Emergence of the Anti-Kemalist Movement in the South Marmara: Governor of Izmit Çule Ibrahim Hakkı Bey and the Circassian Congress
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Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies ISSN: 1944-8953 (Print) 1944-8961 (Online) Journal homepage: https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/cjsb20 Emergence of the Anti-Kemalist Movement in the South Marmara: Governor of Izmit Çule Ibrahim Hakkı Bey and the Circassian Congress Caner Yelbaşı To cite this article: Caner Yelbaşı (2018): Emergence of the Anti-Kemalist Movement in the South Marmara: Governor of Izmit Çule Ibrahim Hakkı Bey and the Circassian Congress, Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies, DOI: 10.1080/19448953.2018.1506297 To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/19448953.2018.1506297 Published online: 02 Sep 2018. Submit your article to this journal Article views: 78 View Crossmark data Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at https://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=cjsb20 JOURNAL OF BALKAN AND NEAR EASTERN STUDIES https://doi.org/10.1080/19448953.2018.1506297 Emergence of the Anti-Kemalist Movement in the South Marmara: Governor of Izmit Çule Ibrahim Hakkı Bey and the Circassian Congress Caner Yelbaşı History Department of Mardin Artuklu University, Mardin, Turkey ABSTRACT The civil war between the Ankara and Ottoman governments between 1920 and 1921 deepened the split among bureaucrats and the military, the two parties supporting the rival governments. After attaining military power, Ankara expanded its control almost to Istanbul, arresting or coercing those statesman who had pre- viously sided with the Ottoman government. The Governor of İzmit, Çule İbrahim Hakkı Bey, was one of these. His activities over a few short years completely altered Ankara’s policy towards the Circassians of the South Marmara region. His aim was to establish a society based on the self-determination rights espoused under Wilsonian Principles, to enable the Circassians to elevate their national aspirations. This article firstly examines the motivations of the anti-nationalist Circassians, particularly discuss- ing the activities of Çule İbrahim Hakkı Bey. Secondly it demon- strates how the anti-nationalists established an association, sought foreign support and declared their independence from both the nationalist government of Ankara and the Ottoman government of Istanbul. In the days following the exclusion of Çerkes Ethem1 from the national movement (January 1921), a group of anti-nationalist Circassians took new steps to oppose the Kemalists in İzmir.2 They tried to establish a semi-autonomous structure within the Greek occupied zone. The members of the group did not function as a monolithic bloc. They had already fought one another during the Düzce‒Adapazarı and Anzavur incidents in 1920.3 Some individuals from the earlier conflict were responsible for leading the new opposition movement against Ankara, since their relationship with it had already been damaged. They also believed that the Ottoman government would not continue to exist, and so they made an agreement with the allies to organize the Circassians into an autonomous state under allied control. Although those who opposed the Ankara government came from different backgrounds, they shared a common enemy in the Kemalists. Among the various members of the group, there were ex-members of the Ottoman Special Organization, bureaucrats, members of the Committee of Union and Progress and its opposition, the Liberal Entente, Ottoman officials, and bandits. They all came together as members of the Association for the CONTACT Caner Yelbaşı [email protected] © 2018 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group 2 C. YELBAŞI Strengthening of Near Eastern Circassians Rights (ASNEC, Şark-ı Karip Çerkesleri Temin-i Hukuk Cemiyeti). The group also included participants from the Circassian Congress held in İzmir (October 1921). A former Ottoman politician and governor: ‘mutasarrıf’ Çule İbrahim Bey led the small group, with the aim of creating an autonomous state between the oversight of the Ankara government and the allied occupied area of the İzmir region. As will be seen, he aimed to justify the Circassian Congress by depicting the Ottoman government as promoting Turkish nationalism, turning its back on the Circassians. However, the group and the congress were unwelcome, supported by the local Circassians of South Marmara and other regions of Anatolia. This article argues that the Circassian Congress resulted from the break between a group of Circassians and the Ottoman government. The members of this group aimed to protect their interests against Ankara, since the Ottoman government had insuffi- cient power to save them from Ankara’s attacks. It is also important to emphasize that the Ottoman state was seen to be gradually receding from the scene, leading the organizers of the congress to suppose that the British and Greek forces might assist them. This article will