Watercolor painting by Burhan Özer
In the summer of 1919, British Col. Alfred "Toby" Rawlinson was in
Erzurum inspecting the progress of Ottoman Army disarmament in
the aftermath of WWI. Coincidentally, Mustafa Kemal Paşa (later,
of course, Atatürk) happened to be in Erzurum, too, preparing for the
congress there that was a stepping stone toward the eventual
establishment of the Turkish Republic on 29 October 1923.
The two met and this is Rawlinson's description of the man who sat
opposite him, as recorded in his book "Adventures in the Near East
1918-1922", published in London in 1923:
Mustafa Kemal Paşa (Pages 188, 189, 190): "There
now arrived at
Erzurum the Inspector-General of the Turkish Eastern Armies, who
has since become the famous Mustafa Kemal Paşa, the great Turk, the
remarkable
nature of whose striking personality never fails to impress
itself on all who
are brought into contact with him.
European rather than Asiatic in type, with fair hair
and blue eyes,
Kemal is more Teutonic than Turkish in appearance. He has read much
and traveled widely, and is
thoroughly competent to give a considered
opinion on all subjects of general
interest either at the present day or in
the history of the past. A man of great strength of character and very
definite and practical views as to the rightful position of his race in the
comity of nations, he is no seeker after personal fame or advancement,
but is
imbued with a deep sense of duty, which causes him to place his
country’s
interest before all others and to labour unceasingly towards
those ends which
he considers to be most to her advantage.
This is the secret of his remarkable success in the
creation of the Turkish
National Party, of which he himself is the moving and
controlling spirit.
It is by means of
the undoubted earnestness and loyalty of his patriotism
that he has been able
to weld together the many divergent interests of his
countrymen, and to lay the
foundations of a Turkish democratic power
which cannot fail to dominate the
field of Eastern politics in the near
future.
His military training is of German origin, but it is
more than doubtful
whether his sympathies today have any inclination towards
either
Germany or Russia, except in so far as the support of those countries
may be made to serve in the forwarding of Turkish interests. Many
scurrilous reports have been circulated
from time to time with regard
to his private life, but I have never observed
the slightest foundation for
them, though, I have had every opportunity of doing
so had any such
existed. His general bearing, though invariably courteous, is not such
as to encourage social intercourse, but it is impossible to doubt either
the sincerity of his convictions or the tenacity with which he is prepared
to support what he considers to be the legitimate aims of his country.
During the month of June ((1919)), when at Erzurum
occupying the post
of Inspector-General,
Kemal Paşa was recalled to Constantinople by the
Sultan (I concluded at
the request of the Allies), and, on his refusing to go,
he was deprived of his
military rank, thus being left free to devote his
activities to politics, in
which, although a lifelong enemy of Enver, he was
already deeply committed to
the support of what had previously been
known as the Young Turk Party. I frequently saw and had long talks with
him
at this time, and was well aware of his political aspirations and also
of the
difficulties he was meeting with in their prosecution, and of the
object of
the Conference which he was then arranging to hold at Erzurum
in July." ((Erzurum Congress, 23 July – 7 August 1919))
Mustafa Kemal Paşa and Kâzım Karabekir Paşa, right,
in Erzurum in the summer of 1919.
Rawlinson had many more dealings in Erzurum with Kâzım Karabekir
Paşa, who would go on to play a major role in the War of Independence.
This was his description of Kâzım Karabekir Paşa in his book:
Kâzım Karabekir Paşa (Pages 180-181): "Shortly after our arrival the
new Army Commander, Kâzım Karabekir Paşa,
appeared on the scene,
and as a formality to propitiate the Allies, the old
IXth Army was reduced
to the status of an Army Corps only and numbered XV. Needless to
remark, this made no practical
difference at all to the military position.
Kâzım Paşa, a native of eastern Anatolia, is the most genuine example of
a first-class Turkish officer that it has ever been my good fortune to
meet.
He has had much experience of war
and was Chief of Staff to the German
Marshal von der Goltz, who the
Commander-in-Chief of the Turkish
armies that defended Baghdad against the
British advance.
Any army he has under his command may always be relied
upon to be
thoroughly well commanded.
Not only has he the advantage of a naturally
quick and bright
intelligence, but he is master of every branch of his
profession, and extremely
conscientious in the exercise of his multifarious
duties. I am anxious to add, first, that, having had
much to do with him
in many extremely delicate positions, I have always found
him as
straightforward as his orders would permit him to be; and, secondly,
that
although it was my fate to be his prisoner for a long time and to suffer
great hardships at the hands of some of his subordinates, yet he himself
has
never ceased to command my respect as an individual and my
appreciation as a
thoroughly competent Commander.
For some time past he has commanded the Eastern Front
of the Nationalist
armies and much of their success in the west must be
attributed to his
enlightened handling of the complicated position in the
east. It is easy,
therefore, to realize
how great must be his influence in the critical days
which lie before the new Empire
of Nationalist Turkey, and particularly
upon the future relations of his
country with Soviet Russia, on which his
well-proved loyalty and patriotism
must continue to have the most
important bearing.”
Watercolor paining by Işıl Özışık.
As Rawlinson implied, he experienced very difficult times in Erzurum,
ultimately spending 20 months in prison as ransom for Rauf Orbay,
a Nationalist leader sent into exile from Istanbul to Malta by the British.
Here is a summary of that travail:
Imprisonment by Turks: On
16 March 1920, Rawlinson was informed
by Kâzım Paşa’s deputy that because Rauf
Bey had been arrested in
Istanbul by the British and exiled to Malta, Rawlinson
and his 4-man
team would be confined to their quarters in Erzurum. This first
confinement lasted until March 24,
1921, at which time a Rauf Bey-
Rawlinson prisoner swap was in the works so
Rawlinson was taken to
Trabzon to await developments. However, in mid-April the swap deal
fell
through and Rawlinson was returned to imprisonment in Erzurum
on 24 April
1921. In early October 1921, Rawlinson
and his men were
taken to Trabzon again, arriving there on 14 October. On 31 October,
Rawlinson and his men went by
means of a British warship to İnebolu,
where the prisoner swap for Rauf Bey was
finally realized on 1 November
1921.
Rawlinson arrived in Istanbul on 5 November – see pages 287
through 353 of
his book for details of Rawlinson’s and his men’s
imprisonment by the Turks.
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