Haji Nizam and Sub Governor are invited to talk to Colonel Bekir Sami
Selahaddin and Jamil are preparing the room for the visit.
May 1919 Akhisar
When Selahaddin left he lit a cigarette. He looked at his
rifle which was propped against the bed. ‘We
need the hand grenades,’ he thought.
Right after they put the desk and the seven chairs by the
door, Rashad came running upstairs. “They are coming, Sir! Unfortunately they
are supporting the Liberty Party. The
Sub Governor is with them and their leader is Haji Nizam. He has a large turban
and hooked nose, no beard.”
The Sub Governor had a black beard, hunchback; he was around
forty years of age. His face looked yellow, maybe because of a sick stomach or
maybe because of fear. His clothes looked old. Lieutenant Farouk was guarding
the entrance. He saluted the Colonel in the traditional Ottoman way and let
Haji Nizam go first. Haji Nizam didn’t smile. He had thin lips; he looked like
he had a stubborn and revengeful personality and looked at Lieutenant Farouk in
a hateful way. Farouk had his bandoliers on. He was carrying his pistol and his
Mauser gun. He looked very slim but he was standing tall. The Commander was
standing. He had his fists on the desk. The men didn’t look at him and went
ahead and sat in the chairs putting on airs.
Selahaddin offered them cigarettes and coffee. They didn’t
want anything. Then Kamil came with nine people who were supporting the
resistance. After them, the police chief, the supposedly, impartial Mayor,
civil servants, various judges and prosecutors, a doctor… Tax Office, Land Titles,
and Census Office Managers, even officials from the Agricultural Department
came…”
The Sub- governor was stuttering and having difficulty speaking.
He came from his sick bed on Haji Nizam’s request and told them he had to follow
the orders of the Government in Istanbul. “The Greek Metropolitan Bishop and
other Greek notables were going to come but we told them that it was not
necessary at the moment. After this meeting if you still want to talk to them,
you can call them. The Madrasah teacher Haji Nizam also agrees with me.”
“Good...That’s better. First, I would like to talk to you. Then,
if it is necessary we will talk to the Greeks as well.” Bekir Sami answered. He
didn’t sit. His rifle was propped against the desk and he was pressing his
fists against the desk as he was looking at each person in front of him intently.
He checked the papers in front of him and continued, “Thank you for coming here,
Gentlemen. You know the situation. They
were not true to their signatures. There is nothing in the Truce Agreement about
the Greek Occupation of Izmir. Not only did the Greek Army land at Izmir, they
also fired on innocent people. They killed the Officers and military personnel
who had surrendered. Worse than that, they started their march inland. It looks
like if we don’t stop them they will continue their walk. When an enemy army
occupies a country, they destroy the national values, the religion and the
honour of the nation. We saw that during the Balkan Wars. Istanbul has been
under enemy occupation for months now. The
enemy brought their armoured ships to the Capital and Istanbul under the firing
range of those guns. Truce Agreement doesn’t give them any such rights. I was
in Istanbul three days ago, I talked to the War Minister before I came here. It
is our duty to protect our country. The Minister of Interior Affairs has
ordered our friends who came here to resist, no matter what. He said even if
the Government orders us to surrender we should never listen to the Government
orders and resist until the end. If we are arrested we will say that we rebelled
against the Government. The Allies don’t approve the Greeks armies getting out
of Izmir city limits. We have to take action now and stop them. We have to save
our country! According to the reports that I received the enemy is coming with
small troops. They are afraid. They can only proceed if we don’t stop them. It
is no use to surrender. We didn’t resist the Izmir occupation and they still
killed our people and raped our women.”
The ones sitting by Rashad and Kamil’s side were nodding their
approval of the Commander. Haji Nizam didn’t look up the whole time. He was
staring down at the floor. He didn’t even move. And it was not clear if he was
indeed listening. When Bekir Sami stopped and waited for an answer he looked
up. He said, “What do you think Akhisar should do, Commander?”
Colonel Bekir Sami
“There are two courses of action; one is to surrender and if
you chose this, there is no need to talk any further.”
“What is the other way?”
“We have to stand up and stop the enemy. I am receiving telegrams
that are informing us that from Antalya to Bandirma there are uprisings. I
received word from Alasehir this morning; people are already taking action and
organizing. They are forming associations. They are protesting the Occupation
of Izmir. Their leader Mustafa has three hundred armed men.”
“How has Mustafa been able to gather ammunition?” sub
Governor asked.
“Alasehir Sub- Governor gave the guns to them from the
Gendarmerie depot.”
The Madrasah Teacher and the Sub- Governor looked at each
other. The Governor looked away. The Madrasah teacher Haji Nizam spoke in a
testy voice as if he was putting down a student, “We don’t know what goes on in
Alasehir. You say that but maybe it was different for them. Akhisar is so close
to Manisa. Yesterday they said that Manisa fell and we didn’t get any other
news after that. Maybe the enemy will not proceed as far as Alasehir but they
will come here for sure! It is easy to be brave when you are far away from the enemy.
