The Tired Warrior
Chapter 4
Halil Pasha and Patriot were playing chess, as usual, after
having lunch. For hours they were thinking without moving from their spot.
Pasha was rubbing his chin. Patriot’s fists were on his knees, he was biting
his mustache.
Jamil was watching the game. At first, he wasn’t interested
but now he was as interested as the players. He looked at Dr. Munir, who was
reading. Jamil thought it was good that Dr. Munir was reading and not watching
the game. He would have been surprised by how involved all of them were with the
game when the country was in so much trouble. He would have been surprised at
how we can forget our troubles which are just like vultures waiting for our
death.
The Doctor didn’t like people thinking for hours in front of
a chessboard. He called that kind of thinking ‘unproductive thinking’. He used
to say, ‘A chess game is not even an exercise in thinking. The real job of the
mind is to find out the truth, to understand the truth completely, and to change
it. The game of chess is wasting the mind in an unnecessary task, making the
mind tired and thus preventing it from performing its real job for a short
while. This is the worst kind of laziness; to use your strength for something
other than your real purpose and occupy your mind with something seemingly more
important. Playing chess is a good example of that kind of waste.”
Jamil lit another cigarette. Dr. Munir was sitting at the
bench and reading a history book written by Naima
with great attention as usual. His old fur was across his shoulders and his
glasses were on the tip of his nose. Another man would have looked old with
those types of glasses, but he looked like a child with them. He raised his
head and looked outside for a while; then looked sad, as if he didn’t like what
he saw. Jamil met him in the Hospital in Damascus. He never saw him reading there.
He wondered, ‘Didn’t he have books
available to him at that time or did he think reading while everybody was
dying was not appropriate?’
Patriot made a move on the board. After that, he went back
to his deep thinking. Pasha didn’t move a finger, as if his opponent didn’t do
anything.
Gulnihal came into the room, silent as a cat, and left the
daily papers by the doctor’s side.
Jamil took one of them as if he didn’t really want to. He
checked the headlines. He yawned and stretched. He had been stuck in this house
for two and a half months since February 6th, the day Rashid the
Circassian, former Governor of Diyarbakir, had died. Maksood was right. They
put an arrest order for Jamil for helping a criminal escape and battery and
attack a police Officer while on duty. The injuries of the Police Officer
were serious.
Worst of all was that the man Jamil had beaten had a brother
who was a Police Chief at the Beyoglu Station. They were Albanians. He turned
the situation into a blood feud. He wanted to find Jamil. Even prison was not
an option for him. This might end in one of them being dead. His house and
his neighborhood were under watch. Haji, the shopkeeper, was asking the
whereabouts of Jamil. Some sales ladies or beggars came and knocked on their door.
Some days, people came to their door pretending that they were looking for a
house to rent. Salime often saw people in front of their windows or looking
through the yard's walls.
There was a search warrant for Jamil because he was
considered a criminal. But other Unionists were under watch as well, even
though they hadn’t done anything wrong. The members of the Freedom and Accord Party and the Officers who were supporting them
were after the Unionists. They were
spying on them.
The Military Court Marshall headed by General Ali Fevzi was
investigating ‘Young Turk’ activities
as far back as 1888. Another Court Marshall headed by General Nazim was
investigating the war crimes and Unionists' role in them. They already hung
Bogazliyan District Governor Kamal and Urfa Governor Nusret; so it was getting
serious.
The general state of affairs was getting worse every day in
the Country. In the east, the Armenian State was being found. Kurds wanted a
large area to be separated from the Empire and were seeking support from the
Foreign States. There was some talk about the British, French, Italian, and
Greek occupation of various parts of the country. All the railroads and ports
were under Allied Armies’ control. It was impossible to stay in Istanbul for a long time and there were not many places in Anatolia to seek refuge.
Dr. Munir put his book down and started to read the papers.
Halil Pasha was not doing well at the game. Dr. Munir said, “That’s bad!”
“What’s bad?”
Dr. Munir put the paper down and looked over his glasses,
“President Wilson approved the Greek Occupation of Izmir and surrounding areas!”
“No way!”
“That’s really bad. Our Caliph couldn’t even negotiate the
Mandate Solution. Maybe it would have been better to accept the Mandate of one
of the Occupied Forces and keep the country together. But no, they wanted to
divide the country, regardless!” He looked at Jamil and said, “You can’t go to
Kuscubasi Ranch and rest now. It looks like you are going to be a Zaybak
fighter after all, instead of being a farmer.” He was pensive. There was a wink
in his eyes. He said to Jamil, “You were asking Pasha yesterday whether we
could have avoided the war at the time. Pasha didn’t give you a definitive
answer. I wonder what he thinks about the current situation.”
“I told you before Doctor, there was no way of avoiding the
war!” Halil Pasha said.
“Yes, there was a way!”
“What was that?”
“Abdulhamid would have found a way!”
“Do you think that we were wrong to dethrone him?”
“Yes, I think so.”
“I don’t understand, Liberty is not a crime. We brought
Freedom to the country.”
“But who wanted the Freedom?”
Halil Pasha was serious. “What do you mean ‘who wanted the Freedom’?”
“You will say that the People wanted Freedom.”
“Yes”
“That was a weak yes,
my dear Pasha! We were just a small group of Military Officers and Government
Employees! How did we know the ‘People’
wanted the ‘Freedom’ when there were
no widespread political Organizations in the vast Empire?”
Halil Pasha looked like he was going to answer to this immediately
but he hesitated and tried to laugh. He said; “You Freemason, you Pig! Let’s
say you are right for a minute, let’s say the people didn’t ask for Freedom.
Let’s say we didn’t even know what Freedom meant for the country.”
“That’s right, even we didn’t know...”
“Let’s say we didn’t know. Damn it! The country was
collapsing. We wanted democracy to save the country.”
“How did we know that democracy was going to save the
country?”
“Then we got disappointed and we didn’t know what to do.”
“Yes.”
“We asked, ‘Now that
we had our revolution, what are we going to do with it?’ I resigned from
the Party, and you, I mean the rulers of the Party, started to look for new
recruits, hoping to manage better in the future!”
