About the Tired Warrior

About The Tired Warrior

By Kemal Tahir

Introduction by

Elif Erkmen

The Reluctant Warrior is a historical novel that tells the story of The Turkish Independence War. The novel starts in Istanbul, in the aftermath of WWI. The main hero Jamil has returned from the battle field and rejoined his family. His cousin Neriman has been waiting for him for a long time. His friends and family expect him to start a new occupation, get married and settle down after his years of hardship. He had joined the Young Turk movement, served in Balkan Wars, and then again during the Great War. He made his reputation as a hell of an Artillery Captain in Palestein, Suez Canal and Gallipoli Campaigns. He had seen it all.

The time frame of the novel stretches several years, beginning in the start of the Young Turk Revolution in 1908, to the end of 1922.

The Young Turks in 1908 revolted against Sultan Abdul Hamid II, the Committee of Union and Progress was founded by and gained support of the people of Ottoman Empire from all walks of life. Turks, Greeks Armenians and other ethnic minorities were all happy and looking for a change. CUP promised freedom.

Abdul Hamid was known for his strict rules, oppression and censorship. People were tired of his informants and palace spies. The change was quick and welcomed.

The second Constitutional era started and the Parliament was reopened.

The new rulers were the Three Pashas: Enver, Talat and Djemal.

Enver became the War Minister; Talat the Prime Minister and Djemal was Fourth Army commander responsible of Syria and later lead the Army in Philistine and Suez Canal Campaigns.

Enver’s uncle Halil Pasha (even though Enver and Halil are about the same age he was Enver’s uncle and sometimes refer to Uncle among his friends as well in the novel) was also one of the CUP leaders and he became famous for his success in Siege of Kut. The British Field Marshall Towhend was captured at Kut.

CUP had an intelligent agency named Secret Organization/Teskilati Mahsusa (TM) which was very effective during the foundation of CUP and war years. Its leaders; Suleyman Askeri and Esref Kuscubasi was mentioned in the novel.

Founder of Turkish Republic and leader of Nationalists Mustafa Kemal Ataturk is also metioned in the book.

The novel has divided into three main sections: the Binoculars of General von Kress, Deep Bottom and Turning Point.

The Binoculars if General von Kress

Jamil is looking out of the window with binoculars. The binoculars are a gift from General von Kress. He is expecting the arrival of Governor of Diyarbakir, Dr. Rashid Bey. He doesn’t know Dr. Rashid personally, however he knows the Organisation helped him escape from prison. As a Governor he was involved in forced deportation of Armenians which resulted in the deaths and traumatic events of 1915.

He was a member of CUP, like Jamil, and TM the Secret Organisation was looking for a place to hide him. However, the police cornered Dr. Rashid, and in desperation, he commited suicide.

Jamil decides to go see his friend Captain Maksood. They studied together in the Military High School. Jamil became a War Officer, while Maksood and Omer joined the Secret Organisation TM. During the Ottoman times, the people did not have last names, so nicknames were used to identify individuals.  As an Arab from Baghdad, Maksood was called “Arab” among his friends, while Omer was known by his code name, “Patriot”.

When CUP lost its power, its leaders, Enver, Talat and Djemal, left the country. The replacement government started a witch hunt. They arrested CUP members, put them in the infamous jail, the Bekiraga Prison, later some of the prisoners were exiled to the Island of Malta on the orders of the British Government.

Maksood explained to Jamil that their friend Omer also needed a hiding place. Jamil agreed to help and upon Maksood’s suggestion, they decided to provide Omer with women’s clothing and veil.The hiding place was Jamil’s idea. They went to a mansion in the Asian side of the City. Maksood didn’t know who own the house and when he saw Dr.Munir at the door he was surprised. Dr. Munir had left theCUP years ago because of the undemocratic ways of the Unionists.

In the process of helping Omer escape, Jamil’s identity was also revealed and he had a hiding place as well. To their surprise Halil Pasha, was at the mansion as a guest and Dr. Munir was a welcoming host to all of his former friends and fellow CUP members.

 Dr. Munir was the intellectual one in the group. He provided historical, political and sociological analysis of the Ottoman Empire during their long discussions.

Jamil spent two months there. One day he got word from Neriman that she needed to talk to him. She was pregnant and they decided to get married on short notice. After the secret ceromony as he was returning the mansion Jamil saw that the house was being ambushed, so once again he had to return. This time he had no where to go.

He went back to European side took refuge in the historical peninsula.The Ottoman Troops were guarding the Hagia Sophia…He decided to join them and stay there temporarily… Wherever he went, he felt tremendous fatigue and depression. He didn’t want to do anything.Jamil was feeling suffocated even when he went in the ancient church. With its huge dome and spacious interior Hagia Sophia was a marveolous building.Jamil saw several foreign Officers and soldiers who came to observe the Friday Prayers. There are people from all faiths and nationalities. The Leader of the Guard was uneasy; he worried about losing Hagia Sophia to the Invading Foreigners. The idea of turning the mosque back to a Church was unbearable…Especially under his watch.

