Warlords

Shaban brought a dim kerosene lamp with a broken glass.

The optimism that they felt after eating the delicious soup was wearing off. They were waiting and were bored. It was raining nonstop for hours. They concluded that the men that they were waiting for wouldn’t be able to come because of the rain. They didn’t even know where Halit, the leader of the irregulars, was coming from; when he would arrive; how many men he had. As a wanted man, how was he supposed to enter the town and how was he going to find them?

All four of them were having the same thoughts. They were listening outside, hoping to hear something other than the rain. Selahaddin wiped his sweat off with his wet handkerchief. He changed his clothes twice. He was better now, but still weak. He was sipping water which they had added a drop of brandy to. He had difficulty in swallowing the sulphate. It tasted bitter. He hoped no one saw him when he screwed up his face.

He had perspired a lot because of the fever. The thin mattress was wet as if it had fallen in the water. Shaban was trying to dry the sheets over the stove.

Bekir Sami checked the time once again; he was tired. He was trying hard not to show his desperation. The lines on his face and around his eyes were deeper.

Nizam had sent a messenger in the afternoon and told them that it would be dangerous to leave the building at night time so they were advised to go to the train station right away. The French Captain promised to protect the officers.

Bekir Sami and Jamil didn’t want unnecessary arguments and told the messenger that Selahaddin was sick. They would rather wait in the Military Office.

Jamil remembered how Shaban was crying in pain when they threw stones at him; he couldn’t wipe that image off his mind.

All the events since they came to Akhisar changed the dynamics between the higher and lower ranks of the army. There should have been a more respectful distance but since they were like prisoners in the building, they were feeling more equal. Bekir Sami was bothered by the fact that Lieutenant Farouk was sitting in the same room with him. He looked sad.

Bekir Sami thought they should have continued their journey to Manisa last night instead of getting off the train at Akhisar Station. It was hard to wait. “We didn’t hear from Rasim”. He said this for the third time.

Jamil thought they made a mistake today. “When we were able to use the telegraph we should have given orders to Rasim to mount the artillery weapons; use the war measures act and confiscate all the animals and carriages from the people; to load the carriages with ammunition and weapons and leave the town with all the available infantry and cavalry soldiers. We should have told Rasim to go to Salihli at all costs even if they had to fight.”

Sardes near Salihli

Jamil was sorry that they had to wait the whole day at Akhisar and had to deal with Gavour Efe. They could have called Halit to Salihli. That way they would be in a better position when negotiating. Halit would see them leading a larger group of soldiers. He wondered why the Commander didn’t think that. He was surprised and then Jamil realized for the first time in his life how difficult a Commander’s job was even though he had been a war Officer for so many years.

Jamil tried to analyze the situation. Could it be that the general desperation of all of the people was causing the Commander to make bad decisions? If so, that was not good. Normally, people would have a reflex to run away from danger, but in Akhisar, people were paralyzed, they were not moving. On the other hand, if people started to leave their houses; loading their carriages with their children and belongings, it would cause panic.  Jamil wondered in which case it would be easier to convince the people to resist: In a panic situation or while they are still at their homes in this paralyzed state. There was no way to talk some sense into them. Jamil concluded that this was the reason why the Officers didn’t know how to convince people. Then he remembered that sometimes the soldiers get shell shocked and they don’t obey orders. They refuse to leave their trenches. Jamil looked at the rifles by the wall. He squinted his eyes and concluded that it was not the same thing; because in the fronts those soldiers are waiting for the enemy attack even though they are not the first to attack the enemy with their bayonets. And when the enemy attacks first, the soldiers have to defend themselves until the end. There is no other choice.

However, the situation in Akhisar was different. The people were waiting for the enemy army with the Greek flags; they were almost welcoming them. There was no resistance. That was why the Turkish officers were dumbfounded. Bekir Sami didn’t know what to do when he was faced with lack of emotion. Bekir Sami normally would know what to do with the shell-shocked soldiers. He would force them to take action using his gun. The people of Akhisar could choose to take all their ammunition and arms and retreat eastward. That way they could wait to fight the enemy in a safer area. Instead, they were just waiting for the enemy to come and get them like prisoners in their homes. They were waiting in fear. They didn’t have any power to resist. ‘They are as good as dead!’ Jamil thought.