Halil Pasha nodded. He said, “We didn’t think about Human
Resources until we started ruling the country! We didn’t know that it was
necessary to have a core group of trained personnel to run the country. We
thought if we could bring back the Constitution, then all the Ottoman
population would work together for the good of the country. We thought
everything would change for the better. After thirty- two years of autocratic
government, we thought all those who opposed Abdulhamid were our friends. Those people were the best people in
the country. We thought everybody would work hard and within a year we expected
to see the results. Especially our intellectual friends in Europe were
optimistic. They opposed Abdulhamid
and they were clever enough to find solutions to all the difficult problems
that we faced. Then we found out some were not knowledgeable, some lacked
experience. They wanted to help but their methods didn’t work. Some thought
about their personal gains. Within six months we understood that we were in
trouble. This shows you two things. First, we were not total fools and we were
working in good faith. We brought back the Constitution and we didn’t take
positions in the Government right away. We didn’t think about taking advantage
of our positions and robbing the country, like the ones before us. You know
that better than anybody.”
Halil Pasha was silent for a while as if he was expecting an
answer, then he sighed and continued. “We realized soon that we needed people
for the executive and administrative positions. However, there was no time to
prepare. I thought about this problem a lot! We should have chosen the Cabinet
Members and administrative personnel before the Revolution so that they would
be ready to take responsibility soon after. We weren’t prepared and we didn’t
have time to think about that after the Revolution either. Our ship was in the
middle of the worst storm that the world had ever seen. From mast to the bilge,
the ship cracked and showed signs of eminent dismantling. Do you remember Vehib Pasha? When he returned from
Diyarbakir he was full of joy. You have seen him, he was so happy to have found
the sociologist Ziya Gokalp. He was
saying, ’ We found our light, He is going
to direct us.’ At the time nobody knew Ziya
Gokalp. You call him a ‘phony’ but remember how we treated him then. We
thought we really had found a treasure and gave him all the resources we could.
We thought everything he said was important. The youth of the country were our
only hope, yet we have let Ziya Gokalp educate them. He had complete authority
over recruiting the personnel and training them. If you think he misused his
power that wouldn’t be fair to him. He did the best he could. He was not
trained for a job like that. His knowledge was limited. That’s why he listened
more than he talked and he often looked pensive. You used to say that he was
dozing off. As he was trying to train the youth he was also working hard on his
own education. He fell off the cliff like everyone else with the collapse of
the Empire. He tried to form an ideology from three contradictory ideas:
Ottomanism, Islamism, and Pan-Turkism. When you take that road, you have to
accept that it will result in failure, and we failed.”
Halil Pasha rubbed his face. “We governed the country 9
years, 8 months, and 12 days. In this short period of time we had so many
disastrous wars. Even in those hard times, we had the best people working for us
in the country. They all came together under the Unionist Party’s roof. Even
today, whoever wants to do anything in this Country in this dismantled state,
they will only find the Unionists for the job. If they refuse to employ
Unionists; they can’t accomplish anything!”
“You are right in that respect, Pasha!”
“I am right on the other subject to. They imply that we
could have chosen not to enter the War. Did we have any liberty especially in
an important matter like that? We didn’t have enough time to even consider
building a Primary School properly. You know very well how the Officers of the
Third Army joined the Party en mass. In a couple of years, everybody was
concerned about having a Democratic Constitution. It was because we were losing
Rumeli. In fact, we should have known that we had already lost that territory
after the Balkan Wars. After the Reval Entente, what was left of the
Empire? We could have just given up and waited for the execution or taken
action without thinking about the outcome. We chose the second option. Even
though we didn’t have hope, we wanted to fight. At first, the English supported
us because they didn’t want Germany to have so much presence in the Ottoman
Empire. We didn’t know that was the reason why we were successful in the Young
Turk Revolution. Freedom came too easily to us. We thought it was our own
power. We had reached our goal of saving the Constitution. Then things took a
turn for the worse. Germany’s Policies changed and we were disappointed. The
rest was just slipping down the hill fast. We were relying on Islam but that
didn’t work either. Democracy didn’t work for us. Everyone wanted to
separate. We chose the wrong paths and
became ruthless. We only found Anatolian Turks with us. And we were aware of
the conditions that the Anatolian Turks were facing. The Empire needed other
resources. The Germans started telling us pan Tooranism stories at that
desperate moment. We believed in those stories like it was our survival. We
wanted the support of Turks in Caucasia and Central Asia. There was no other
choice at the time. It was too late when we finally realized that they were
different from us.”
He smiled. “If we had won the Battle of Sarikamish, and went
to Caucasia as planned, still we couldn’t have reached Tooran with just 95
thousand soldiers. Even if we reached there we couldn’t have kept it. Even if
we kept it the Germans would have claimed the territory. We almost got into a
fight with the Germans over this in Baku even though we had lost the war long
before that!”
“You were talking about the First Canal Campaign the other
day! Jamal Pasha knew that he could not
have conquered Egypt with only twenty-five thousand soldiers. Even if he
conquered he couldn’t have kept it.”
“He knew that. Forget about Egypt. Forget about Tooran. He
was worried about the German presence in Anatolia. Today’s youth don’t
understand that. Our main problem was the fact that we were in denial. We
couldn’t accept the collapse of the Empire because we wanted to believe that it
was still holding up. You have to consider the time that we were in power. It’s
all subjective, everyone has their own ideas. At the time we believed in the
solutions that were proposed to us and got all the support we could get. We
were optimistic. We are not realists anyway. We are fatalists as a nation. It
is easy to deceive ourselves. When the Imam of Yemen didn’t care about us, the
world’s greatest power, Germany, gave us new warships and millions in gold.
Germany wanted us as a partner to colonize the world. We stupidly believed
that. We thought there could be nothing better. We thought that it was a great
opportunity for the country! Then we felt self-important and therefore, we were
not going to listen to anyone opposing our views. If someone tried to warn us,
we would think that he was working for the enemy and called him a ‘traitor’”
“Then let me ask you another question. After the war has
started couldn’t we find an opportunity to end the war for our country? Weren’t
there any opportunities that we could have used? Why didn’t we smarten up after
Sarikamish? When the Germans attacked the French for the very first time they
were not successful, which showed this war would take a while. Our success in
Gallipoli or the Bolshevik Revolution might have given us a reason to end the
war.
