The Battle of Sakarya is an important battle of the Turkish War of Independence, referred to by Atatürk as Melhame-i Kübra, which means very big and bloody war.
The Battle of Sakarya Square is considered the turning point of the War of Independence. İsmail Habip Sevük The importance of the Battle of Sakarya, "The withdrawal that started in Vienna on 13 September 1683 was stopped in Sakarya 238 years later." He depicted with his word.
Background
Battle of Sakarya Square is one of the most important battles in the Anatolian Turkish history. The Greek armies were ordered to operate in Ankara by the Greek General Papulas. If the Greek side won the war, the Turkish Grand National Assembly would have to accept the Sevres Treaty.
General Anastasios Papulas initially strongly opposed this operation. According to Papulas, dragging the Greek army deep into desolate and corrupt Anatolian lands was an adventure that could have serious consequences. On the other hand, leaflets leaked by anti-war organizations into the army had significantly broken the Greek soldier's belief in war. However, Papulas ordered the assault on his army by not being able to resist the intense pressure from the public and the temptation of being the "Conqueror of Ankara."
combat
After the defeat of the TGNA Army in the Battle of Kütahya-Eskişehir, the front fell into a critical situation. Coming to the front and seeing the situation in place and taking the command, the Speaker of the Turkish Grand National Assembly and Commander-in-Chief Mustafa Kemal Pasha and the Chairman of the Board of Chief of Representatives Fevzi Pasha decided to pull the Western Front troops to the east of the Sakarya River and continue the defense on this line. .
Gazi Mustafa Kemal Pasha said, “There is no defense; There is self-defense. That surface is the whole country. The homeland cannot be abandoned unless every mixed land of the homeland is irrigated with citizen blood. For him, any small and large jute (unity) can be thrown from his position. But at the point where every small and large squad can stand first, it forms a front against the enemy and continues to fight. The jeztams that see that the jihad next to it are obliged to withdraw, cannot be subjected to it. He was obliged to persistence and strength until the end of his position. [18] ”He gave the order and spread the battle over a wide area. Thus, the Greek forces would be separated from their headquarters and divided.
The Turkish Grand National Assembly dismissed Chief of Staff İsmet Pasha on 3 August 1921, zamHe appointed Fevzi Pasha, who was also the Vice President and Deputy of National Defense at the time, to this post.
The Turkish army, which started to retreat to the East of Sakarya River on July 22, 1921, was organized to be the 5th Line Corps (south of Çal Mountain), 12th, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th Groups and Crew Corps on the first line. . After the fast completion of the draw, Greek troops marched for 9 days without encountering Turkish troops for the offensive position. The direction of this march was determined by the Turkish exploration troops and reported to the front command. It was one of the strategic mistakes that will determine the fate of this war. The Greek offensive lost its dominance. However, the Greek army, which started forward on 14 August, determined the Turkish forces in the east of Sakarya River with its 23rd Corps, starting from 3 August, and started a siege attack in the direction of Haymana with its 1st Corps and southeast of Mangal Mountain with its 2nd Corps. But they failed in these attacks.
Greek forces, who could not succeed in the siege offensive, wanted to slide the center of defense and split their defense positions in the direction of Haymana. On September 2, Greek troops captured the entire Çal Mountain, the most strategic mountain until Ankara. However, Turkish troops started to defend the area by not withdrawing until Ankara. Although the Greek troops made some progress to remain 50 km from Ankara, they could not get rid of the harsh defense of the Turkish troops. In addition, the attacks carried out by the 5th Turkish Cavalry Corps on the front lines were one of the important factors in breaking the speed of the Greek attack. When the Greek army did not succeed in the attempted splitting until September 9, he decided to defend by staying on the lines he was on.
With the general counter attack, which was initiated by the Turkish Army on September 10 and commanded by Mustafa Kemal Pasha, the Greek forces were prevented from being organized for defense. On the same day, Turkish troops took back Çal Mountain, a strategic point. As a result of the Turkish offensive that lasted until September 13, the Greek army pulled to the east of the line of Eskişehir-Afyon and started to be organized for defense in this region. As a result of this withdrawal, Sivrihisar on September 20, Aziziye on September 22 and Bolvadin and Çay on September 24 survived the enemy invasion.
The operation continued with the cavalry divisions and some infantry divisions as of 13 September 1921 in order to follow the Greek Army. However, assaults were stopped for reasons such as equipment and lack of support. On the same day, the command structure of the troops affiliated to the Western Front was changed. The 1st and 2nd Army were established. Group Commands were abolished and Kocaeli Group Command was established at the level of 1., 2., 3., 4., 5. Corps and Corps.
The war took place over a 22 km long area, lasting 100 days and nights. The Greek Army withdrew about 50 km from Ankara.
While the Greek army withdrew, he took care not to leave anything that the Turks could use. It blew up railways and bridges and burned many villages.
