THE CEASE FIRE TRUMPET.
Ms. Ayten Kuttas, listening to the memoir of a retired soldier
who participated in the War of Independence, summarizes it as
follows:
...We were fighting on the Western Front. The defeated Greeks
had begun to surrender. Our Battalion was assigned to the
village of Aslanlar. Despite being very close to the enemy, and
lacking sufficient weapons, ammunition, and vehicles for our
defense, we nevertheless captured the enemy column, turning and
controlling the mail coaches. One day, we also intercepted an
order in one of the mail documents announcing the appointment of
General Trikupis to the rank of Major General.
We captured the column under Trikupis's command and reported the
situation to the Commander-in-Chief. Upon receiving the order,
we set out to take Trikupis to Dumlupınar...
I am sharing a summary of the surrender from the diary of
Trikupis, Commander-in-Chief of the Greek Armies: He recounts:
.... Upon receiving news that Uşak had been retaken by the
Turks, I was no longer in a position to do anything. The best
course of action would be to hide and rest the soldiers until
dark.
I took security precautions and ordered the men to remain in
their trenches. We were a little east of Uşak. Around 4:00 PM,
the guards to the south reported seeing Turkish cavalry
approximately one kilometer away and Turkish infantry four
kilometers away.
My soldiers, whom I had intended to send to the first line,
replied that they did not want to die in vain, as they lacked
ammunition.
One of the trumpets, without anyone's order or knowledge, blew
the cease-fire horn.
The soldiers in the first line fired a few shots at the enemy,
who were a short distance ahead of them, a bullet's throw away,
and then abandoned their positions. I ran to the trumpet and
shouted, "Commence fire...".
My order was carried out.
I intervened among the soldiers, weary of going to the firing
line. I tried to persuade them by talking about home, honor, and
dignity.
But I couldn't get them to listen.
I saw with alarm that the order I had given to the divisional
artillery to open fire had not been carried out.
Minutes passed, and the artillery fire would not begin. The news
that arrived a short time later was tragic: the armed infantry
had surrounded the artillery and prevented them from opening
fire. Rather than engage in another battle with the Turks,
surrender was the safest option.
I advised the units that before making any decisions, an
official report, signed by their commanders, should be submitted
to persuade the soldiers to rejoin the battle line. Indeed, the
unit commanders did report this way, and the Chief of Staff of
the I Corps stated that no one wanted to fight and that the
soldiers were threatening the officers with any losses. I then
tried to persuade the soldiers to rejoin the battle line.
However, all the officers present informed me that they had
given up fighting, and they argued that fighting was essentially
futile, and that if I persisted, resistance would be more
effective and likely lead to the surrender of the entire officer
corps to the enemy. So, with a wounded heart, faced with this
painful situation, I ordered the firing of the cannons and
machine guns and agreed to the raising of the white flag atop
the 1155-meter-high hill...
Let's follow a summary from the writings of our renowned writer Halide
Edip Adıvar, who witnessed the encounter between Trikupis
and Gazi Mustafa Kemal Pasha.
...We were heading to Uşak. We were
stopping passersby and asking questions. The murders were
heinous. Nearly a hundred of our citizens had been killed or
burned. Some of them were women. The people were completely
stunned by this brutality.
After Kızlcadere, the Greeks had lost all hope and began to
destroy everything.
We stayed in Uşak for three days. At headquarters, everyone was
talking about Trikupis. The previous Commander-in-Chief, Hacı
Anesti, had been dismissed from his post. The Greeks didn't know
where General Trikupis was. Some said he had committed suicide.
On the second of September, we found Mustafa Kemal Pasha, Fevzi
Pasha, and İsmet Pasha sitting around a table in Uşak. General
Trikupis and General Dionis had surrendered to the Turks. They
came before Gazi Mustafa Kemal Pasha between Nureddin Pasha and
Kemaleddin Pasha. If they hadn't been protected, the people of
Uşak would have torn them apart. The people of Uşak considered
them among those who had killed their loved ones and destroyed
their homes and property, paying no attention to their ranks or
status.
When they brought in the Greek Generals, Mustafa Kemal Pasha
stood between Fevzi Pasha and İsmet Pasha. For me, this was a
military drama of the first order. Therefore, I watched and
listened with great interest.
Our soldiers' uniforms were as plain as the soldiers', their
faces calm and motionless. In contrast, the Greeks wore
gold-embroidered uniforms. Their faces and hands revealed a deep
nervousness. Fevzi Pasha was as calm as a Buddha statue. İsmet
Pasha tried not to show the anger in his eyes. He could not
tolerate the cruelty inflicted on the local people.
Fevzi Pasha and İsmet Pasha bowed slightly, but did not offer
their hands. Mustafa Kemal Pasha was the dominant character in
this scene. This soldier, who crushed his political opponents
without a second thought, was a great artist in the military and
an athlete who adhered to the rules of the game. He seemed
indifferent to the appearances of the Greek Generals and the
misdeeds of their entourage. Trikupis was his opponent in this
game. In this military game, he maintained the proper demeanor
to the man he had knocked to the ground, and like a victorious
wrestler shaking the hand of a wrestler whose back he had
brought down, he held Trikupis's hand for longer than a simple
handshake. Standing, he welcomed his defeated and captive enemy:
-Sit down,
General. You must be tired..." he said.
He held out his cigarette case and ordered coffee.
Let's continue the summary of the incident from Trikupis's
memoirs:
...I was taken prisoner near Uşak. First, I was taken to the
headquarters of İsmet Pasha, Commander of the Turkish Army. He
took me to Commander-in-Chief Mustafa Kemal without making me
wait. When I entered Mustafa Kemal's office, he greeted me
standing and friendly. He said the following in relaxed French:
-Remember that
the great Napoleon was also a hostage.
You fulfilled your duty completely and completely. We, too,
appreciate and respect you. You are not our hostage here,
but our guests."
He paused for a moment. His steely eyes scanned me, and he
asked:
-Do you know you
have been appointed Commander of the Asia Minor Armies?
I was surprised. I paused for a moment.
-No!" I answered his question.
Mustafa Kemal Pasha turned to İsmet Pasha and said:
-I think
commanders need rest.
As Trikupis was about to leave, he requested that his family in
Istanbul be informed of his health."
Gazi Pasha instructed that the address be obtained and delivered
through the Red Crescent, and he did not forget to issue
Trikoupis the order announcing his promotion to Major General.
The following news item appeared in Athens newspapers on August
23, 1922:
Brigadier General Trikoupis, who was at the front, was appointed
Commander of the Asia Minor Armies. For his bravery on the
battlefield, he was also promoted to Major General…
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After Atatürk's passing, Greek General Trikopis observed a moment of silence every year on October 29th (the date of the declaration of the Turkish republic) in front of the Atatürk bust at the Turkish Embassy in Thessaloniki ( Atatürk birth place) until her death.
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