Halil straightened up in his chair. He used to be
indifferent but now for the first time in his life, he felt the obligation to
defend himself. He squirted his eyes as if he wanted to see far ahead. “This
question of ending the war and making a truce was considered a couple of times.
The real problem was not how to achieve a cease-fire. The underlying cause was
the rivalry between Enver and Talat! You know that. From time to time I have
thought about making a truce but it was not like I would find a solution and be
able to convince our guys. It was more like thinking about a move in a chess
game.” He showed the board in front of him as he spoke. “At the beginning of
the war, we lost ninety thousand men at Sarikamish. Then we sent elite troops to
Galicia, Romania, and Macedonia, one hundred twenty thousand men! We sent some
units to Iran; for no good reason while the enemy sent regiments to Iraq! On
the Palestinian front, the power shifted one against ten against us yet we sent
troops to Baku going through Batumi! We are not talking about the costs of
those operations; we are talking about human life. Millions were dead and
millions were wounded! The cities, the towns, were wiped away from the maps! The vast territory was in danger. And suddenly we found ourselves in the middle of
the ruins, guilty! It is too much responsibility to bear. We don’t know what to
do. In the beginning, there was reasoning, now we can’t reason. We only see the
piles of dead bodies that we murdered. All of those dead people pointing at us
and accusing us. Everything that we said, every excuse, every defense, doesn’t
work. They all show that we were not capable, we were not smart. We killed so
many for the sake of CUP, our “secret organization”, yet you should have seen
us at our last meeting where we dissolved the organization. We betrayed our
secret organization and let it defend itself in front of history! We were
twelve including Enver, Talat, Jamal, Bahaaddin, Shakir, Doctor Nazim, and
others. Twelve poor souls. I don’t know what will happen to us from now on! But
the worst penalty for us was the one that we had been through that day. Nothing
is sadder than that last day.”
Enver Pasha’s uncle Halil Pasha put his hand over Patriot
Omer’s fist and stopped talking. Patriot was his only real friend in this
world. Then he said, “Yes, Doctor, we were facing a problem much larger than we
could have dealt with. We were in such a position that we couldn’t stop. We
couldn’t move forward and we couldn’t surrender. Even if we won the war we
couldn’t handle the outcomes. It was a complete dead-end.”
“Why did we come to a dead-end? I think it is because we
like gambling as a party.”
“What do you mean?”
“War has to be avoided even if you know for sure that you
are going to win. The only time one country should enter a war is when there is
no way to avoid it. So how did we know that there was no way of avoiding war?
If it was Abdulhamid, he would not enter the war. Because he didn’t want war.
We gambled. It was a kind of gamble that we couldn’t win. We rolled the dice we
won. Then we rolled the dice again and lost everything!” He looked sad. “Four
million men died from our side. What did we gain?” He shook the paper with
anger. “We did that because it was in our nature to gamble. We hadn’t thought
things through carefully. The mood of the nation was tolerating gambling at
the time, that’s why we got to rule the country in the first place. CUP was
first established in the year 1888, some twenty years before the Second
Constitutional Era. The Ottoman Liberty Association was established in
Salonika in September 1906. Why did the people who had been working for twenty
years let newcomers who had been on the job for one and a half years to lead?
Because the times were suitable to gamble. The world was going in that
direction. The cleverest nations put everything they had on the gambling table.
Four or five gunshots were heard in Rumeli;
four-five hundred people took to the mountains in Resne; a couple of telegrams were sent. Suddenly we saw that it was
done! We had our Revolution. We gained Liberty.
Then came the events of 31st March, the tables were turned,
and we had fallen down. The Army of Action came to our rescue and we found all
the cards piled in front of us again. We lost Bosnia Herzegovina and Bulgaria.
We thought, ’It is a game we can
sometimes lose sometimes gain”. Libya was the same thing. It was a gamble
as well. The Balkan Defeat was no different. When the enemy was at Chatalja, we
conducted the Babiali Coup and then turned our attention to get Edirne
back. This all happened because of the gambler mentality. All the educated
people, all the smart people, all the real patriotic people were on our side.
In effect, the entire Ottoman community was caught up in the gamble. Why did the
Anatolian People call the Great War ‘Mobilization’? They
were expecting a mobilization. When they heard the drums, men of all ages went
running to the Military Recruitment Offices. General Ali Fuad told me how
hysterical the people were at the train Stations when they were leaving for
Egypt; I was astonished. When we were opposing your policies, we were not
against the gamble. We wanted to play as well. We were mad at you; because you
weren’t giving the dice to us. These are not even my thoughts. An English
writer who came to Istanbul in 1914 wrote these words. See how he analyzed us!”
Munir picked a page from a pile of papers in front of him and started to read,
“The Istanbul of 1914 was a huge gambling house where large
amounts of gambling were going on. It was approaching closing time. The money
lost all its value, and the cards and the dice lost their value as well. The Queen
of Hearts was being used instead of the Nine of Spades. When the dice were
showing four, they were playing six. You can’t even call that cheating. There
were no rules. It wasn’t just Ottomans. The other countries were no longer
controlling their ambassadors and diplomatic personnel in Istanbul. They were
conducting their business irresponsibly, as they saw fit. No one was counting
the money; no one was checking for counterfeit money, no one was trying to find
out if the cheques were good. However, I have never seen a Capital where so
many skilled diplomats were together. English, French, Russian, and German
Ambassadors were all too proud and old school but they were all the best that
their own Foreign Ministries had. They too were carried away by that gambling.