 Maksood arranged a place for Jamil in the Veteran’s home. Jamil felt even worse while surrounded by all the war Veterans and their sad stories. He didn’t have any plans for future and felt like there was no way out.

Deep Bottom

After being recognised in the Veteran’s House, Jamil decided to join the National Forces and left Istanbul. The Country was in turmoil. There were fears of Greek Invasion of Izmir.The local Christian Communities were joyful and preparing to /welcome the Greek Army…Not everybody was happy though. There was the uncertainty…There was the hundreds of years of friendship between the Turks and the Greeks to be considered. Some local Greek (Rum) villagers made agreements with their Turkish neigbours to protect each other. If the Greek Army were to come they promised to protect Wturkish neighbours and Turks promissed to protect them if the Turkish army prevails.

The Muslim population were generally tired of all the wars they had endured since the Balkan Wars. They were poor and they wanted life to return normal.

 After Truce, the Turkish soldiers were sent home and all the arms were confiscated by theAllied Forces. The Sultan and his Government led by Damad Ferid were happy to keep their positions and didn’t want to anger the invading powers. Nationalists, on the other hand wanted to fight for independence.

The Ottoman Sultans also held the title of Caliph. The Sultan was considered the religious leader of all Muslims around the world. There was also Sheikh al Islam, who was the highest religious authority after Sultan in the Empire. The Sultan’s Firman’s and the Shekh al Islam’s Fatwas were against the Nationalists. The nationalists were being declared Infidels and outlaws for revolting against Sultan’s orders.

In that kind of atmosphere it was hard to know which side each Officer took. Would they stay loyal to Sultan or join Nationalists and take orders from Ankara where Mustafa Kemal was staying. The bandits and militia were at the same position. They would either join the Nationalists or the Sultan’s men.

The Nationalist were not welcomed in small towns.People were worried that their presence would anger the approaching Greek Army. They didn’t want Greek Army to burn their villages and some were ready to surrender.The nationalist were easy to spot with their fur caps.

The Allied Forces were pressuring the Government in Istanbul to oppress the Anatolian Revolt.

In Bursa and Bandirma regions there were Circassians and other Caucasians who had escaped from the Russians and took refuge in Anatolia. They had the same choise to make whether or not supporting the Nationalists.

 The most famous Circassian Warlord was Ethem; whose older brothers were also army officers. Ethem was from a prosperous family. He was the youngest beloved son of a rich Circassian Bey. His father didn’t want him to join the Army, so he could stay and take care of their farm… Ethem decided to support
Nationalist without hesitation since his brothers were Unionists as well.

Jamil and his friends heard the news of Greek Army landing on Izmir.

Turning Point

Mustafa Kemal was leading the War of Independece from Ankara in those days. The Representatives Committee was founded in Ankara and they were supporting the Indepence. Captain Jamil and his friend Captain Selahaddin were receiving orders from Mustafa Kemal. Their task was pursuading various Army Units to join Nationalists and making sure the Commanders were not influenced by Istanbul.

 Some Commanders supported Mustafa Kemal, while some had difficulty deciding and were unwilling to revolt against the Sultan.

Jamil went to Bursa to either persuade Yusuf Izzed Pasha to join the Nationalists or arrest him if necessary and took control of the Army Corps.

The Circassian Commander Anzavour, unlike Ethem; was on Sultan’s side. With the British aid he gathered a strong army.He has the backing of the British and a strong force. His army was proceeding in the direction of Bursa to fight against Nationalists.

 Jamil in a way ambushed the Military base and persuaded Yusuf Izzed Pasha, to go to Ankara and leave his post to Colonel Osman. Jamil was acting as the Governor of the City and Security Chief.

Bursa was the Capital of Ottomans’ before Istanbul was conquered and an important city. Jamil was anxiously waiting for the final battle between the Anzavour supporters and the Nationalists. Anzavour was approaching the city from the west and Nationalists were coming from the east.

 One day his old friend Dr.Munir showed up in Bursa. He was coming from Bandirma. He went there to collect the Sultan’s fatwas and keep them under lock so that the Fatwa’s wouldn’t reach the hands of the wider population.

Nationalists were fighting against the Greek Army as well as the Sultan’s supporters. A psychological war was going on against the Sultan while religious authorities are trying to persuade the people not to join Nationalists. They also issued death warrants for Mustafa Kemal and his supporters.

The future and independence of the country was at stake.

The novel concludes with Ethem’s victory over Anzavour.

Kemal Tahir