Jamil remembered the faces of Nizam’s friends, as well as Rashad and his men. He compared them with the Ottoman public employees that he saw all over the Empire. He felt like he knew the type, especially familiar was Nizam, the madrasah teacher. Jamil had trained so many novice soldiers and had been with them in the war. He had the opportunity to observe their behaviour in dangerous situations. When the younger ones were on the ground lying on their faces, he used to order them to stand up and attack the enemy. And he had to ask the experienced soldiers to do the most difficult tasks; to obey him*. He thought, “Maybe we haven’t analyzed the situation correctly now at Akhisar. We didn’t understand the attitude of the people well; surely the people must have some good qualities. We didn’t know how to search for those qualities. We kept on talking about the things they already knew. Probably we should have talked to them in a more sophisticated manner. We would elevate their fears.  Perhaps we would have made them more fearful and they would have taken action, regardless.”

Selahaddin put his elbows on the table and covered his face. Waiting made him more tired. They heard dogs barking from far away behind the voices of the rain. The barks came from one yard to another approaching them. They heard horses and they all sprang to their feet.

“Two horsemen.”

“No, Commander. Three.”

”You are right, three. Farouk, please, go and see who is coming.”

The horsemen must not be afraid of anyone. They are coming at full throttle, English style.

When Jamil and Farouk opened the door, they saw the horsemen pulling the reins and stopped. Their leader Halit was a member of the Karaosmanoglu clan. He was about 35 years old and a tall handsome man who had dark looks. He had shapely legs and wore English riding pants in a dark grey color. He had riding boots and elaborate head gear. On his belt there was a dagger in a silver Circassian case as well as a big pistol. He had a deep voice that gave the others confidence.

He saluted Bekir Sami and the Commander seemed to like him. He invited him to sit down. Halit apologized for being late.

“It is all right. We had a lot to do in the afternoon. Before I will explain everything, I want to ask you something, Are you a Unionist?” Bekir Sami said.

“Yes, I am.”

“We heard that the Accord Party, who is in Government, want to arrest you. Is that right?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“I am here on the Defence Ministry’s orders with absolute authority. My job is to head the 17th Army with the help of patriotic individuals like yourself. We are going to stop the enemy and throw them back to the sea that they came from. If you support us then you don’t need to be afraid of Government prosecution anymore. You should know that we are all Unionist supporters as well. After the Truce the Government changed in Istanbul. However, we still control the Armed Forces. Now that the enemy has landed in Izmir, we should forget our differences with the Accord Party. We have to combine our efforts to save the country. There are still some people who don’t support us. How many men can you bring to fight? Time is important. Instead of bringing five hundred men a month from now, we need you to recruit one hundred men now. Do you understand what I am saying?”

“Yes, certainly, I understand, Commander. Before I came here, I spoke to Rashad. I will recruit a thousand Cavalry and a thousand Infantry soldiers in a couple of days, and provide enough arms and ammunition.”

“Are you sure? A thousand Cavalry and a thousand Infantry men! That is a big force, very big.”

“Yes, I am sure, Sir. In the triangle of Akhisar, Manisa, and Casaba, all the villages follow our orders.”

“God Bless you, Halit. That’s good news. When do you think* you can gather those men?”

“When do you need them?”

“I need them right now. We can’t afford to lose a minute.”  He checked the time and tapped his watch with his finger twice. “How many men can you gather by tomorrow? Three hundred, two hundred, even a hundred would do! The situation is such that we have to go to Manisa right away! We have to get the ammunition and the machine guns as well as the artillery and retreat inland. We sent our men there already. I gave my orders to them in the morning using the telegram. Our men in Manisa are working with all their might now. We have to go there right away and stop the enemy. There are eight cannons, twenty-five machine guns, fifty Mauser guns and one million bullets. There are also hundreds of artillery shells and a hundred thousand machine gun bullets in Manisa! How many men do you have at the moment?”

“My forces are not ready yet. I have to call them to order.”

“Could you send them a message now?”

“No!” Halit squirted his eyes and thought about something. He said, “We have to send messengers to the villages. The roads are not safe, especially at night. We will go to Kumkuyucak in the morning. I sent men already. The ones who get the message will come to Belence by noon. I think we will get to Manisa by tomorrow evening. What do you think?”

“Sure, that would be fine. Thank you, Halit. Our nation will remember you.” The Commander’s voice was full of emotion. “Our people felt homeless in their own country and started a revolution. We will reclaim our country. We are living in difficult times,* but we have a holy struggle to save our country. On behalf of our nation, thank you.”

 Halit Karaosmanoglu was embarrassed and looked down. The officers respected him.

Jamil remembered his talks with Dr. Munir. He thought, “Munir thinks we don’t have a European style feudal system. He is wrong. Halit is a Gentleman in that sense. He is like a real chevalier.”

“Commander, do you need horses?” Halit asked.