They thought that the Young Turks were uneducated and inexperienced. They
were sure the Young Turks would be wiped off the scene soon. In their eyes, Enver Pasha was a young spendthrift who
could be easily influenced. Like all the other handsome young men he was
arrogant. He was lucky at the gamble and won a couple of times. That’s why he
considers himself lucky. He was shy and modest and behind that front, he was
hiding his unlimited pride and self-confidence. He is really fearless. More
dangerous than his pride is his boldness that is hidden under that cool and
aloof look. Those types won’t be bothered by any mistakes. They can make
dangerous decisions without hesitation.
I don’t know how he will be stopped by the ones who are pushing him
forward. To be ruled by such a man when the world was preparing for a large-scale war was unfortunate for the Ottoman Empire. If the war starts, Enver will
be allied with the Germans. He is leaning towards them. In reality, Enver has a superiority complex and he is violent. They are compatible with the German
ambassador. The German ambassador is
proud as well. He dislikes all kinds of weaknesses and hesitations. On the
other hand, his ability to speak a couple of languages and his knowledge make
him, unlike Enver. He shows off his knowledge to humiliate others. He is not
Prussian but he looks like one because of his height and his large head that
looks like an old-fashioned cannonball! These are the people who are leading
the Empire now. The Ottoman Empire would go head first to the war with these
leaders. Even if the Turks don’t want to fight, the Germans will push them to war.
The storm that is approaching is far too strong for Ottomans to handle. With
their small army that has been defeated in the Balkan Wars, they can’t win this
war. The Turks will have their plans of course or someone else will do the
planning. In that case, the Ottomans would accept those plans thinking that they
were their own ideas. They will think that they will gain a lot and they will
be happy. People are prone to use their craftiness. Islamism will make them go
to India; Pan Tooranism will make
them go to Siberia and Ottomanism
will make them go to maybe not Vienna but to Rumeli of pre Balkan War. The Western powers and the others won’t
be interested in these after the war has erupted. I don’t know about Ottoman
allies but the other side will forget about Turks soon. They won’t even notice
that Ottomans entered the war.”
“That’s what he said.” Munir shook his head. “That’s how the
foreigners saw us in 1914.”
Patriot was listening to the doctor. First, he was surprised,
then sad, and finally mad. His long-fingered hands, which were resting on his
knees, looked lifeless. Those hands only came alive when he pulled his gun. He
started to talk; his speech was in contrast to his posture. “That’s Bullshit.
It wasn’t gambling. We were ready for the noose for so many years. That Englishman
in his comfortable position thinks it is easy to have one’s life on the line.
Enver Pasha wasn’t a gambler. He never played with dice. He wouldn’t know the King of Heart in a deck of cards! Whatever our friends have done they did it for the good of the country.
The foreigners called the Ottoman Empire the ‘Sick
man of Europe’. They wanted their share of the estate. They were waiting
for our death. We didn’t want to die in misery. We said, ‘Either victory or death’. We are not cowards; we had our guns so
we fought. When you go into a fight you can’t make too many calculations. In
every war, some comrades inevitably will fall and the others keep fighting. We
couldn’t just sit and wait to rot. We couldn’t allow ourselves to be thrown
away like ashes. We have fought until the last breath. That’s how history will
be written about us. We are still alive. Thank God! You don’t kill the horse at
the first misstep. We will come back even stronger. Unionists won’t give up
that easily. We don’t look like we have surrendered, do we? We hit the bottom
but we will climb up again. We need courage. We got in a mess but we have
strong friends around us. They can’t wipe us out off the map with this defeat.
Even if we lose the Monarchy we will still have the Caliphate. Even if we lose
the Caliphate we will still have Islam. Including the Balkan War, this is our
second defeat! If there will be a third war we will win. You will see we will
get back on our feet much sooner than expected. If the Unionists really pull
their forces together we will overcome this.”
Dr. Munir listened. He was smiling. Patriot was more
optimistic recently. He was not feeling as guilty as before in the matter of
Dr. Rashid’s death since the executions of Bogazliyan District Governor Kamal
and Nusret.
Dr. Munir understood Omer’s feelings and he was not getting
mad at his ideas anymore. He said, “I hope so Patriot. I know you will do your
best till the end but there is one matter.”
“What is that?”
The other day Kara
Vasif paid us a visit to discuss the Karakol
association. He started his speech as usual ‘We
need to save the country ‘. You were not in the room. I asked him how he
was going to do that. He said ‘It is easy
‘I asked him to explain the ‘easy’
part! He hesitated. I saw that after all these years we haven’t learned
anything! We have nothing but darkness ahead. It is as bad as 1908. That is not
good. That is not for the good of the country.” Before Patriot could answer
they heard the bell ring. There were three rings and silence, then three more
rings. Dr. Munir exhaled, “It’s not a stranger...”
Jamil stood up. “I will get it.”
Munir rushed. “Please, you stay here. I will answer to the
door. Remember, if I yell ‘Gulnihal’ just run away.” He stopped at the door and
turned to Patriot, “I don’t want any gunfire! If they circled us, we can’t
pull through, because the only place left in this world for us is Bekiraga
Prison.” And with that, he left.
Without getting anxious the men started to get ready while
listening outside. Halil Pasha put his boots on. Jamil and Patriot went to the
room that they were sleeping in. They put on their jackets and put the guns in
their pocket. In case they were ambushed, that was their escape route. Dr.
Munir had renovated the basement windows. Larger windows were installed in case
they had to flee from there to the neighbor’s yard.
They were surprised when they only heard Dr. Munir’s
footsteps on the stairs. They looked at each other. Dr. Munir was smiling. “It
was Lieutenant Farouk...”
“Why didn’t he come in?”
“He is in a hurry! Jamil, he has news for you, get ready,
you are going with him.”
“Where am I going? Why?”
“Maksood sent for you, the carriage is waiting.”
“Am I to come back here?”
“Yes!”
Jamil got worried. “Did something happen to my family?”
“No...No, it is nothing like that. Farouk said everything
was OK. Don’t worry, Jamil, I would have understood from his expression if
something was wrong.”
Jamil rushed down the stairs before the Doctor finished
talking. The Lieutenant was waiting in the front yard smoking. He didn’t have
his uniform on. But upon seeing Jamil he saluted him and hid his cigarette.
“Hello Lieutenant. Is everything all right back home?”
