How The Khilafah Was Destroyed by Abdul Qadeem Zallum

Mustafa Kemal was the one who called for the election of new members and recognised the constitutionality of the assembly. He approved of the selected deputies, and he promised to abide by the resolutions of the assembly, who had dissolved the former government and accepted the current government, with the demands that the country should be governed through constitutional rule. Despite all this, he decided to declare the rebellion once again, after he had lost all hope of seizing power through parliament. Hence, he started to equip the troops and prepare for battle.

Weapons and funds started to flow towards him from Istanbul with the full knowledge of the British High Commissioner and the French High Commissioner. They both used to nominally express their objection to this but they would generally keep silent and decline to reveal anything; even an incident far more significant than this occurred, which was when Mustafa Kemal gathered trucks full of weapons and ammunition in the peninsula of Gallipoli, right under the nose of the British High Commissioner and despite his surveillance.

A guerrilla war broke out against the allies, and Biria was besieged and forced to capitulate, thus the rebels allowed the Italian garrison to evacuate.

Then the eastern side of Cilicia was attacked and the French garrison evacuated. London and Paris called for an absolute halt to the military operations, but these went on regardless as they were.

On 7th March 1920, the allies forced Ali Ridha to resign; thus he tendered his resignation and was replaced by Salih Pasha, who was the navy minister, and who had in the past struck a deal with Mustafa Kemal in “Amasia”.

Hence, he proceeded in government while attempting to diffuse and pacify the situation.

However, on 10th March 1920, Lord Curzon delivered a speech in the House of Lords in which he said: “The a+llies can no longer tolerate the level of belittlement the Europeans are having to endure in Istanbul, while Christians are being persecuted and slaughtered all over the place.”

In the wake of this statement, the harbour of Golden Horn was filled with British warships. British staff were evacuated from Anatolia and orders were issued to the remaining British garrison to evacuate as soon as possible. The British living in Ankara left the city in a hurry.

The speaker of parliament in Istanbul, Ra’uf Beik, declared that the British intended to arrest the nationalist deputies and to restore the government of Damad Farid Pasha. Hence, Mustafa Kemal telegraphed his deputies urging them vehemently to flee and not to surrender themselves to the British, but they refused to flee.

In the early hours of 16th March 1920, all the measures aimed at occupying Istanbul militarily and at tightening the grip on the local residents were undertaken. This task was delegated to the British General Henry Wilson, who had been appointed earlier as the Commander in Chief of the allied forces.

Paris and Rome agreed that the three governments of Britain, France and Italy should take part in imposing sanctions. However, it was Britain alone who dispatched her marines. When France and Italy realised that Britain had succeeded in occupying Istanbul, they intervened once again to block the categorically British initiative in order to preserve the international balance of power; thus they demanded to take part in ruling the country, but the British did not enable them to do so, and acted alone.

Then without any delay, the British troops roamed the main streets of the city, proudly showing off, occupying the post office and all the main government buildings, after having terrorised the local residents and even the Turkish soldiers themselves. They arrested a number of deputies from Mustafa Kemal’s party, among whom were Ra’uf Beik and Fathi Beik.

They also arrested the former Prime Minister Said Halim, taking them all to prison. The next morning, they were loaded into a ship which took them to Malta. Hence, some of the deputies and army officers fled Istanbul for Ankara. And so, the allies took over Istanbul and siezed total control over it, ruling it just as they willed. Martial law was declared in Istanbul and strict censorship was enforced on the press, postal and telegraphic communications and on the government.

The Sultan backed the measures which the British had undertaken and the government issued a public communiqué in which it exhorted people to observe calm, stating that it was their duty to do so. The government began the communiqué by saying: “The most important duty of every Turkish citizen is to abide by the orders of the Sultan.” Consequently, the masses and the Turkish soldiers were engulfed in an atmosphere of terror which in turn led to people’s resentment of the Sultan and the intensification from all sides of the attacks upon him. Then parliament was officially dissolved.

On 5th April 1920, Salih Pasha resigned and Damad Ferid Pasha formed the new government at the request of the British and started ruling the country in a despotic manner. Once parliament had been dissolved, he became the sole power broker and started to openly take into account the British interests and attempt to win them over through various means, until he almost became more British than the British themselves. The Sultan was not too far behind in his attempt at winning the British over and in his attack on Mustafa Kemal’s followers. He incited Sheikh-ul-Islam to issue a fatwa against them and so he did. The fatwa stated that all the nationalists were from amongst the cursed ones and from amongst those who strayed, and that the believers from amongst Allah’s servants should declare war on those revolting insurgents. A Sultanic decree was simultaneously issued endorsing this fatwa and sentencing Mustafa Kemal and his supporters to capital punishment.

