Kemal and some madrasa scholars of the period. Those who were members of the British Correspondents (lovers) association were silent against the invaders and opposed the War of Independence with the propaganda that they were "defending Islam and the Sultan". Some of them, in order to break the resistance against the invaders, issued death fatwas against the Kuva-yı Milliyiyya, saying that this was a "religious duty" and that "those who died in this way were martyrs". They distributed these fatwas by dropping leaflets from British airplanes.

As if the occupation forces were not enough, we were also experiencing betrayal, so much so that Mustafa Kemal and the Kuva-yı Milliye were portrayed as "worse than the Greek Army" in the eyes of the people in these declarations.

For example, the sheikhulislam Mustafa Sabri could say the following: "I resign from Turkishness in the presence of Allah in order to remain only a Muslim and a human being. Repent, God, repent my Turkishness, do not count me among the Turkish nation!"

The second group was those who opposed the occupation. These were the majority of the people in Istanbul who supported the national struggle. They were organizing rallies in various public squares in Istanbul to put an end to the occupation. On the other hand, they stole weapons from the warehouses of the occupation forces and made efforts to send arms and relief supplies to Anatolia. Tragically, when these patriots were caught, they were put in front of British firing squads and shot. Women used the wool from their beds and pillows to make clothes and socks for the soldiers in Anatolia and sent them to Anatolia. 

The joint command of the occupation forces in Istanbul was given to the British. For this reason, they tried to prevent resistance to the occupation more than the others and persecuted those who resisted. They raided the Parliament and dragged the deputies on the ground, arrested about 145 Turkish intellectuals and imprisoned them on the island of Malta. Writers, politicians and soldiers such as Ziya Gökalp, Şükrü Kaya, Fahrettin Pasha, Hüseyin Cahit were among those exiled. The Malta prisoners were later freed by being exchanged for British prisoners through the efforts of Atatürk. 

After the Treaty of Lausanne, the first negotiations on the evacuation of Istanbul began. Selahaddin Adil Pasha, who was in Istanbul and authorized by the Turkish Grand National Assembly, visited the Allied generals and discussed the details of the evacuation and surrender order. The evacuation and surrender were finalized within 6 weeks. Thereupon, the enemy forces started to leave Istanbul. The last enemy troops left the city on October 2, 1923 with a ceremony in front of Dolmabahçe Palace, saluting the Turkish flag. The commander of the occupation force that left the city was British General Harrington.

Today, some enemies may prefer to respond to the "celebration of the liberation day of Istanbul" by emphasizing the historical day, the conquest of Istanbul, when Istanbul was conquered by Mehmet the Conqueror. I think they aim to instill in our youth the idea of being an "ummah" rather than a "nation" by pitting "religion" and "national liberation" against each other. However, there is no need to pit the two against each other. However, I am one of those who think that October 6 should be given the importance it deserves in terms of reinforcing national unity and showing the importance of patriotism in an age when imperialism targets nation states, as in neighboring Syria. The issue is not to commemorate a date, but to remind our nation and our people of the day when this nation expelled imperialism from this homeland.

Everyone should know that nations must find the power to shape their future from their own history. The guide that will guide us is the proud pages of our history and the strength, pride and honor we derive from it.