“Hello, Captain! Everything is fine. There is nothing to
worry about. Please get in the carriage.”
“Where are we going?”
“Neriman wanted to see you...”
“Is that right? What for? Where is she now?
“I brought her to a friend’s house. You know him...Major
Shukru Kazasker.”
“Yes, I know him. So what is the matter?”
“Maksood said not to worry.”
Jamil put his coat collar up and hid his face. They were
walking fast. Farouk said Neriman phoned Maksood and said she needed to talk to
you, so I went to meet her at Beshiktash.”
“Is my aunt Salime sick?”
“No.”
“What is it then? Couldn’t she have disclosed it to you?”
“I don’t know.”
The carriage was waiting for them at Ethem Effendi Road. On
the way, Farouk asked him about his days at Munir’s.
“I got used to living there but I don’t like being an
inconvenience to the Doctor. Gulnihal
Kalfa is getting tired. It is difficult to feed three people secretly. There are
supposed to be two people at home but we are five people. We get milk two times
a week. Every time she has to tell the milkman that she is going to make
pudding or custard or something. They brought us drinks and cigarettes from
Kadikoy. Buying daily bread is the hardest. Everyone knows each other around
here. They all notice the slightest changes in daily activities. The shops are
not crowded. People have time to think. We are also afraid of Gulnihal’s anger
and chitchatting. She might say something to someone. She is a good cook
though! Halil already had put on some
weight and started to talk about going on a diet. If it were not so much
trouble for the Doctor, I would be happy to be a prisoner here. I’ve benefited
a lot from the talks that we’ve had. Halil Pasha tells us a lot of stories that
we didn’t know. They are on opposite sides with the doctor. While I listen to
them I realise my own lack of knowledge. That is how it is on our side. How are
you? What’s new?
“The British changed their mind about putting the Unionist
leaders on trial...”
“What are they going to do with them?”
“I think they will send them to Malta.”
“Is it better?”
“Yes, if they are to be sent to exile without being tried it
will be easier to get them out of there. Some members are planning to ambush
the ship.”
“What’s happening in Izmir?”
“It is very unfortunate. They are letting the Greeks occupy
Izmir. No one believed that at first. I think it is already decided. The
Italians opposed the idea at first but the British, the Americans and the
French were adamant.”
“It is really complicated. What’s our Government doing?”
“They don’t know what to do. The people who know Damad Ferid
say that even if the Ottoman Empire doesn’t collapse, he will find a way to put
us in trouble. Thank God we are over the initial shock. People are organizing
meetings. Do you read the papers? There are new organizations everywhere all
over the country to defend our rights. Various Political Parties have been
founded in different cities like the Peace Party, the Ottoman Workers Party,
and the Turkish Socialists Party.”
“What does ‘Socialist’
mean?
“I have no idea; I think they are interested in workers’
rights.”
“Are they Bolsheviks?”
“No, they said that they were not Bolsheviks.”
“Do people show any interest?”
“No.”
“So they won’t have any effect on things.”
“It is better than nothing.” Farouk lowered his voice.
“There is another important group being formed.”
Jamil asked, “Is that Karakol?”
“No, not Karakol;
this one is called ‘National Defence’ and founded by the Officers, they will work
with some reliable irregulars as well.”
“The Chief of Staff knows about this?”
“Not officially but they know.”
Farouk hadn’t told the coachman the address, that’s why when
they reached Ziverbey he stopped and asked for directions. Farouk wanted him to
go to Kazasker. They got off at Bakkalbasi and turned into a narrow street.
“We are here Captain, it is that house.” Farouk showed.
Farouk was mumbling something. Jamil asked him; “Did you say
something?”
“I am sorry we got you in trouble, Captain. I don’t know what
to say to Neriman. After all those years of hardship, she is alone again. You
should be spending time with your fiancé instead of helping us.”
“Don’t worry. She was a military wife before and she will be
again. She is used to that.” Then he asked, “Is Shukru home?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Is he married? Is there somebody at the home?” He hoped to
be alone with Neriman.
“He is married. His wife and children should be home.” Farouk
rang the doorbell. An orderly answered the door. The house had a neat yard.
There was a neat chicken coop on the left side by the wall. The orderly lead
them to the rooms on the ground floor. Then a young girl in a nice dress
brought some coffee for them. When they finished drinking their coffee an old
lady came and said, “Jamil, you can come now.” Jamil stood up and left the
room.
“Please come this way.”
“Thank you.” He approached the room and hesitated to enter.
The old lady said, “You can go in. Neriman is in this room.”
“Thank you.” He realized how difficult it must be for
Neriman to meet him in a foreigner’s home.
Jamil was embarrassed and sad. He entered the room looking down and
feeling guilty. Neriman had her green wool sweater on. She was waiting for him.
Jamil tried to smile. “What happened?” Then he thought better of it and said,
“I am glad you came.” Neriman looked pale as if she was sick. She tried to
smile as well. Jamil gave her a hug. “I am so glad you came. It doesn’t matter
for what reason.” He kissed her. “I missed you so much. You have no idea. Then
he kissed her again and asked, “What happened?”
“I...” Neriman checked the door. She looked scared. “It is
not very important.” When Jamil tried to kiss her again she stopped him.
“Please sit down. I have to leave soon, I can’t be late.”
“What is the matter?”
I don’t know. I am scared.” Then she hugged him and buried
her face in his chest. “I think I am pregnant. I can’t sleep. I will go crazy.
How can we explain this to mother?” She started to cry. “I am so ashamed”
“Do you know for sure? Maybe you are not pregnant. Don’t
cry. You are sobbing like a child. Please don’t cry.” He stroked her hair and
kissed her. “How do you know? Did you get a check-up?” He sat down and wondered
if he was happy about the news. Then he asked again, “Are you sure?”
“I am two months late.”
“I understand.”
“I can’t eat. I have morning sickness. I crave things...”
“Can’t you do something about it? Maybe there is something
you can take. I heard once that they put quinine in brandy and drink it to end
a pregnancy.”