When Mustafa Kemal heard of this, he arrested the small number of Britons who remained in Anatolia and had not evacuated when they had been instructed to do so. Then he ordered the Turkish garrison to attack the British and besiege the city of Eskisehir where a British platoon was stationed. At that time, the British were waiting for an Italian garrison heading towards Konia. Hence, the Turkish troops attacked the British and managed to lay siege to the city. They also attacked the Italian garrison while on its way to Konia. The Italians however managed to reach Konia after suffering heavy losses. Consequently, the Italian garrison was forced to move westwards and join the Greeks in Izmir. The British evacuated Eskisehir as the Italians evacuated Konia. Therefore, not one single soldier from the allied forces was left in Anatolia; however, no clashes whatsoever took place with the British, while a single skirmish took place with the Italians while on their way to Konia to link up with the British. Then they all evacuated.

In the light of these operations, the situation became apparent in that two camps dominated the country: the British on one side, backed by the Khaleefah and the government, and Mustafa Kemal’s party on the other side, backed by all the people. Hence, Mustafa Kemal became opposite to the government and people regarded him as their leader against the British. Therefore, public opinion was in his favour and most of the army officers and civil servants were on his side. So, amidst this favourable mood, he seized the opportunity to announce on behalf of the Parliamentary Committee, which was still in place and had never been dissolved, that fresh elections would be held and that the new parliament would have no connection with the old assembly. Also that it would not be an Ottoman parliament, but a nationalist legislative institution with exceptional powers. Ankara was selected as the centre where the sessions of this nationalist institution would be held.

Elections did effectively take place, but these were not genuine elections - they were rather a nominal exercise aimed at creating the appearance of legitimate elections. The general mood was that the status quo necessitated the election of the Kemalists only, to the exclusion of all others, so they become the representatives of the nation. This indeed was the case and no other deputy apart from the Kemalists was elected.

On 23rd April 1920, the nationalist conference was held in Ankara. The inaugural session was deliberately scheduled to take place on a Friday.

Hence, after the Friday prayer at the mosque of Hajj Birem, the deputies came out hoisting the flags and proceeded towards the venue of the meeting. They slaughtered two sheep at the threshold, then they entered the hall and held the inaugural session. Meanwhile, similar celebrations took place in every single mosque in Anatolia, even those in the smallest of villages.

During his preparation for the National Assembly and its inauguration, Mustafa Kemal had been bringing the civil servants to Ankara. Local residents witnessed an influx of migrants flocking to their city, amongst whom were officers, teachers and senior civil servants. They did not know at first the reason for their arrival, but they later realised that they were the government staff.

And so, Mustafa Kemal established a government apparatus in Ankara.

He also established a regular army and several government departments.

He also brought a press and a team of journalists. A newspaper called Hakmit Milla was published and Mustafa Kemal prepared Ankara to become the government centre and the capital of the country. He set about laying the foundations of the Turkish republic. However, he undertook this initiative with extreme caution and total secrecy by pretending that his struggle was a struggle against foreign occupation and that his war was a war against the occupiers. He used to justify his actions by claiming that he was defending the country and used to address the Europeans through official statements in which he would say: “You can occupy all the Arab countries and occupy Syria, but I shall not allow you to occupy Turkey. We are only claiming a right which every single nation should enjoy. We want to be a free nation within our natural national borders. We do not accept one carat less than that.” During and after the inauguration of the National Assembly, he declared: “All the measures to be taken would be aimed at maintaining the Khilafah and the Sultanate and at ridding the Sultan and the country from Western slavery.” He then gave a statement in which he said: “Since the Sultan is prisoner of the Western countries who control the capital as they please, thus he is not a free sovereign, nor does he enjoy any sovereignty whatsoever. Therefore, the Supreme National Assembly is going to assume temporarily the running of the country’s affairs.” Consequently, an executive committee was set up and delegated with the task of running the country’s affairs. It was formed of eleven ministers elected by the National Assembly, and Mustafa Kemal was voted as its president. Prior to this, he had been elected as speaker of the National Assembly, whereafter Colonel Ismat Pasha joined the government.