Bekir Sami looked uncomfortable answering the question.  “We had to leave our horses at Balikesir. We didn’t know what to expect when we came here.”

“I understand. The roads are muddy and walking is treacherous. We will give you one of our own horses. My men can walk to Kumkuyucak.” He thought for a while. “Shall we go right away, Sir? We can go to Kumkuyucak and spend the night there.”

Before the Commander could answer Selahaddin said, “Yes, of course. That’s a good idea.”

Halit didn’t know about Captain Selahaddin’s illness, so he didn’t think that anything was out of the ordinary.

Bekir Sami was worried, “No, you shouldn’t be walking!” Then he explained the situation to Halit.  “Selahaddin has malaria. He needs his rest. He shouldn’t walk!”

“Yes, I can walk, Sir. This is not new for me. I have had malaria for a long time now. It is all right.”

Halit didn’t have to think for long, “We will do something else. I will provide an ox- drawn carriage. The Officers will ride on it and we can load your belongings. The carriage will go slowly all night.”

Selahaddin insisted. “No, Sir! I will walk. The carriage will go too slowly. We will be late.”

 “We won’t be late, Selahaddin; we will get another carriage if necessary. You should be comfortable.” Then Halit asked Farouk to call Ali.

Ali came running. He respectfully waited for orders.

“Get on your horse Ali, and go to Rustem; tell him we need an oxen carriage with two strong animals. He has to send a coachman also. It is urgent. Give him my regards.”

Ali left the room respectfully walking backwards. He rushed down the stairs.

Halit listened to the horse hoofs going away, and he smiled. “They will send the carriage right away; you better get prepared!”

Shaban was still in front of the stove trying to dry the mattress.

“Hasn’t that dried yet?” Jamil asked.

“It is almost dry, Sir. It is ready.”

“No, don’t carry it upstairs. Where is your rifle?

“It is here, Sir.”

“Shaban, how many cases of bullets do we have?”

“Five.”

“Good. Take everything; carry them downstairs and put them by the door.”

“Should I bring the rifles?”

“Yes. Get all your belongings as well. Don’t forget your coat. We are not returning here.”

“Are we going now?

“Yes.”

“Good. Are we leaving the food behind?”

“No, bring the food as well.” Jamil scratch his chin. “Bring the tents and the raincoats. It doesn’t matter if they are worn. We need everything.”

“I think we have a tent!”

“Go find it right away. Be quick! Have them by the door in five minutes.”

 Jamil went upstairs. Halit was telling the Commander the latest developments in the region. “Most of the Gendarmerie soldiers have gone back to their home. Some deserters and draft dodgers are hiding in the mountains. They are taking advantage of the situation because no one is looking for them. The Zaybeks are unruly in the Odemish area.”

“What do you mean?”

“When an ‘Efe’ takes to the mountains with his ‘Zaybeks’ he is responsible for the security of the region. When he is running away from the law enforcement, he also has to make sure the other gangs don’t enter his territory. He has to claim that territory and protect it from the other Efe’s and other gangs. The Efe’s are more concerned about each other. They are not so worried about the Gendarmerie. Yoruk Ali is intimidated by Mehmet the Ironsmith. The Aegean region leaders have a feud with the Circassians over the death of Chakici Efe. Not only that; there are groups from the Balkans as well. The Albanians are acting independently. Now that the situation has changed; even the Greek Captains are coming from the islands to plunder our villages. Even in the daytime!”

“Can we gather some of the men on our side?”

“Yes, some of them might agree to join us. But the problem is they don’t trust one another.”

“Who are they?”

“The ones who are feuding?”

“No, I am asking in general, I am asking about all the people who are on the mountains.”

There is the Wrestler, Yoruk Ali, Mehmet the Ironsmith, Hussein, Mestan, Jafeaki from Crete, Mehmet, Molla Ibrahim Gang and others.”

“That many?”

“Yes, there are a lot of people in the mountains.”

“How many men do the Efe’s have?”

Demirci-Ironsmith Mehmet efe

“Ironsmith and Yoruk Ali have the most men; they each have fifteen men that are travelling with them, sometimes more. When there is a need they can recruit more.”

“Do you think they are any good? Can we count on them?”

Halit thought for a while. “You never know. Well, some of them may act courageously and charge to the enemy with all their might on the other hand, some might get scared by the slightest movement and run away. It is hard to control the gangs; before the war they were only attaching the villages later on they started to raid bigger towns.  Ethem’s gang kidnapped the Governor of Izmir, Rahmi’s son, for ransom. You might have heard that. Some other gangs have followed his example and the rich had to pay protection money to them in every town. Yes, they might raid the enemy headquarters and cause damage, but they are not like a regular army, so they won’t be reliable. They don’t like the military officers because most of them are draft evaders; they are scared of the Officers and that’s why we can’t trust them totally. They can backstab us.