“I thought about that but I can’t do it. If it is not
successful there is a chance that the baby might be born unhealthy. I don’t
want to bleed to death either. What if I faint? My mother will find out...”
“That’s right. You thought well.” He lit a cigarette. “What
should we do? Do you want to go see a doctor?”
“No, I can’t, I will be embarrassed. I can’t talk about this
to anyone, certainly not to a male doctor.”
“I understand. What should we do?” He held Neriman’s hand
and kissed her palm.
“It is my fault. I got into trouble and made you sad. I
should have refused to help these guys.”
“No Jamil, you had to go when Omer called you.”
“What should we do? Did you say two months?”
“Yes, maybe even more. I don’t know. I hesitated to contact Maksood. Is there a danger for you now to be in this house?”
“Don’t worry about that. There is no danger.” Jamil embraced
her again when they heard the yogurt seller’s voice from the street. They
separated from each other and smiled. Neriman stood up to leave. “I should go
now. I have to go back before dark. You think about this and find a solution.”
“We know the solution; to get married right away.”
“Wouldn’t it look weird when you are in hiding and in danger
of getting arrested, people will wonder why we got married in a hurry?”
“I will say that I wanted to get married right away. There
is no other way. Don’t worry, it is easy. I will let Maksood know and he will
find Imam Yahya and we will get married tonight.”
“They will understand the situation.”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“Where are we going to get married?”
“At home.”
“No.” Neriman looked scared; her eyes grew round with fear.
“They watch the house and the Grocer Haji asks Enver if you were at home the
previous night almost every day. What kind of a lowlife is he? What does he
want from us?”
“Don’t worry. I will be careful. Don’t think about this.”
“I will die if they arrest you. They sent the Unionists to
Devil’s Island!”
“Where is that?”
“It is far away. There is no way out of Malta.”
“No...No...I won’t get arrested and even if I got arrested
they won’t send me to Malta. Things will change for the better. All our enemies
will go away. Neriman, wait, don’t go. Sit down and we can talk some more.”
“I can’t stay. I don’t want to give more trouble to our
hosts here.”
She let him kiss her and said, “Take care, don’t get sick!”
“Wait!”
Jamil tried to hold her but she walked away, “Bye now.
Remember, I won’t tell Mother that I have seen you today.”
Jamil was back at Dr. Munir’s place.
Jamil was reading Jules
Verne’s The Lighthouse at the End of the World but got bored and put it
away. He turned his attention to the window. Everywhere was wet outside after
three days of nonstop rain. And everything was desperate. The grey of the sea
was blended in the grey of the sky and there was no line between them on the
horizon. On the seashore, it was as if there was no water, just a gradual stop
leading downhill to the end of the earth.
It was May 14th but the spring of 1919 hadn’t arrived yet.
Patriot and Halil were playing chess again. Doctor Munir was studying the
history book of Naima and was taking
notes.
Jamil counted the chimes when the clock in the hall struck
three even though he knew it was three o’ clock. He wanted to get rid of the
numbness he was feeling and rubbed his chin.
He had to shave and get ready soon. He was getting married
that night to Neriman. He smiled.
Dr. Munir heard the approaching horses on the street and as
he raised his head he saw Jamil’s smile. “Oh! The groom is happy! I know why
you are smiling.”
“No, I just saw the horses...”
Munir recited a poem, “I raised strong horses but for no
use...I couldn’t ride them...”
They saw servants taking horses to the quay for their
masters who would arrive by boat. “That is Kazasker’s Kula, she is a calm
horse...You know what they say, ‘Raise the white horse, ride the dark, and sell
the Kula’ because Kula is considered unlucky but not for the Kazasker. Did you
see Sadi’s boat passing by?”
“No.”
“Then the steamship won’t arrive soon. Neveser comes fifteen minutes late. The other one, Ihsan, is a better ship.”
“Yes, it is better.”
Doctor Munir looked at the sea over his glasses. “The sea is
colorless today. It looks like clouds. In days like that the ships look like
they are sailing on the clouds. It makes me wonder.” He asked, “You haven’t
shaved yet?”
“There is still time.”
Halil Pasha realized that he was going to checkmate
Patriot’s King in no time so he stopped playing. “Patriot, do you realize you
are done? Send your delegates to Montrose.”
“I lost the Elephant. I wasn’t paying attention.”
“If it was the other way around you would say that you won
the game because you were a better player?”
Dr. Munir laughed at that. “That’s the Law of the Unionists
Halil Pasha! You know...”
Halil Pasha talked without breaking his gaze to Munir. “Hey
Patriot, if we get to rule the country again let’s show Munir what the real Law
of the Unionist is by shooting him in that thin neck!”
“Oh! You think are going to rule the country again!”
Patriot’s answer was surprisingly cool and self-confident.
“What do you think? Of course, we will rule the country again. If you ask me we
are already in power!”
“How come? How did you get the power again? Just by sending
a couple of telegrams again, using Albanians?”
“You will see. What did the Minister of Foreign Affairs Gabriel Norandoughian tell the foreign
ambassadors?
“When?”
“When the Bulgarians came to Chatalja...”
“What did he say?”
“He begged them to intervene and find a solution. The
foreigners didn’t take action. One morning when they saw him again he was
having his coffee happily. They waited for the same speech but there was no
more begging. They asked, “How is it going?” He said calmly, “Things have
changed. When Turks are on the Offensive, there is no backing away. Now it is
your turn to beg. Try saving the Bulgarians!”
“What does that have to do with anything?”
“There is Defence
Organizations all over the country. They are important. Karakol is strong as well. God willing. We are coming back,
Doctor, from now on, it is child's play!” He seemed serious. “Kazim Karabekir
went to Erzurum with the 15th Army Corps. Do you know what it means?
Mustafa Kemal will also go to Anatolia as an Army Inspector. What if he meets
Enver?”
“Oh! Will he meet
Enver Pasha?”
“They have to put their differences aside and come together
for the country!”
“Why do the British want Mustafa Kemal to go to Anatolia? Do
they want him to meet Enver?”
“God put a black veil in front of their eyes! The Westerners
are stupid sometimes, even the British! God is with us. Is that right, Pasha?”
