Volume 50 Number 4 THE RIBBONS OF THE UNITED NATIONS UNTSO UNMOGIP (Palestine} (India/Pakistan) KOREA UNEF I UNOGIL ONUC (Egypt/Israel) (Lebanon) (Congo) UNSF/UNTEA UNYOM UNFICYP UNIPOM (New Guinea) (Yemen) (Cyprus) (India/Pakistan) UNEF II UNDOF UNIFIL UNIIMOG (Middle East) (Israel/Syria) (Lebanon) (Iran/Iraq) UNAVEM UNTAG ONUCA UNIKOM (Angola) (Namibia) (Central America) (Iraq/Kuwait) ONUSAL MINURSO UNAMIC UNPROFOR (El Salvador) (Western Sahara) (Cambodia) Former Yugoslavia) UNTAC UNOSOM ONUMOZ UNOMUR (Cambodia) (Somalia) (Mozambique) (Uganda/Rwanda) UNOMIG UNOMIL UNMIH, UNSMIH UNAMIR (Georgia) (Liberia) (Haiti) (Rwanda) UNMOT UNCRO UNPREDEP UNMIBH (Bosnia- (Tajikistan) (Croatia) (Macedonia) Herzegovina} UNTAES UNMOP MINUGUA MINURCA (Central (Eastern Slavonia) (Prevlaka) (Guatemala) African Republic) UNPSG UNOMSIL UNHQ UNSSM (Croatia - Police) (Sierra Leone) (Headquarters) (Special Service) UN MISSION NAMES UNTSO - UN Truce Supervision Organization: UNMOGIP - UN Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan: UNEF 1 - First UN Emergency Force: UNOGIL - UN Observation Group in Lebanon: ONUC - Operation des Nations Unies au Congo: UNSF/UNTEA - Lrlq Security ForceAJN Temporary Executive Authority: UNYOM - UN Yemen Observer Mission: UNFICYP - L~ Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus: UNIPOM - UN India- Pakistan Observation Mission: Uq~IEF 11- Second UN Emergency Force: UNDOF - UN Disengagement Observer Force: UNIFIL - UN Interim Force in Lebanon: UNIlMOG - UN Iran-Iraq Military Observer Group: UNAVEM - ~ Angola Verification Mission: UNTAG - UN Transition Assistance Group: ONUCA - Observadores de las Naciones Unidas en Centro America: UNIKOM - UN Iraq-Kuwait Observer Mission: ONUSAL - Observadores de las Naciones Unidas en El Salvador: MINURSO - Mission des Nations Unies pour le Referendum dans le Sahara Occidental: UNAMIC - UN Advance Mission in Cambodia: UNPROFOR- UN Protection Force: UNTAC - UN Transition Authority in Cambodia: UNOSOM - UN Operation in Somalia: ONUMOZ - Operation des Nations Unies dansMozambique: UNOMUR - UN Observer Mission in Uganda-Rwanda: UNOMIG -UN Observer Mission in Georgia: UNOMIL - UN Observer Mission in Liberia: UNMIH/UNSMIH - UN Mission in Haiti/LR,l Support Mission in Haiti: UNAMIR - UN Assistance Mission for Rwanda: UNMOT - UN Mission of Observers in Tajikistan: UNCRO - UN Confidence Restoration Operation: UNPREDEP - UN Preventive Deployment Force: UNMIBH - UN Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina: UNTAES - UN Transitional Administration for Eastern Slavonia, Baranja, and Western Simaium (former Yugoslavia): UNMOP - UN Mission of Observers in Prevlaka (former Yugoslavia): MINUGUA - Mission de las Naciones Unidas en Guatemala: MINURCA - Mission des Nations Unies en Republique Centrafricaine: UNPSG - UN Police Support Group: UNOMSIL - UN Observer Mission in Sierra Leone The Society is extremelypleased to be able to publish a full-color ribbon chartfor the first time in the history of the Journal, which was kindly submitted by Lawrence "Lonny" Borts, OMSA No. 1740. The chart contains in actual size the suspension ribbon/ribbon bar for all medals that have been instituted to date by the UNfor service in the various UN Missions. Exceptfor the Korean Service and UNEF I Medals, the standard UN badge is suspended from the ribbons. The ribbons are arranged in order from the establishment of the earliest UN Mission to most recent mission beginning at the top lefi and ending at the bottom. The third ribbon is for the UN Korean Service Medal, and the last two ribbons are for the UN Headquarters Medal and the UN Special Service Medal We hope this chart will encourage other ribbon collectors to submit charts for publication on the cover offuture issues of the Journal. Editor 2 The Journal of the Orders and Medals Society of America The Independence Medal of the Republic of Turkey .... __ ~~ Iskender (Alex) Mericli, OMSA No. 3141, and Tim Tezer, OMSA No. 5242 "n the aftermath of World War I, the fledgling Republic Kemal (1881-1938), the hero of Gallipoli and the only , of Turkey formed itself from the ashes of the Ottoman Turkish general to end the war without a single defeat in Empire, forging its independence in the fires of a fierce battle. In May 1919, Kemal was appointed Inspector and bitter revolutionary war. The Turkish Independence General of the Ninth Army in the Turkish heartland of Medal was the symbol of the Republic’s esteem for the Anatolia, with orders to gather weapons and armaments men and women whose sacri- laid down by the defeated Otto- fices created this new country. man Army and restore "order." From the establishment of the The Sultan, who was tacitly co- Republic of Turkey in 1923 until operating with the British auth- the passage of the Law of orities, told Kemal enigmati- Medals and Orders (Law No. cally, "Pasha, you can save the 2933) on 24 October 1983, no country.’’2 other awards were issued by the Turkish government; and decor- Meanwhile, Greek Prime Minis- ations of the Ottoman Empire