The National Assembly started to hold its meetings and adopt resolutions.

It adopted a host of very important resolutions, one of which was the considering of all the trade agreements and treaties signed between the Istanbul government and the foreign countries as null and void. Another resolution stipulated that all the state’s revenues, even those coming from the Sultan’s assets, estates and Awqaf (endowments), should be placed under the disposal of the Ankara government.

Hence, a government was established in Ankara, which had a parliament, governmental departments and a regular army. It adopted a host of very serious resolutions. Thus, it became imperative upon the Sultan to either abolish this government or surrender to it. An armed confrontation between the two camps became inevitable.

The Sultan dispatched a task force to Ankara led by officers loyal to him.

The troops marched towards the north-west of Asia Minor. Many volunteers joined the task force and the Sultan sent some of his supporters to Kurdistan in order to incite the tribes in that region. Then he started to exhort the whole Ummah to defend the throne and the Khilafah. Loyalty to the Khaleefah was still strong to the point that his orders were met with respect and his obedience was considered to be an obedience to Allah (swt), while his disobedience was considered to be a disobedience to Allah (swt). Hence, all the provinces joined the Khaleefah while some of them revolted against the Ankara government. The army of the Khaleefah succeeded in taking a whole Kemalist division as prisoners.

Battles between the two armies went on throughout the month of May 1920 and the Sultan’s army managed to rout Mustafa Kemal’s forces everywhere. All the provinces joined the Khaleefah and the masses were on his side, apart from Ankara, which was the centre of the rebellion. Ankara itself was about to fall, for the neighbouring villages were coming under the Sultan’s banner one after the other and joining the Khaleefah’s army.

Mustafa Kemal and his supporters in Ankara were in dire straits, and in Ankara itself, despair crept in the hearts of those who were with him and they contemplated surrendering to the Khaleefah and joining him. Mustafa Kemal’s life was hanging by a thread and he was on the verge of being destroyed.

Precisely at that moment, the terms of truce which had been signed a year and a half before in Paris, known as the Treaty of Sèvres which the Sultan had accepted and the Prime Minister Damad Farid Pasha had signed, were broadcast. These terms had been kept secret and the Turkish people knew nothing about them. They were now broadcast all over Turkey . Hence, public opinion was outraged in every part of the country, against the Khaleefah and against the Prime Minister Damad Farid Pasha.

When the outrage was at his highest, the British Prime Minister Lloyd George, made an announcement in the House of Parliament saying: “The aim of the allies is to liberate the non-Turkish nations from the Turkish yoke.” This announcement was also circulated amongst the masses, causing the outrage to intensify, and the resentment became directed at the British and their puppets, the Khaleefah and his Prime Minister Damad Farid Pasha.

In this way, the situation was turned upside down and people started to drift away from the Khaleefah and join Mustafa Kemal. The areas which revolted against Mustafa Kemal were all purged from the Khaleefah’s army and from those who were opposed to Mustafa Kemal. The Khaleefah’s army was heavily defeated and the Sultan’s power was diminished. People were vowing to seek revenge from Damad Farid Pasha who had signed the Treaty and surrendered the country. Consequently, Ankara regained control of the situation and all people sided with Mustafa Kemal. They considered him to be the saviour from occupation and he was restored as the leader of the country. This Treaty incensed the Turks, for it meant the end of the Ottoman Empire and its division amongst the Europeans, or its fragmentation into several independent Wilayas, thus turning Turkey into a small country within Asia Minor and bringing Istanbul, the capital of Turkey and her only passage to Europe under an international mandate.

The Treaty also changed the Sultan’s authority into insignificant forms and reduced Turkey to areas of influence for Britain, France and Italy.

The Treaty contained a host of horrifying clauses, among which were :

1- The Arab countries: Turkey was stripped of all the Arab countries formerly part of her Empire. As for the kingdom of Hijaz, it was recognised as an independent state and Turkey renounced her dominion over Palestine, Syria and Mesopotamia whose future was to be decided by the allies.

2- European Turkey: West Damas was handed to Greece up until the Catalca line. At the same time Greece received from the Allies the heritage of Al-Gharbiyyah and thus extending her borders to approximately 20

miles from the Turkish capital.