Halil Pasha was putting his cigarette on his cigarette
holder. He smiled. “Patriot, I don’t think Mustafa Kemal and Enver will get
along...”
“They don’t have any choice. Maksood said that Nuri Pasha
brought new troops from Caucasia the other day. He said there are new Regiments
composed of Circassian, Georgian and Azeri soldiers. The Bolsheviks are giving
the weapons.”
“Maksood hears all this and The Britts don’t? Father Frau
is a clever man. I think Mustafa Kamal deceived the British. He told them he
would stop Enver. The Greeks are going to invade Izmir. Under these conditions
why should Mustafa Kemal go to Samsun? I think the English trust Kazim
Karabekir as well. Otherwise they wouldn’t send him to Erzurum. There is
something going on. Why did Rauf leave
his post as Minister of Marine? Why did he go to Anatolia? The British have
always trusted Rauf! What do you say, Doctor?”
Dr. Munir was looking at him over his glasses absently.
Halil Pasha asked again, “I am talking about Rauf’s going to Anatolia. You were
talking about the buffer zone between the Bolsheviks and the West sliding to
Anatolia. I think it has already slid to Anatolia.”
Munir answered, “God willing. If the Brits made an agreement
with the Bolsheviks, then our chances of survival would increase. The fear of
collapsing the Empire was affecting our judgment. It collapsed already. We are
not carrying the burden anymore. We should also get rid of the Pan Tooranism
disease. Holy Jihad call doesn’t work anymore so we don’t have to bother with
the Caliphate.”
“That’s nonsense!”
“We don’t need the Caliphate. Without that, we have a better
chance of founding the Anatolian Turkish State. We might even succeed in
letting the new state live.”
“Where do you come up with all these ideas?”
“They are not my ideas; these are Western ideas!”
“Who are you talking about?”
“I am talking about a German archeologist that I met in
Iraq. He came to live in Bagdad during Abdulhamid’s reign. You remember. There
were Archeological excavations in Mesopotamia concerning past civilizations...”
“Oh! Is he ‘the fool Gavour’? The Gavour with a stick?”
“Yes, he is. Dr. Carlos. He was a patient in my hospital. I
was teasing him. ‘Carlos, why are you
concerned with what is underground. Life is short. When you die you will have
enough time to search for broken jugs and copper utensils!’ He used to say,
‘You think I only research the past; I am
trying to find your future under the ground!’ At first, I didn’t take this
seriously. In those days, I didn’t think of archeology as a science. I thought
these guys were just spies and no one would believe them. The other day you
said something about Rashid Bey; you said that he would do anything to ‘Save the Country’. I was thinking about
that and suddenly it dawned on me; I changed the word ‘Country’ to ‘State’ and
I saw what Carlos meant by that! I found my notes on the subject right away.”
“What did Dr. Carlos say?”
“I was reading one day, and then I noticed him looking at
me. He asked me what I was reading. I told him it was Naima’s History book. He asked me why I was laughing. I didn’t want
to explain. When he insisted, I told him the story:
‘Hasan Pasha succeeded in becoming the Governor of Bolu after so much trouble and paying a lot of
bribes. As he was getting ready to go to Bolu,
he was betrayed by a group of his men. They stole some items from him
including his Pasha Crest and went on to join Jalali Turkmen Aga.
Poor Hasan Pasha had to stay in Uskudar in his tent because
he no longer had enough men to go to his ‘Sanjak’
and claim it. He was trying to employ some other men. Sadrazam Ahmet Pasha’s
man Shahin Aga was going to see Katircioglu and by coincidence came across
Hasan Pasha’s army. He saw beautiful Arabian horses grazing in the pastures. He
thought those horses were much better than his horses and he decided to take a
couple of them for himself. Hasan Pasha’s men came at once and refused to give
the horses to Shahin Aga.
They talked some nonsense for a while. Then Osman, who was a
respectable man who went to the Pilgrimage to Mecca three times, realized that
the Vizier was getting angry. He decided to defend himself and he cried, ‘I didn’t kill anybody. I haven’t heard about
the fight. I was two hours away at the Hasan Pasha’s tent. These are my
witnesses. I respect the Law’ ”
The Vizier didn’t listen and called the Executioner right
away. He didn’t even let the witnesses speak. He went out of his Palace
immediately because the Viziers couldn’t have executions in their own palaces.
It was against the Law.
He ordered the soldiers to bring the prisoner along and went
to the Sultan’s Palace. He ordered an immediate execution there. Poor Osman was
begging all the way. ‘Please sir, I am
innocent! Don’t decide right away. Wait a couple of days. Put me in prison
first. Investigate. If I am really guilty then kill me. Isn’t it a sin to
execute an innocent man? I will ask you this on the Judgement day!’ When he
saw that the Vizier was not listening and called on the Executioner; he didn’t
beg anymore and started to pray instead.
I concluded my story by saying that the Executioner came and
killed him as he was praying. Dr. Carlos thought for a while and asked me, ‘What is your opinion on the story?’ I
told him this event clearly shows the PLUNDER SYSTEM of the Ottomans. The
Ottomans were against a monopoly. They don’t allow people to get rich. The
Ottoman’s main function throughout history is to prevent sole ownership of
companies. They didn’t let feudal Lords own large pieces of land. They divided
the land and let small companies own the land and never let one person gather
too many companies. They let non-Muslims rent the land and obtain the payment,
not in money, but as goods. Sipahis supervised this system. Sipahi and the
Vizier incomes governed this system. Ottoman Land Laws made sure the small
companies didn’t grow too big and at the same time, they made sure they didn’t
get too small because of inheritance laws. For instance, if there are 20 houses
in a village and five families decide to leave for some reason, the Sipahi
can’t claim that land for himself. He can’t increase the other fifteen houses
share either. He has to find five families to occupy that land. In Western
Europe, have Senior’s we have landlords who are almost like an employee of
the State.
After all these explanations I waited for him to say
something. He thought for a while and said, ‘So?’
Then I was surprised and said, “It is what it is.”