After the battle
At the end of the Battle of Sakarya, the casualties of the Turkish army; 5713 dead, 18.480 wounded, 828 prisoner and 14.268 lost total 39.289. The casualty of the Greek army; 3758 dead, 18.955 injured, 354 missing, total 23.007. Since there were too many officers losses in the Battle of Sakarya, this Battle was also called "Officer Battle". For this battle, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk called the “Sakarya Melhame-i Kubra”, that is, the lake of blood and the sea of blood.
For the Greeks, there is no choice but to withdraw. While withdrawing, over 1 million civilians were left homeless as a result of rapes, arson and looting against Turkish civilians.
In May 1922, the General Commander of the Greek Army, General Anastasios Papoulas, and the staff of the staff resigned. Instead, General Georgios Hatzianestis was appointed.
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk famous: “There is no line defense, there is defense on the surface. This surface is the whole country. Homeland cannot be abandoned unless every land of the country is irrigated with the blood of the citizen. ” He spoke his word in the Turkish Grand National Assembly with reference to this war. After the battle, Miralay Fahrettin Bey, Miralay Kâzım Bey, Miralay Selahattin Adil Bey and Miralay Rüştü Bey were promoted to the rank of Mirliva and became Pasha. Mustafa Kemal Pasha was promoted to the rank of the Sender by the Grand National Assembly and was given the title of Gazi.
Atatürk states that he did not have a military rank until the Battle of Sakarya, and that the ranks given by the Ottoman State were taken by the Ottoman State. He uses the following expressions in Nutuk: “Until the battle of Sakarya, I did not have a rank military. After that, the title of Gazi was preferred by the Grand National Assembly with the rank of Consultant (Marshal). It is the knowledge that the rank of the Ottoman State was taken by that state again. ”
- With the win of the Battle of Sakarya, the belief of the Turkish nation that the war will be won has been fulfilled. Mevlites were read for soldiers who lost their lives in Sakarya in all mosques in Istanbul. Until that time, even in the press of Istanbul, which was distant from Ankara, a sense of joy has been formed.
- The international community's (especially Britain's) view of the parliamentary forces has changed, and Greece has lost British support behind it.
- September 13, 1683 II. The Turkish withdrawal, which started with the Vienna Siege, stopped with this war on September 13, and progress started again. In this respect, the symbolic importance of this war is also very important for Turkish History.
Senior commanders
- Speaker of the Turkish Grand National Assembly and Commander-in-Chief of the Turkish Armies: Mustafa Kemal Atatürk
- Representative and Chief of General Staff: First Ferik Mustafa Fevzi Çakmak
- Deputy National Defense: Mirliva Refet Pasha
- Western Front: Its Commander Mirliva Mustafa İsmet İnönü
- Group 1: Commander Colonel İzzettin Çalışlar
- 24th Division: Commander Lieutenant Colonel Ahmet Fuat Bulca
- 23rd Division: Commander Lieutenant Colonel Ömer Halis Bıyıktay
- Group 2: Commander Colonel Mehmet Selahattin Adil
- 4th Division: Commander Colonel Mehmet Sabri Erçetin
- 5th Division: Commander Lieutenant Colonel Mehmet Kenan Dalbaşar
- 9th Division: Commander Colonel Sıtkı Üke
- Group 3: Commander Mirliva Yusuf İzzet Met
- 7th Division: Commander Lieutenant Colonel Ahmet Derviş
- 8th Division: Commander Colonel Kazım Sevüktekin
- 15th Division: Commander Colonel Şükrü Naili Gökberk
- Group 4: Commander Colonel Kemalettin Sami Gökçen
- 5th Caucasus Division: Commander Lieutenant Colonel Cemil Cahit Toydemir
- 61st Division: Commander Colonel Mehmet Rüştü Sakarya
- Group 5: Commander Colonel Fahrettin Altay
- 14th Cavalry Division: Commander Lt Col Mehmet Suphi Kula
- 4th Cavalry Brigade: Commander Lieutenant Colonel Haci Mehmet Arif Orguc
- 12th Group: Commander Colonel Halit Karsıalan
- 11th Division: Commander Colonel Abdülrezzak after Lieutenant Colonel Saffet
- Mürettep Corps: Its Commander, Colonel Kazım Fikri Özalp
- 1st Division: Commander Lieutenant Colonel Abdurrahman Nafiz Gürman
- 17th Division: Commander Colonel Hüseyin Nurettin Özsu
- 41st Division: Commander Lieutenant Colonel Şerif Yaçağaz
- 1st Cavalry Division: Commander Lieutenant Colonel Osman Zati Korol
- Troops Directly Attached to the Western Front
- 2nd Cavalry Division: Commander Lieutenant Colonel Ethem Servet Boral
- 3rd Cavalry Division: Commander Lieutenant Colonel İbrahim Colak
- Division Division: Commander Lieutenant Colonel Ahmet Zeki Soydemir
- 3rd Caucasus Division: Commander Lieutenant Colonel Halit Akmansü
- 6th Division: Commander Lieutenant Colonel Huseyin Nazmi Solok
- 57th Division: Commander Lieutenant Colonel Hasan Mumtaz Chechen
- Group 1: Commander Colonel İzzettin Çalışlar
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