We thought about this thoroughly. If we can’t be sure that we will win we don’t
want to risk our families and the honour of the women. Whatever happens, happen,
but we don’t want to provoke anything.” He looked at the group led by Rashad. “Is that
right? Didn’t we think about this and come to that conclusion?”
“We didn’t reach any conclusions yesterday, Haji. We said we
would consider all the possibilities.” Rashad answered.
“Yes, you said, “Let’s think about it.” But all the others agreed
with us. Everyone should speak for himself.”
Rashad’s face was turning yellow. “I am speaking for myself.
Our friends said they would think about this as well. Today we came here to
discuss the matter in detail.”
“We should have discussed all this earlier, Rashad; much
earlier, before the Balkan wars, before the Great War and to be honest, before
dethroning our Great Emperor Sultan Hamid!” Nizam protested.
“There is no need in dwelling in the past. Nizam, we have
important matters to discuss.”
“In fact, it is high time we discuss. Who is to blame? Not
the Greeks, obviously. It is the Unionists who deserve the blame. They rebelliously
cry “Liberty” like the snake hissing. They sent our Sultan to the exile. Do you
think you could get away with that? The
Unionists actions caused internal conflicts in the Army. The small Balkan
countries defeated us. The Unionists declared war on powerful nations. The
result is defeat once again. Our sons have been perished in the Caucasian mountains
because of cold, in the desert because of heat. We lost so many in the Gallipoli
War. What happened? The enemy is walking
straight ahead towards us! Our country is occupied! You think the Unionists
could get away with that? Why are you silent, Rashad? I wait for an answer! You
guys were not the silent types before. Where is that drunk leader of yours?” He
turned to Bekir Sami, “Commander, they had a Unionist leader in town, he drank
day and night. He used to come to town square and swear at the people.”
“He wasn’t swearing, Nizam. Why do you pretend you don’t
know where Hussein is? He is martyred in Bagdad. Don’t you know that?” Rashad
asked.
“No. We don’t call the drunks martyrs. The martyrs are the
people who died for their religion. He didn’t go to war that was ordered by the
Caliph. Your war is not just. It was a war for money.”
Bekir Sami tried to change the subject, “Don’t talk about
the old matters now Haci Nizam! There is
no use in that. We have to give our attention to the present danger. The enemy
is at the door!”
Haji Nizam looked at him in disgust, “You say we should take
action. What can Akhisar people do? Even if we agreed, how many soldiers do you
have?”
Greek Army landing in Izmir
“My soldiers…My soldiers are the 17th Army Corps.”
“Where is this 17th Army corps?”
“They are retreating from Izmir. They are retreating with
all the weapons! Do you think the whole Ottoman Army is down to the Akhisar
volunteers? The reason I organized this meeting is….you have to resist so that
I can form the front with that knowledge. You have to back me up! If there is
nobody to back me up and I don’t trust the people it won’t work!”
“We are not going to resist. We talked to the local Greeks,
we made a deal. If Turkish Army comes we will protect them. If the Greek Army
comes they will protect us!”
“You are wrong. The same thing happened in Menemen, when the
Greek Army entered the town all those deals didn’t mean anything. The Greeks got
drunk and started to go after their neighbor’s daughters.”
“These are all the Unionist lies! We know all about Menemen.
The lamb and the wolf are peacefully together there. You are not from here. You
are a stranger. You don’t know the customs around here. If we are going to rebel
we won’t be the first. Manisa is a bigger center. They have to go first. The
regiment is there. Not just one, a couple of Regiments are there. The Cavalry, the
Infantry…the Artillery…machine guns are all there. When Manisa starts to fight
then we will join. Don’t worry, we will do what we have to do. We are not any
less than any other town.” Haji Nizam insisted.
Bekir Sami’s face turned red. His temper was well known in
the army. He was trying to keep it in but he was about to explode. “I know you
are not any less then the next guy, but we don’t have time. The War Games are
not like any of the things that you learn from those dark coloured books of
yours, Hodja Effendi! It is a completely
different situation. When your neighbor’s house is on fire you can’t be safe.
You have to run to help your neighbor immediately. I don’t have any time to
spare here. I feel sorry for your families and your belongings. But if you
don’t think about them yourself, I won’t either! Sit down and wait! When worst
comes to worse you will cry but to no avail. We will form the front here whether
the Akhisar people want to support us or not! We will fight. Once the war
breaks out nobody can protect anybody. I wanted Akhisar safe from the invading
army!”
“What if we are invaded? Whose fault is that? It is the
Unionist’s fault! What did the Unionist say? They said the nation has to obey the
Government like a wife who has to obey a man. We could never complain of the
civil servants or the security forces. You always use an iron fist. What do you
expect from us? This nation has been scared of its own police force for so many
years. How can we go fight with the enemy now? The enemy army has all the
weapons, we don’t have any weapons, we don’t have any army, and how can we challenge
them?” Haji Nizam just perked up and looked like a vulture with his hooked
nose. He looked like he was going to eat a dead animal. He raised his hand to
prevent Bekir Sami from talking. “There is no need to talk more, Commander! I
only have one question for you. If you answer me you can have the Akhisar
Soldiers.”
