How The Khilafah Was Destroyed by Abdul Qadeem Zallum

Mustafa Kemal refrained from undertaking any other activity apart from spreading his thoughts and gathering supporters until May 1919, when his turn came and the allies started working in a different style to achieve their objective, i.e that of separating Turkey from the other parts of the Ottoman State, destroying the Khilafah and establishing a Turkish republic.

This took place once their endeavours to cause a political crisis and place their agents in power through legitimate and legal means had failed. Their actions were political, international and revolutionary. What prompted them was Italy’s persistence to seize Cilicia as part of her spoils. Hence, Britain realised that as long as she does not operate from within Turkey proper against the allies, she would not be able to execute her plan in Turkey and chase her opponents, France and Italy, from Turkey’s strategic positions. Once Italy had occupied the city of Antalia and the surrounding estates in April 1919, and once she had occupied Fayum, which was part of Yugoslavia, she attempted to occupy Izmir on behalf of the Allies.

Britain and France opposed her move and decided to confront her and prevent her from occupying Izmir or the western coastline of Anatolia.

Then they started objecting to her occupation of Antalia arguing that this would give her control over the eastern side of the Mediterranean. The treaty that had been signed between Britain, France, Italy and Russia, endorsing Italy’s occupation of Izmir and the western coastline, was considered null and void because Russia had withdrawn form the war and never signed it. They then laid their plan for Greece to occupy Izmir.

They set about executing this plan on the one hand. On the other hand, Britain simultaneously claimed that disturbances had broken out in Anatolia, inside Asia Minor, and that robberies, looting and pillaging had become widespread and that it was on an alarming increase. She claimed also that the security forces had been roaming the country aimlessly, streesing that law and order must be observed and that a heavy handed approach was required to deal with those who breached security. Hence, Britain demanded from the government in Istanbul to send a strong man to the eastern provinces and assign to him the task of restoring law and order and re-establishing the government’s authority.

She also unofficially recommended Mustafa Kemal to assume this role.

The war ministry was approached pertaining this issue and Jawad Pasha, the Senior Adviser at the war ministry, approved. He knew nothing of Mustafa Kemal, but the war minister was suspicious of Kemal’s intentions, for he was aware of his plans. Nevertheless, he immediately agreed and broke the news to Mustafa Kemal, who replied that for a speedy investigation to be carried out and for the appropriate measures to be executed while unrest was rampant in the eastern provinces, this would inevitably require that he be given wide powers and for his decisions to be binding. The ministry agreed to all his demands.

Mustafa Kemal had been up until then silent and calm. No one knew that he harboured feelings of hostility towards the Sultan and the government, for he used to gather supporters in total secrecy. His eagerness to acquire wide mandatory powers led him to reject the instructions handed to him at first. He reviewed them and wrote them anew in a format designed to achieve the goal he was aiming for. Having reviewed the instructions, he then presented his own format to the Prime Minister who signed it without checking them. He then took them to the war minister who at first hesitated and then signed. Copies were dispatched to the British High Commissioner, to Harrington, the General Commander of the allied forces, and to all the officers of the allied forces.

What is worth mentioning is that Britain alone was the only country to show excessive concern and desire to quell the unrest. As for France, she never expected the breakout of any alarming disturbances in this vanquished empire, hence she did not pay them any attention.

Nevertheless, once Mustafa Kemal was given his instructions, and once he had secured all the mandatory powers he had wanted, he set sail for Anatolia and left Istanbul on 15th May aboard the small ship Anipoli, hoping to reach Samsun via the Black Sea.

Meanwhile, in the second week of April 1919, the Ottoman government was briefed that according to the seventh article pertaining to the terms of the truce, the allies were about to carry out their occupation of Izmir, and that according to this article, they reserved the right to execute this whenever their interests were threatened. Therefore, the Prime Minister Damad Farid Pasha gave his instructions to the Wali of Izmir. He emphasised the need to keep the armies inside their barracks and forced him to ban by force any demonstration which the locals may hold.

On 14th May 1919, the British fleet was seen inshore around Izmir. The commander of the fleet, Admiral Colthorpe, told the Wali to be ready for the allied forces who were about to disembark. Then he summoned the Wali to meet him. When he arrived he said to him : “I have just heard that it will be the Greeks who will be disembarking and occupying Izmir.” The Wali was devastated and looked at the Admiral in disbelief. He could not hold back the tears, so they started flowing profusely and he said with a lump in his throat and in a voice expressing humiliation and dejection : “The Greeks! The Greeks have come to occupy Izmir?” The Admiral replied : “These are the orders I received from Paris.” The Wali said : “I am not responsible and I cannot predict what will happen.” The commander said to him : “It is impossible for other than the Greeks to occupy Izmir. Do you understand?” Upon this the Wali said to him : “I only need three hundred of your soldiers to reassure the Muslims and to prove to them that the occupation is carried out by the allies and not the Greeks, and that this occupation is temporary rather than permanent.” The Commander replied : “Impossible.” Then he ended the conversation.

In the morning of 15th May 1919, on the same day Mustafa Kemal left Istanbul, as a delegate of the British and the Ottoman government to quell the disturbances in the eastern provinces, the Greek soldiers started disembarking on the quay of Izmir’s seaport. All of the Greek community was out in force to greet them, and their excitement was hard to describe.

They started chanting and the Greek forces roamed the streets of Izmir.