ter Venizelos had been cam- predating the establishment of paigning with the Allies to earn the Republic were not permitted territory for Greece on the to be worn ~ Turkish mainland. Frustrated by Italy’s stubborn refusal to Historical Background recognize Greece’s territorial claims, Venizelos nevertheless Following the defeat of the won the approval of England, Central Powers in World War I, France, and the United States to the broken remnants of the once dispatch an expeditionary force powerful Ottoman Empire fell to Turkey. Launched on 14 May under occupation by Allied 1919, just days after Mustafa troops. The worldwide wave of Kemal assumed command of the nationalism that had fueled the Ninth Army, the Greek invasion outbreak of the war continued to captured Smyrna (modem day create conflicts in the remaining Izmir) and surrounding terri- territories of the former empire. tories. Realizing that the occu- From the earliest days of the pation of Smyrna posed a threat Allied occupation, the Turks to Turkish control of the main- themselves began to feel a rising land, Kemal began to organize tide of national sentiment. War- Independence Medal- Obverse other Turkish generals in Ana- hardened Turkish officers re- tolia into a unified front to hold turning to Istanbul found a vigorous subculture of resist- back the Greek advance. By this time, the Istanbul ance to the occupation. Chief among them was Mustafa government had relieved Kemal of his command; but he defiantly stayed in the central Anatolian city of Ankara where he set up his base of operations. The United Nations Korean Service Medal was granted semiofficial On 16 March 1920, the British put Istanbul under martial status even though it was not issued by the Turkish government. In law in response to the election of a Chamber of Deputies addition, the Turkish National Mint struck a few special medals for visiting dignitaries to mark a special occasion, such as military man- euvers and the opening of a new rail line. For an example of one such medal, see TheMedal Collector, Vol. 29, No. 12 (December 1978), 2 p. 16. "Pasha" is a Turkish title that is the equivalent of a general. Volume 50 Number 4 (the Ottoman Turkish Parli- Turks in the hopes of not only winning territory but also ament) with mostly nation- winning back the support of the French and British. In alist members. After the January 1921, the Greek armies moved to capture the Chamber of Deputies was strategic railway junction at Eski~ehir but were checked dissolved, Kemal declared a at In6nti by a Turkish force under Colonel Ismet. new Turkish government in Immobilized by the bitter cold and mountainous terrain, Ankara that would be the the Greeks were forced to retire to Bursa. legitimate government of Turkey. He rounded up The next Greek assault began on 23 March, but this time British forces in the area with two separate thrusts. Eski~ehir came under attack and placed them under again from the east, while a larger Greek force moved arrest, then sent messages to into the town of Afyonkarahisar (modem day Afyon) to Istanbul and the world the south. At this point, the Greeks made a grave Mustafa Kemal (Atatiirk) stating that the Sultan was strategic error: instead of turning their force at Afyon- considered to be a prisoner karahisar northward to attack Eski~ehir in a pincer of a hostile foreign army. In Ankara, a new parliament, movement, they moved on Konya further to the south. the Grand National Assembly, convened for the first time The Turks however, had established a strong defensive on 23 April 1920. line at Konya; and the southern advance of the Greek Army stalled. Meanwhile, the Greek’s northern arm Under the Treaty of Sfvres of August 1920, the Istanbul fought a fierce battle around the town of In6nti, government relinquished any claims to territories in eventually pushing to the edge of the Anatolian plain. Arabia and the Levant, thus reducing the empire to a There they were thwarted by heavy artillery fire and the puppet state of the Allies and legitimizing the Greek reinforcement of the Turkish lines with cavalry reserves. invasion of Smyrna. A wave of indignation among the Exhausted and depleted by heavy casualties, the Greeks Turkish population turned the tide irrevocably in favor of pulled back to a defensive line. Kemal and the nationalists, and the nationalist movement became a full-scale revolution. Bulgaria The Greeks renewed their offensive on 22 June 1920 with an army better-equipped than the Turks and with the financial and political backing of the British. However, the other Allies were not as supportive. The Italians were still opposed to the invasion outright, and both France and the United States were noncommittal. The British themselves were spread far too thin trying to exert military influence throughout the Middle East with an army that was tired of fighting and low on morale. Nevertheless, the Greek offensive delivered on its promises by capturing the city of Bursa and driving a wedge between the nationalists and Istanbul.