Bekir Sami was hopeful for a minute. He pressed his fists on
the table and asked, “Yes? What is your question?”
“Can you swear that the 17th army corps is not
dismantled already? Can you swear that you have enough manpower and arms to defend
us? Swear on your honour!”
Bekir Sami looked confused. He must have not thought about
this kind of confrontation before. Everyone in the room understood that he was
feeling cornered. He opened his hands and he swallowed hard.
The Madrasah teacher, Haji Nizam must have come here well prepared.
He was using the old rotten Madrasah logic. He must be good at this. He tried
to sound friendly, “I am not asking you to protect us to the bitter end. I’m asking
you if things turn out to be worse can you promise us to help us retreat with
all our families, our animals and all the things that we can carry. I want you
to swear that you can help us…On your honour!”
Bekir Sami was not the kind of person that can easily swear
on his honour for the things that he could not be fully sure that he could do.
Anybody who sees him for the very first time could guess that. Nizam waited.“Do you think the people of Akhisar
are right, Commander?”
“They are not Nizam, because you are not the one to talk
about honour!” Rashad stood up to stop Bekir Sami from hitting him. “Please, Commander! Let me handle this son of
a bitch… Haji Nizam! How can you talk of honour? I am going to kill you. You
pimp! Don’t we know why you were
terminated from your job at the Manisa Madrasah? What do you know about the honour?
We are going to hang you! We don’t need you here! Damn you! On a day like
this….” Nizam and his friends stood up and left. They were waiting for the
opportunity and the light in their eyes showed that they were so happy to
finish this meeting without promising anything.
Rashad spit after them. He was shaking with anger. He tried
to smile. He looked at the Officers in embarrassment as if he was to blame and was
asking for pardon. “I am sorry, Commander. I shouldn’t have spoken in front of
you like this, but I couldn’t stop myself. That dishonourable man! We don’t
need them. They won’t do us any good. Whatever happens! I will tell you now. If
the Greeks invade Akhisar we will have more troubles with our own people than
the enemy. We should have hanged them all when we had the opportunity! These
Gavours support the Liberty Party, they won’t listen to us!”
There was a man sitting at the back with a red Fez and tie.
He interrupted Rashad’s speech, “It is not good. You call each other Gavour.”
“If he acts to support the enemy of course I will call him Gavour.
You are not supporting any of us, Doctor. Tell me. What do you think?”
The middle- aged man introduced himself, “I am Reserve
Officer Dr.Nejati. I think our nation is really unlucky. There are two
political parties that are at odds with each other. You think they are two
different parties but they are like two halves of an apple. If one is hawk the
other is dove; then they change roles. That’s why we are so unlucky. If the
Liberty Party was in power during the Balkan Wars and the Great War maybe we
could have avoided the war altogether. That would be the correct action. The Unionists made us enter into war stupidly
and we were defeated because of them. Now we don’t have any other choice but to
defend ourselves. However this time the Liberty Party is in power and they
don’t want to fight. They don’t even think about that, we got it all mixed up.
We should have had Liberty Party when we needed peace. And we should have the
Unionists when we need to defend ourselves….I am sorry these are not the things
that you want to hear. With your permission we should leave now and try to do
some damage control because Nizam will cause a panic in the town.” He looked at
the door and lowered his voice, “I don’t know what Rashad and Kamil think about
this but I am not hopeful about Akhisar. Take this into consideration, Sir.
Frankly, don’t count us in!”
Jamil didn’t breathe and waited for an answer to this.
No one said anything. Each of the guests tiptoed out of the
room as if leaving somebody on his dead bed with downcast eyes. They walked to
the stairs. Their concept of country and nation was almost limited to where
they were born and raised so for them to say that they can’t resist the enemy
must be really frightening.
When they left, the empty chairs in the hallway created two
separate deserted areas. Nizam’s friends left an emptiness that wasn’t really
important but the others left with so much shame and sense of powerlessness
that it made Jamil’s heart ache. His pride as a warrior was hurt by that.
Bekir Sami was still pressing his tight fists to the desk,
his eyes were squinted and he was staring at the empty wall in front of him.
Selahaddin was looking at the floor and biting his lip.
Lieutenant Farouk was still on duty by the stairs.
“Let’s have these chairs carried downstairs, Selahaddin!”
the Commander suggested.
“Yes, Sir!”
“Then come back here. We will prepare a document!” The 17th
Army Commander dragged his rifle to his room.
Lieutenant Farouk didn’t hear the order, he was crying. His
face looked like a young boy; the tears were trickling through his beard. He
didn’t even know that he was crying.
