The great offensive and the battle of the Commander-in-Chief, which resulted in the victory of the Turkish army under the command of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, went down in history as one of the greatest heroic epics the world has ever seen.
The victory was achieved when the Turkish army under the command of the great leader Mustafa Kemal Atatürk completely surrounded and destroyed the Greek troops on both sides of the Alliören, Goats, Kızıltaş Stream road in Dumlupınar in the Pitched Battle that started on 26 August.
After the victory of the great offensive, Mustafa Kemal Pasha told the troops, “Armies, your first target is the Mediterranean, forward!” he ordered
The great offensive and the battle of the commander-in-chief, which started on July 26, 1922 and crowned with a great victory on August 30, by the Turkish army under the command of great leader Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, became one of the greatest heroic epics written in golden letters in history.
In 1919, after the First World War, the allied powers began to occupy Anatolia under various excuses based on the provisions of the Armistice of Mudros, and the Turkish nation, whose ammunition was taken from its army was trying to be put in a difficult situation.
During the occupation days described by Halide Edip Adıvar in her book “Türk’ün Ateşle Testihanı”, the Entente fleet settled in Istanbul, the French in Adana, the British in Urfa, Maraş, Samsun and Merzifon, and the Italians in Antalya and southwest of Anatolia.
On May 15 1919, with the permission of the allies, the Greek army landed in Izmir.
In the face of this situation, the Turkish nation started the national movement against the occupations within the “consciousness of being a nation” throughout history.
There were two options, either surrender to the occupying forces or a destroyed and burned country would rise again and rise from its ashes.
Upon the opening of the Turkish grand national assembly in 1920, the occupation forces focused all their repressive policies on Atatürk and his comrades, especially on the western front.
The Greek army came to Polatlı in 1921. Preparations were being made for the longest pitched battle in the world in Polatlı.
After a year of preparation to completely drive the enemy army which was stopped after the bloody battles in Sakarya that lasted for 22 days and 22 nights, on 26 August 1922, commander-in-chief Mustafa Kemal Pasha gave the order for the operation that started the great offensive.
WHILE BREAKING DAWN IN KOCATEPE ON AUGUST 26
Commander-in-Chief Mustafa Kemal took his place in Kocatepe, which is within the borders of Afyonkarahisar to lead the battle with Chief of General Staff Fevzi Pasha (Çakmak), Western Front Commander İsmet Pasha (İnönü) on the morning of 26 August.
In the continuation of the operation which started at dawn with artillery fire, the Turkish soldiers attacked with the first light of the morning captured Tınaztepe and drove the enemy away from Belentepe and Kalecik Spirsi.
On the first day of the offensive, the 1st army units captured the enemy’s first line positions in the 15-kilometer area between Büyük Kaleciktepe and Çiğiltepe.
The 5th Cavalry Corps made successful attacks on the transport branches behind the enemy, while the 2nd army continued its detection duty at the front without interruption.
The Turkish army attacked again on all fronts on the morning of 27 August and on the same day Afyonkarahisar was liberated from the enemy occupation by the 8th Division.
The offensive, which continued successfully on 28 and 29 August, resulted in the neutralization of the enemy’s 5th Division.
The commanders, who evaluated the situation on the night of 29 August, agreed that immediate action should be taken and the offensive should be concluded in a short time, and the necessary measures were taken to implement the plan on August 30 without a hitch.
GREAT VICTORY AND A BROKEN CARB
On the eve of the most important victory of the Turkish army in the War of Independence, Commander-in-Chief Mustafa Kemal Pasha ordered the troops to attack in Zafertepe Çalköy, which is now in the Altıntaş district of Kütahya on the morning of 30 August.
The victory was achieved when the Turkish army under the command of the great leader Mustafa Kemal Atatürk completely surrounded and destroyed the Greek troops on both sides of the Alliören, Goats, Kızıltaş Stream road in Dumlupınar in the pitched battle that started on 26 August.
Some Greek troops, General Trikopis, General Diyenis and many Greek commanders fled from the open area in the Kızıltaş stream area.
The day after the Great Victory, on August 31, in Zafertepe Çalköy, the Commander-in-Chief Mustafa Kemal, who put the map of the battlefields on a broken oxcart in the garden of a house, evaluated the situation with Fevzi Pasha and İsmet Pasha to prevent the Greeks from re-arranging defense and to defeat them in Izmir.
He was united in his view of entering.
“ARMIES, YOUR FIRST GOAL IS THE MEDITERRANEAN, FORWARD!”
Mustafa Kemal Pasha, in the statement he published on September 1, in Dumlupınar, to be read to all officers and privates on the western front, included the following statements:
“Armies of the Turkish grand national assembly, in the Afyonkarahisar-Dumlupınar great pitched battle, you destroyed the essential asset of a cruel and proud army in an unbelievably short time.
You have proven yourself worthy of the sacrifices of our great and distinguished nation. Our owner, the great Turkish nation, is right to trust its future.
I closely observe and watch your successes and sacrifices on the battlefields. I will consistently fulfill my duty to mediate the transmission of our nation’s praise to you.
I ordered the front command to make a proposal to the Commander-in-Chief for the award. I request all my friends to continue the competition with all their might, taking into account that there will be other field battles in Anatolia, and using the resources of everyone’s intelligence and patriotism.
The liberation of Afyonkarahisar on August 27, the liberation of Kütahya on August 30, Gediz on September 1, and the liberation of Emet and Tavşanlı on September 3, was followed by the Turkish army that poured the Greek army into the sea in Izmir on September 9.
Mustafa Kemal Pasha carried out his orders with great success.
BECAUSE HE DIDN’T FULFILL THE PROMISE
One of the most memorable events from the great offensive was the 57th Division Commander Colonel Reşat Bey’s suicide by shooting himself on 27 August, out of sadness that he could not fulfill his duty after the taking of Çiğiltepe was delayed by half an hour.
When Mustafa Kemal Pasha called the 57th Division Command, which fought on the ridges of Çiğiltepe on the phone again, he was told that Colonel Reşat Bey had committed suicide, and he wrote, “Although I promised you to take that position within half an hour, I cannot live because I could not fulfill my promise.”
Çiğiltepe was liberated from enemy soldiers 15 minutes after Colonel Reşat Bey’s death.
“THE FOUNDATION OF THE TURKISH REPUBLIC WAS STRENGTHENED HERE”
The great leader Atatürk came to Zafertepe Çalköy to attend the groundbreaking ceremony of the martyr Sancaktar Mehmetçik monument on 30 August 1924, exactly two years after the great victory.
Reminding the attendees of the ceremony two years ago, Atatürk described the great victory with the following sentences:
“Afyonkarahisar-Dumlupınar field battle and its last part, the 30 August victory, are the most important turning points in Turkish history.
Our national history is full of great, very bright victories, but I do not remember a battle that was as decisive as the victory of the Turkish nation here, and that was effective in giving a new step not only to our history but also to the world history.
It is obvious that the foundation of the new Turkish state, the young Turkish Republic was consolidated here, and its immortal life was crowned here.
The Turkish blood shed in this area, the spirits of martyrs flying in these skies are the immortal protectors of our state and our republic.
The Turkish nation, with the victory it has won here, with the power and will it has revealed has once again put this certain truth in the heart of history with a steel pen.”
