Is it easy to be a hard fighter like Mustafa Kemal?
His decisive stance and his efforts and work in a planned direction increased the belief of those around him, their belief that salvation would be possible under his leadership was formed over time, and then they flowed behind him like a flood and followed him.
In these days when we celebrate Victory Week, we Turks, all of us, should ask ourselves these questions.
- What kind of nightmarish days did the people who gave us these days go through?
- Why were they willing to sacrifice their lives, their most valuable assets, for these days?
- How did they become veterans, orphans and orphans?
Shouldn't everyone who has a conscience, who has morals, who respects their past and their ancestors put their heads between their hands and think once more? Today, in a free homeland, despite the shortcomings of any political climate, we all have a touch of these heroic hardliners in our lives.
Imagine a symphony orchestra. An orchestra is made up of at least 30 or more musicians. The sounds and timbres emanating from the instruments played by these musicians enter the ears of the listeners and take their place in the brain chambers. It provides its listeners with the opportunity to spend a beautiful, awe-inspiring time. The beauty of the orchestra is directly related to how skillfully each musician, who is a part of this orchestra, plays his or her instrument. Individually, and often collectively, the musicians rehearse the pieces they will play on stage. No matter how beautiful an orchestra is, without a conductor at its head, without someone directing the orchestra, it cannot play even the simplest piece in a harmonious, pleasing way. Because there will be no synchronization, the voices will be mixed together, there will be a voice coming out of every head. For this reason, every orchestra must have a conductor who ensures the harmony and harmony of the instruments and musicians. By directing the entire orchestra, the conductor ensures that the work is harmoniously conveyed to the ears of the listeners as a piece of music.
When we look at the War of Independence, we see that, like the musicians in the orchestra, there were heroes, those who devoted themselves to this homeland, those who gave up their homes, their homes and their children for this homeland, in other words, countless hard workers. These hard workers in the War of Independence need a chief, a head, a commander. Otherwise, how could they come together and fight against the enemy, how could they win all those battles in such poverty? Could this have been possible with piecemeal, fragmented efforts?
This is why Mustafa Kemal Pasha was the conductor of all these hard fighters of our War of Independence. Mustafa Kemal became the commander of the pashas who taught him in military schools, of his friends who studied with him, of the officers and non-commissioned officers who were younger than him, and even of everyone who was not a soldier but took up arms, guided them, and became the unquenchable light of the struggle for independence. For this reason, while he was in power, no one sought or desired to put a second conductor in charge of the orchestra. Even those who did not hesitate to oppose him for various reasons duly acknowledged in the parliamentary vote on August 5, 1921 that he should be appointed Commander-in-Chief of the army and that only under his leadership could the country be saved.
Mustafa Kemal Pasha's greatest qualities that made him successful on all the fronts he fought on from the moment he became an officer can be summarized as his self-confidence, farsightedness, leadership qualities, military intelligence and courage. He is a successful commander and a good leader. At the end of the First World War, when the country was almost out of his hands, he, with the seriousness and farsightedness of a statesman, sensed some realities that many people were not aware of at the time, and formed his goals and measures accordingly.
We all know that it is not enough for a traveler to see only the horizon. He must also see and know beyond the horizon. Mustafa Kemal was a person who adopted farsightedness as his life motto. This characteristic of his won the admiration of many foreign statesmen even after the establishment of the Republic of Turkey, and ensured that his name was mentioned with praise throughout history.
Mustafa Kemal Pasha's intuition and actions, which enabled the liberation of the Turkish nation, first fully manifested themselves in the Gallipoli War. Mustafa Kemal, who was still a Colonel at the time, saw where and how to use his offensive power and how to stop the enemy, and without losing his composure, he played at the most critical time to be won and finally succeeded in successfully stopping the enemy. This action, which earned him a well-deserved reputation, was later seen again and again by those around him to be his character in many events.
From the moment he set foot in Samsun until the end of the National Struggle, Mustafa Kemal Pasha did not give up his determined path. From the moment he set foot in Samsun, he saw that the people and the administrators were in great despair. During this difficult period, Mustafa Kemal Pasha, on the one hand, contacted the commanders and tried to reach a consensus with them about the defense to be carried out; on the other hand, he tried to strengthen the morale and self-confidence of the people who were tired and distraught. His decisive stance and his efforts and work in a planned direction increased the belief of those around him, their belief that salvation would be possible under his leadership was formed over time, and then they flowed behind him like a flood and followed him.
Before the Battle of Sakarya, the Greek forces, which were larger in number than the Turkish forces and had modern weapons and a good logistics system according to the period, had launched a major offensive against the Turkish army. In the face of this situation, the Turkish Army was forced to retreat. So much so that the sounds of Greek artillery could almost be heard in Ankara. There was an uproar in the Turkish Grand National Assembly and a delegation of deputies was sent to the front. Mustafa Kemal Pasha, noticing the mood in the people and the Parliament, issued a circular, emphasizing that the withdrawal was planned, assuring that the Turks would be the ultimate victor, raising the morale of the entire population and restoring the belief in victory. The following is written in the circular issued by Mustafa Kemal Pasha: There is absolutely no room for hesitation and doubt among the people in case the enemy advances. The arms of the enemy that want to extend towards Anatolia and its interior are approaching their graves; this new campaign is the enemy's journey of death. With God's help, recent events will show this result.
This sense of faith and confidence that Mustafa Kemal Pasha instilled in his people and army was the beginning of a very hard struggle that paved the way for the enemy to be driven into the sea in Izmir on September 9, 1922. Thanks to his calculated and consistent decisions at critical moments, the Turkish nation was able to win many great victories under his leadership, including the Great Offensive.
After the war, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, who proclaimed the Republic, made successive revolutions and pioneered the development of the country, stated in a meeting with Mac Arthur, one of the famous American generals of the Second World War, in 1932 that the world, especially the European states, could enter into a war at any time. According to Atatürk, if the Germans indulge themselves in a political movement, they could start another war between 1940 and 1945. This war would be very bloody, it would only end if America intervened, and the real winner of this war would be Russia. The French are no longer capable of building a strong army. The British can no longer rely on the French for the defense of their islands. If the Italians could stay out of the war, they could play an important role in the post-war peace. But they will not be able to do so because of Mussolini's ambition. Thus, he expressed the view that the Germans would occupy all of Europe except England and Russia.
The fact that his words came true one by one is an indication of how visionary a leader Atatürk was. Because he reached this sharp assessment by analyzing the political and military situation of not only his own country but all countries.
Stay with respectful love...
