26 August is Not a Simple Leaf in the Calendar

On the morning of 26 August 1922, Mustafa Kemâl Pasha said, "He had decided on an important vital matter. Despite the opposition of the great majority, he had insisted. In a sense, he was even forcing this decision. An unfavourable outcome could have ruined his life and military reputation."

"It is quarter to five. Suddenly a cannon exploded. This first cannon was the key to victory..."

"Kemalettin Sami Bey, the commander of the Fourth Corps, telephoned at six o'clock: Kalecik Sivrisi has fallen..." (1)

On that day, the Anatolian lands that had been groaning under the enemy's boot one after another, the Turkish homeland began to be liberated and cleansed from the Greeks. Many poems were written to commemorate the day this epic victory began. Undoubtedly, poetic expressions would only suffice to describe the enthusiasm on the morning of that day. The army's leap forward with the wind blowing at dawn, from the bosom of Anatolia, which extends to the Mediterranean like a mare's head, in its attack towards the Mediterranean from Afyon.

The first cavalrymen marched forward on the morning of 26 August...

Cold and hazy at night, no trace of the scorching heat of the day

The Afyon plain was freezing in the summer night

It was dusk, close to dawn 

While the purple hyacinth mountains appeared on the horizon, there was silence on the plain

Our cavalrymen were calming their comrades.

Soon they would gallop to their deaths together 

While caressing their manes, they were silently reciting their prayers

They checked their swords one last time at their waists

The infantry crouched on the ground, silently awaiting further orders.

Their minds were on the coming apocalypse

And in his village, his mother, his ox and his wife.

They didn't care about the hundreds of kilometres they were about to run. 

Officers with their hands on the hilts of their swords, 

When they shout "offence 

At the head of his soldiers who will run like flying to their deaths behind them.

They were missing the flowers blooming in the mountains of Izmir

The barrels of the cannons turned west were frozen before the flame of victory.

On the plain of Afyon, a huge army was breathing silently

All that was heard was the sound of the ants' morning rush

There was not a sound in the whole plain.

It's 05:30

"Please forgive your rights," said the blue-eyed giant to the commanders.

His voice was low but determined, thinking and wanting victory

Word travelled quietly and within seconds

The answer came back from ear to ear at the same speed "Well done!"

On his white horse, the Commander-in-Chief took two steps ahead of the whole army

He raised his arm and pointed to the horizon line with his finger

The gates of hell opened with the roar of cannons

With the fury of the barrels, the earth and the sky merged in red fire

The earth stood up, metal sounds mingled with horse neighing 

The plain was almost out of breath, the soldiers were pouring out in torrents.

Allah, Allah sounds echoed from the hills

"Armies, your first target is the Mediterranean Sea, forward! With the order

In the shadow of bayonets piercing the twilight

The thought of "either independence or death" is in the minds like a nail 

The cavalry rushed forward bare-armed, attacking relentlessly

The dust rising from the plain was their trace

Today is 26 August, the day the Great Offensive began

The beginning of days of relentless struggle, 

Today is the day when existence and non-existence are on a knife-edge.

I think of the tens of thousands who rushed to death and victory...

And today I commemorate with deep gratitude those who reminded the seven heights that day that Anatolia would remain a Turkish homeland forever!....

(1) Şevket Süreyya Aydemir (2020). One Man, Remzi Bookstore, Ankara