firstly examine the motivations of the anti-nationalist Circassians, particularly discussing the activities of Çule İbrahim Hakkı Bey. Secondly it will demonstrate how the anti-nationalists established an association, sought foreign sup- port and declared their independence from both the nationalist government of Ankara and the Ottoman government of Istanbul. The emergence of the idea of autonomy and the Circassian Congress: governorship of (Çule) Ibrahim Hakkı in Izmit from April 1920 to June 1921 The division between the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP)4 and the Liberal Party stemmed from the pre-World War I period, when multi-party elections were first estab- lished in the empire. Later, in 1913, the CUP dominated in terms of its political power, carrying out a military coup in Istanbul. Çule İbrahim Hakkı Bey5 was an opponent of the CUP even during the pre-World War I period, having been implicated in the assassination of Mahmud Şevket Paşa in 1913.6 Due to increasing pressure from the CUP, he had to leave the empire for Egypt, where he built a good relationship with the British, explaining why he was also known as İbrahim the English (İngiliz İbrahim).7 With the signing of the Mudros armistice (1918) he returned to the empire, and was appointed as Governor of İzmit by Damad Ferid Paşa, where he remained from April 1920 to June 1921. He was a CUP opponent, as were the majority of the bureaucrats in the post-World War I period, appointed by the Istanbul government. From the beginning of the British and Greek occupation, İbrahim Hakkı had a warm relationship with the British. Indeed, a British officer in İzmit also considered him a friend.8 The idea of autonomy came to the fore for İbrahim Hakkı when the Ottoman Porte9 lost control over the İzmit region in June 1921. The region was then taken over by Ankara government forces. From April 1920 to June 1921 Çule İbrahim Hakkı Bey was theGovernorofİzmit,10 and his activities there disturbed even the Istanbul government. Due to his warm relationships with the British, the Istanbul government tried unsuccess- fully on a number of occasions to remove him from power. Indeed, the Ministry of Interior of the Ottoman government even requested the permission of the British High JOURNAL OF BALKAN AND NEAR EASTERN STUDIES 3 Commissioner to remove İbrahim Hakkı from İzmit.11 The commissioner declared they were not against the decision the Ottoman government had made about İbrahim Hakkı.12 Abdülvahab Bey was appointed to the position.13 However, he was not allowed to take up the governorship of İzmit, since İbrahim Hakkı had already organized a paramilitary group to secure himself and the region under his governorship.14 Although the British, on paper at least, allowed the Ottoman government to remove him from his position, the Ottoman government was not able to do so, or to bring him to Istanbul for trial; indeed, all attempts made by the Porte resulted in failure.15 İbrahim Hakkı tried to create an autonomous structure to form a buffer zone between the Istanbul government and the Ankara government during his governorship. He opposed the actions of the Ankara government and did not allow its military units or supporters to live in his region. He pursued a policy that was not overly aggressive when trying to convince people to accept his anti-Kuva-yi Milliye (nationalist resistance) move.16 He acted, in fact, rather peacefully. At the same time, since the Istanbul government had no authority in the region, public security was constantly under threat from the presence of armed bands. Even in mid-1919, he had been considering establishing his own armed group to ensure his security.17 Later, at the end of 1920, after the Düzce‒Adapazarı incidents, he formed an armed group consisting of Circassians who had been attacked by the nationalists during the incidents, and whose homes had been burned down.18 It appears that those Circassians who had suffered from the nationalist attacks were purposely selected by İbrahim in order to keep the region under his control by gaining their loyalty and support. One of İbrahim Hakkı’s local rivals was from the Maan family in the Adapazarı region. This was Maan Midhat, who, in one letter to Sultan Vahidettin, described İbrahim Hakkı’s policies as a kind of triple game.19 According to him, İbrahim Hakkı juggled three groups during his governorship. The first of these was the Circassians of the region. İbrahim Hakkı followed a deceptive policy of trying to convince those Circassians who believed that İbrahim Hakkı was implementing the decisions of the Ottoman Porte and the Sultan during his governorship. However, he thereby strength- ened his own authority in the region rather than that of the Ottoman government and Sultan. The second group was the British, who employed İbrahim Hakkı, since they believed that he had influence over the Circassians of the region due to the widespread anti-Kuva-yi Milliye movement led by the Circassians.20 The final group was the Ottoman government, which was under British control by that time.