“I see. What about the regular army troops in this region?”

“The troops in Izmir have been dismantled and the former soldiers who came to this region are discouraging young men here. Some soldiers tried to go back to their homes and some took their weapons with them. There are some officers who dislike the Unionists. They were against our party from the beginning. They think we shouldn’t have organized a counter attack on the enemy in Izmir. They think if there wasn’t any resistance there wouldn’t be any problems. They are telling people that if no one opened fire on the enemy, there would be peace and everyone would have continued on with their business, as usual and they blame the Unionists for the current troubles. Did you hear what happened in Tire?”

“No!”

“Ten Officers and thirty soldiers came to Tire as they were retreating from Izmir. The local Military Commander, Captain Mehmet, didn’t want them there and he had sent a cable to the Aydin Division Commander. He said they were able to maintain order in town; however, the military Officers who came from Izmir were trying to start a revolt there. He said the people wanted them to leave Tire immediately otherwise, there would be disorder. The next day the town Mayor sent a telegram: “Major Aziz is commanding twenty five Officers and fifty men and they are trying to start an uprising in our town. The people of Tire, both Muslims and Christians, are about to revolt. It is certain that there will be some bloodshed. Please advice as soon as possible.” Because of this situation the troops are losing their men. The biggest regiments here, are at the most four hundred men. The 135^th Regiment in Soke has only 46 soldiers.”

“Yes, that’s correct. They have 46 men with rifles and the 75th Regiment has 85 riflemen. The 6th Division in Saraykoy has twenty men.”

“That’s why the people around here are so discouraged.”

“Yes. When the Greek Army landed in Izmir suddenly this entire region instantly became a war zone. Everyone is tired of war since the Balkan wars. They have neither livestock nor crops anymore. Their lives and livelihoods are in danger. The gangs descend on the towns and rob them. Then the Security Forces rob them! There is no one to take care of the orchards and the vineyards. The women and children are too weak to work in the fields. The trade has stopped. They have a reason to be discouraged, Sir.”

“Yes, they have a reason but we are in a situation where we don’t have any other choice but to defend ourselves...”

“Some of their supporters say if we don’t take action then we could go back to our work, as usual. They claim the enemy will give us those rights. I don’t understand how they can talk like that. They are stupid to believe that. You have to wonder why they are talking like that. I think they are just hoping that they can spare themselves and don’t care about what happens to the others. It is May already and it is almost time for the barley harvest. It would be the first harvest after all those years of war. The commissioners for figs, grapes, tobacco and licorice will buy the produce to export to foreign markets. When the farmers make money then all the store owners will be back in business! Before, there were shortages of sugar and coffee. Now they are starting to bring them to the market. Nobody wants any more disturbances, neither the village people nor the city folk. It is the same with the Istanbul Government. They want to keep quiet. Who is left to resist the enemy? No one except the Unionists. The Unionists are in this fight because they don’t want to be prosecuted for their past crimes.”

“What did the Unionists do? What crimes are you talking about? The Christian minorities here are happy with Governor Rahmi.”

“That’s right, Governor Rahmi took good care of the minorities here; but our boys wanted to take advantage of the situation and tried to take the trade away from them. They intimidated the Christian merchants who have been running the family business for generations. Now they are afraid they would be accountable for this. The Accord Party members are enemies of the Unionists. That’s why they were collaborating with the Christians during the war. Now they are even closer.”

“If the situation is this grave, how will you persuade people to join us?” the Commander asked.

“When Halit Karaosmanoglu calls them the people here come to join his forces. It has always been this way. They will fight against the enemy and even against the Ottoman Sultan. Their loyalty is with the Karaosmanoglu clan.”

“Jamil was thinking about the thousand infantry and another thousand horsemen that Halit Pasha was supposed to gather. If there will not be enough food for the army, then two thousand warriors will be hard to control. The country has been at war for seven consecutive years. Jamil wondered, “Who will supply food for all those men and the horses? How are we supposed to keep all the irregulars in line? If they steal or rape women what court will handle their cases? What authority can the Commander exercise among the warlords?”

Halit lit the Commander’s cigarette as if he was giving an answer to Jamil. He was very respectful. Jamil was hopeful and he wanted to catch Selahaddin’s gaze.

Ther Reluctnt Warrior

by Kemal Tahir

Translated by Elif Mat