3- Smirna and the Aegean Islands, together with Smirna city, were placed under the Greek administration for five years, after which time, the locals could opt to join the kingdom of Greece by way of a referendum. As for the islands of Jambros and Tinides, these were offered to Greece in addition to other Aegean islands. The Dodicaniz islands, which include the strategic island of Rhodes were offered to Italy.

4- Armenia: Turkey recognised Armenia as being an independent state and she accepted the arbitration of President Wilson pertaining the issue of the borders between the two countries.

5- Kurdistan: Turkey agreed to grant the Kurdish lands situated to the east of the Euphrates river a self-rule, and to accept any plan pertaining to this issue submitted by an international select committee represented by Britain, France and Italy. Turkey also agreed to approve certain modifications to her borders with Iran in the Kurdish region, in addition to approving that one year after the execution of this treaty, the Kurds could request for independence which would be granted if the council of the League of Nations deemed the Kurds worthy of this independence.

Thus Turkey would have to renounce all her authority over these lands.

The texts of this renouncement would form a new agreement between the allies and Turkey.

6 - The straits and Constantinople: Turkey agreed to have the straits under international administration and to demilitarise the surrounding areas.

As for Constantinople, (Istanbul), she would remain under Turkish sovereignty. In addition to this, the Turkish army was restricted to 50,000

soldiers and subjugated to abide by the allies directives and recommendations. Turkey also agreed to allow the long-term control of Britain, France and Italy over her financial affairs, in addition to maintaining the old concessions and adding a host of humiliating clauses. In addition to Turkey accepting to grant the ethnic minorities a host of rights and privileges, in particular the Armenians, the Greeks and the Kurds, and all the Christians in general.

The broadcast of such a horrific and humiliating treaty was enough to flare up the rebellion in Turkey against the Sultan, who had accepted the treaty and signed for it. Hence, the sweeping current started to rapidly move in favour of Ankara and the whole country sided with the new Ankara government giving it a military and popular force. The government of Ankara went as far as threatening the capital Istanbul itself which was occupied by the allies. Hence, Mustafa Kemal won the second phase and succeeded in establishing a second government in the country, with Ankara as its centre, and in gaining the upper hand over the country and the army.

This was the second phase of Mustafa Kemal’s rebellion and these were its events. Any person discerning these events can tangibly sense that it was the British who prepared for this phase and who instigated it; also that it was them who protected it and prevented its destruction and abolishment. It was the allies who informed the Turkish government through an official memorandum that Istanbul and the straits should remain under the auspices of the Sultan, while the government did not ask for this. At the time, no one could comprehend the reasons behind this generosity, as the allies were still occupying the country. The reason was later uncovered, for it enabled Britain to return later on her own to occupy the straits and Istanbul, not giving the opportunity for Italy. Hence, it was a British manoeuvre aimed at enabling them to occupy the capital and the straits single-handedly.

Besides this, the money and the weapons which used to go to Mustafa Kemal after he resumed the rebellion, reached him with the full knowledge of the British and the French High Commissioners; so why this silence from their part? Why this encouragement to allow the loading of full trucks from the peninsula of Gallipoli? Furthermore, the faked anger which led to Mustafa Kemal’s clash with the allies should have been directed at Mustafa Kemal himself, not at Istanbul. Thus, the natural thing to do would have been for the allies to attack the centre of the rebellion in Ankara and the rebellious army, not for the British to return on their own with their warships and perpetrate provocative acts in the capital without inflicting any harm on the rebels.

In addition, the rebels did not clash with the British, but with the French in Cilicia and the Italians in Konya. No clashes whatsoever took place with the British troops. Had there been any anger towards the rebellion of Mustafa Kemal, it would have been natural had it come from the French and the Italians, not from the British. In the end it was the British who returned on their own to occupy the country thereby preventing the French and the Italians from returning.

Furthermore, why would Britain broadcast the Treaty of Sèvres at a moment when Mustafa Kemal was surrounded in Ankara and was about to fall? Why had this Treaty been kept secret before, knowing that it had been signed over a year earlier? Was this not a manifestation of Mustafa Kemal’s rebellion being against the allies? This action was without any shade of a doubt a conspiracy perpetrated by the British themselves, for they were the ones who broadcasted the articles of the Treaty at that specific moment in order to save Mustafa Kemal and to deal the Khaleefah a blow so that a second government could be established in the country, thus moving towards the third and last phase. The phase of international conferences and final treaties.