“No, this story and your comments explain what happened but
don’t give a clue about the causes. No community can survive PLUNDER on an
ongoing basis. Because no society can be motivated to prosper knowing that
somebody will come and take it all away. How did the Ottoman Empire survive for
seven centuries? When communities formed for the purpose of PLUNDER they
dissolved quickly. Even if it is only a small amount. Secondly how come an
authority that is against monopoly prevented it for so long?”
I thought about this and asked him, “So what happened to
Hasan Pasha; you don’t call that a Plunder?”
“Yes it is a plunder, but not like the Ottoman system, it is
closer to the Western system.”
“Halil Pasha, when
Dr. Carlos said that I was really confused. Carlos was cleaning and reloading
his pipe and he said, ‘Herr Doctor,
forget about all your previous ideas. Like Descartes, we start all over again.
We will try to find an answer without any prejudices. Let’s see what we will
find. Let’s start from the beginning. What kind of soil is the Anatolian soil?’
“I said, ‘Very good indeed, suitable for crops but we are
lazy; if we tried harder we could increase production.”
‘How do you know? You
are not a farmer. I don’t think your dad was a farmer either. I know that you
don’t have books written on this subject. These are just empty words. Nobody
has researched this thoroughly. Not only Anatolian soil, but most of the
Mediterranean and Aegean Land is not good for agriculture. The topsoil is
really thin in these regions. You can’t produce much. The climate is not very
good either. You have droughts or flooding. When it is drought the soil dries
like stone. Flooding causes erosion. You lose the topsoil to the rivers. The
river takes the soil to narrow places and piles that soil up and that area
turns to swamp. People can’t live in a swamp. Agriculture started in the nineteen
century in Adana, and the Menderes plateaus. Before they were only used for
animal pastures. That’s why your land was not suitable for private ownership in
the first place. It is different from the Western system. The wealth couldn’t
have been accumulated by a few. That’s why you don’t have a ‘Feudal system’
like the West.
The Feudal Lord cannot
take care of peasants and get rich himself in this kind of land. Therefore in
your case, the state has to develop the system. So the State ownership of the
land is not a bad idea. In the West, the State sometimes uses its power to help
the superior class take advantage of the lower class. Your state helps the
society prosper.
Western societies
existed for some period without the State. However Eastern societies always
needed the State to survive. It is a necessity. That’s why in the eastern
societies people expect a lot from the State. In Europe, the Landlords took the
power from the State. In your case, the State gives the power to the Landlord.
You accuse your own
state of Plunder however; you do this with your Western thinking. You see your
state as a western state. In the West private ownership has always been a holy
concept. However in the East, there is only one holy concept, it is ‘the state’.
I think the landlord in the story didn’t commit a crime when he claimed the
horses because he was going to use them for Official duty. Because everything
in the Ottoman system is valued according to its necessity for the State. When
the state is in danger, the rulers of the country accept any means to save the
country even if it is something that they formerly rejected. All the Monarchs
in the West are conservative while your Sultans have progressive views. They
adopted progressive views because they thought the State was in danger. It is not
something that they believe in. They have no other choice. Like brain surgery,
if you have to do it, you do it. Your Sultans killed the family members without
hesitating…fathers, brothers, and sons.
Mehmet III killed his 19 brothers all in one night! Furthermore, he
killed his son the next day. When he grabs gold, silver, and copper where he
sees them it can’t be simply called ‘Plunder’.
Since Orhan, ( the second Sultan of the Ottomans,) your country favored a state-run economy.
The State runs shipyards, gunpowder factories, foundries, and mines; owns the
agricultural land and governs the public work, transportation, post service,
caravanserai system, schools, and universities. There is a central judicial
system. There are guilds and even the religion is under the State's control.
There is a State monopoly concerning food. Both home and foreign trade are
closely supervised. There are price controls on the markets. Such a system cannot be described as a Plunder. To do
all this and do everything for the survival of the society the Government is
sometimes taking despotic measures. If your state doesn’t want centralism and
autocracy, and even despotism anymore,
then there will be problems and the people will want more state control.’
That’s what Dr. Carlos told me, Halil Pasha.”
Dr. Munir sighed.
Jamil was trying to make sense of all this. Patriot didn’t
follow these arguments very closely but he was thinking that they must be
important and he was looking at Halil Pasha to hear his opinion on the matter.
Halil Pasha looked for his cigarettes and lit one. “These
are important arguments. He is explaining why we came with cries of Liberty and used despotic measures right
away.”
“I thought about despotism. In central Asia, they used to
have large celebrations and at the end of the evening, it was customary for the
host to leave his tent, and step outside with his wife so that all the guests
could plunder whatever he had. The Orkhon
Inscriptions from the 8th century, tell us that the King says, ‘You were hungry I gave you food. You were
naked I gave you clothes.’ It is the
same thing, the State has responsibilities. If the people are well fed, they
can put up with despotism; but what if they are poor and there will be unrest
in the country. There will be foreign threats as well.
I think those concerns about the Constitution and democracy
as well as the wish to create Capital, have something to do with the weakness
of the state. The Ottomans realized that the State was no longer able to handle
all those obligations. Maybe they wanted the State to have less power and give the
responsibility to the people. In the West, there is the Class system. However, the western Bourgeois is different from the rich people of the East. Can our rich
become bourgeois? No! If the State makes somebody rich he has to answer to the
State. We created a new rich with
Westernization. If we want more centralization then the State will become more
despotic. In the East, things became taboo subjects easily. How does that work?
Just because people can’t understand something then it turns out to be a taboo
easily. We have sung the Freedom song for a hundred and fifty years now. People
know that very well. The despots can’t keep a promise and can’t take care of
the Responsibilities. How could they find the strength to stay in power? Maybe
the new Turkish State will live. I say maybe because it depends, you have to
make people work and you have to do that without despotism...That’s why this is
so difficult!”
Dr. Munir smiled at Jamil: “I talked too much; you have to
go. Get ready. Say “hello” to Maksood. Be careful not to get caught, especially
before the wedding!”
Hiç yorum yok:
Yorum Gönder