As for the Turkish armed forces, they rushed and hid in their barracks in compliance with the strict instructions issued to them by the Prime Minister.

However, the Greek community and the Greek army were celebrating and roaming the streets in a provocative and defiant manner; but despite this the locals of Izmir and the Ottoman army in Izmir showed restraint.

However, no sooner had the Greek armed forces reached the government buildings, than a single bullet was fired. No one knew where the bullet was fired from, but what was certain is that it was deliberately fired to provoke the Greek army. Hence, no sooner had they heard the bullet than they froze. They then started showering the Ottoman soldiers and the people of Izmir with a hail of bullets, killing and injuring scores of people. Some locals started defending themselves and as a result disturbances broke out and chaos spread. The Greek soldiers seized this opportunity and quenched their burning desire for revenge. They poured out their hatred and quenched their thirst for shedding the Muslims’ blood.

They started provoking the officers by spitting in their faces and forced every Turk to stamp on his tarboosh with his feet, and those who refused were instantly cut to pieces with their swords in a horrific savagery. Then they started removing the Hijab from the Muslim women’s faces, and those who refused to remove their Hijab were instantly killed. They also started pillaging Muslim homes, using all types of humiliation and all styles of provocation. This was without any doubt not normal, but rather a deliberate move designed to carry out a premeditated plot.

While these savage crimes and horrific provocations were taking place on 19th May 1919, the ship Anipoli anchored in the seaport of Izmir between the British fleet and the Greek ships, and Mustafa Kemal disembarked and entered the city. Mustafa Kemal had set sail from Istanbul on 15th May aboard the ship Anipoli in the hope of reaching Samsun via the Black Sea, but instead of going to Samsun, he went to Izmir.

It seemed that the government got wind of this, for on the eve of 16th May 1919, in the middle of the night on which Mustafa Kemal had set sail from Istanbul, the Prime Minister Damad Farid Pasha requested an urgent meeting with a representative of the British High Commissioner and explained to him that the Sultan had changed his mind about sending Mustafa Kemal to the eastern provinces, because news reached him that Mustafa Kemal intended to incite unrest in the inner provinces - thus his trip would have to be aborted at any cost. They gave him the impression that orders would be issued to intercept him and force him to come back. However, they did nothing and Mustafa Kemal pursued his trip aboard the ship until he reached Izmir on 19th May, and that was during the height of the Greeks’ defiance and provocation.

As soon as he arrived, he gathered the Walis and informed them that he was about to take certain measures against Greece and that those measures had been approved by the government. Then he started to vilify the Greeks, gather the military and civilian leaders and address them to urge the masses to prepare for nationalist demonstrations, while warning against the harming of Christians and stressing that these demonstrations should be peaceful. To quote from what he said to them : “By Monday, you will have finished organising a nationalist demonstration, when a huge gathering encompassing the largest number of inhabitants will have been held and where the fiery speeches will have been delivered.

The main aim of these speeches is to evoke the nationalist feeling and highlight the vigour of the Turkish people. We want our demonstrations to provoke the sense of injustice among the Allies and make them feel the oppression that has befallen us. I am absolutely certain that our peaceful nationalist demonstrations will prompt the nobles from among the British and the Western dignitaries to put an end to this shameful interference in our most sensitive national affairs. The demonstrations must take place all over the Wilaya and impressive telegrams must be sent to the major powers and to the Sublime Porte, and I warn you unequivocally against allowing anyone to cause any trouble by harming the Christians in any way whatsoever. Our demonstrations must be nationalist and peaceful.” Then he started showering the authorities with a series of harsh telegrams sent by the locals, of which was a telegram stating : “The country is in danger”, and another stating : “The central government is no longer capable of carrying out its basic duties”, and another stating : “We can only preserve the independence of our country by the determination of the nation and the efforts of the nations.” One of the harshest telegrams was the one sent to Istanbul from the strategic military port of Sinub, in which the masses expressed a huge uproar. To quote from the telegram: “The Turkish nation cannot be destined to live with a government which Europe controls at will and to which it dictates whatever she wishes.”

As a result of this telegram, the Wali of Sinop was dismissed from his post and telegrams were exchanged between the Prime Minister, acting on behalf of the Sultan, and Mustafa Kemal, with the Sultan insisting that Mustafa Kemal should return immediately. However, Mustafa Kemal refused and sent a telegram in which he said : “I shall remain in Anatolia until the country’s independence is achieved.” This flagrant refusal was the first step towards the rebellion; and he went on gathering people and roaming about Anatolia until he had flared up the rebellion.

This is how Mustafa Kemal started his rebellion which ended in the abolishment of the Khilafah and the severance of Turkey from the other parts of the Ottoman State, or according to the Westerners, the destruction of the Ottoman Empire. From these events alone, one can conclude without any shade of a doubt that it was the British who had initiated everything to flare up this rebellion, and that it was they who had sent Mustafa Kemal to carry it out. For it was they who claimed that there had been disturbances in the eastern provinces, it was they who demanded that Mustafa Kemal should go to quell the disturbances, it was they who inspired the Greeks to occupy Izmir, under the guardianship and protection of their fleet, and to carry out such provocations. Also it was the British who had brought Mustafa Kemal to Izmir, despite the Ottoman authorities’ pleas for him to return, and who paved the way for him to immediately take advantage of those provocations and start gathering people around him. These events speak volumes and indicate most conspicuously the conclusive truth which everyone can put their finger on.