8/9/2019 The Role of Ali Fuat Cebesoy in Turkish Revolution

1/3

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The Role of Ali Fuat Cebesoy in the Turkish RevolutionAuthor(s): Feroz Ahmad

Source: International Journal of Middle East Studies, Vol. 4, No. 3 (Jul., 1973), pp. 365-366Published by: Cambridge University PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/162166Accessed: 16-03-2015 16:36 UTC

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8/9/2019 The Role of Ali Fuat Cebesoy in Turkish Revolution

2/3

Notes

and

communications

365

otes

and

communications

365

that this was

no doubt

a

proof

of

the social

equality

which existed

among

his

subjects,

but

that it was also one

of

the

reasons

why

so

many

corrupt

and

ignorant

men

had

risen

to

power,

and had done such incalculable harm to their

country.

When

money,

his

Majesty

said,

was found to be the

best,

if not the

only

means of

obtaining public employ-

ment,

it was

scarcely surprising

that

there was

general corruption,

and

that those who

had neither

the

requisite

knowledge, capacity,

nor

experience

were entrusted with the

duties

of

government....

Istanbul,

Turkey

STANFORD

J.

SHAW

THE ROLE OF

ALI FUAT CEBESOY IN THE

TURKISH

REVOLUTION

I

read

with

great

interest

Ivar

Spector's

piece

on

'General Ali

Fuat

Cebesoy

and the

Kronstadt

Revolt

(I92I):

A Footnote to

History'

in

IJMES iii/4

(October I972),

49I-3.

Professor

Spector

has done a service to

historiography

by

pointing

out the

significance

of Turkish sources

for

modern

Russian

history

for this

period.

His

point

may

be

applied

to the

historiography

of

the 'Eastern

Question'

as a

whole.

However,

in

discussing

Ali Fuat Pasha and the Turkish National

Movement

Professor

Spector

has distorted

Cebesoy's

role so that

Cebesoy

emerges

as

one of

the

three

who made the revolution

(p. 292),

no doubt an

analogy

drawn from con-

temporary

Russian

history. Cebesoy's appointment

as ambassador to

Moscow in

November

I920,

as

though

he was

specially

chosen

by

Mustafa Kemal

Ataturk

'to

conclude

the Turkish-Soviet

Treaty

of

Friendship

and

Fraternity',

also misses

the

point.

As for

Cebesoy's

intervention

in

the

Kronstadt

affair,

it was

not

merely

a

question

of 'General

Cebesoy [having

to

be] persuaded

to come to the aid of the hard-

pressed

Soviet

regime'

(p.

493).

Had

Cebesoy

failed to

act

in the

given

situation,

any

setback

for the Bolsheviks would

perhaps

have had

great repercussions

for

the

Nationalists

in

Anatolia,

who

were at this

point hard-pressed

and

preparing

to

meet

a

major

Greek

offensive.

The

subject

of

Soviet aid to the Nationalists

still

awaits

a

scholarly

evaluation.

But it is no

exaggeration

to claim that

without Soviet

help

the

Nationalist

movement would

have been

seriously jeopardized.

However,

my

concern

here is

with

the first

two

points,

and it is

to them

I

now

turn.

Cebesoy's appointment

as

ambassador,

far from

being

a

sign

of Mustafa

Kemal's

confidence

in

him,

was a manifestation of his dissatisfaction

with

Cebesoy

as

a

military

commander.

It

was

a minor

military

blunder

on the

western

front,

which

Cebesoy

was commanding, that led to his being appointed ambassador. The failure of an

offensive

against

Gediz,

which

Cebesoy permitted

on

24

October

I920,

led

parliament

to

appoint

him ambassador to Moscow on 20

November.

Mustafa Kemal

is

said

to

have been a man who did not

permit

his

generals

to

make

any military

blunders,

and

Cebesoy

was therefore

never

given

another

active

command.

(I

owe this

information

to

Hikmet

Bayur,

historian

and

private

secretary

to

Mustafa

Kemal.

Interview in

Istanbul,

20

September I971;

see also Lord

Kinross,

Ataturk,

New

York,

I966,

pp.

286-7.)

As for the

signing

of the

Treaty

of

Friendship,

the

negotiations

for its

signing

had

already

taken

place

in Ankara under Mustafa

Kemal's

personal supervision.

As

Cebesoy

told

Spector,

he had not

been in contact

with Frunze in

Turkey

Had

there been

important negotiations

in

Moscow

prior

to

the conclusion

of the

treaty,

Mustafa Kemal would most certainly have sent a professional diplomat and not a

discredited

general.

As

for

Cebesoy being

one of the

'makers' of the Turkish

revolution,

this is

perhaps

a

more serious distortion

of the

facts.

It

is true that

Cebesoy

was active

in

the

national

movement from the

beginning,

but here

we have to

distinguish

between

the

national

24

MES

4

3

that this was

no doubt

a

proof

of

the social

equality

which existed

among

his

subjects,

but

that it was also one

of

the

reasons

why

so

many

corrupt

and

ignorant

men

had

risen

to

power,

and had done such incalculable harm to their

country.

When

money,

his

Majesty

said,

was found to be the

best,

if not the

only

means of

obtaining public employ-

ment,

it was

scarcely surprising

that

there was

general corruption,

and

that those who

had neither

the

requisite

knowledge, capacity,

nor

experience

were entrusted with the

duties

of

government....

Istanbul,

Turkey

STANFORD

J.

SHAW

THE ROLE OF

ALI FUAT CEBESOY IN THE

TURKISH

REVOLUTION

I

read

with

great

interest

Ivar

Spector's

piece

on

'General Ali

Fuat

Cebesoy

and the

Kronstadt

Revolt

(I92I):

A Footnote to

History'

in

IJMES iii/4

(October I972),

49I-3.

Professor

Spector

has done a service to

historiography

by

pointing

out the

significance

of Turkish sources

for

modern

Russian

history

for this

period.

His

point

may

be

applied

to the

historiography

of

the 'Eastern

Question'

as a

whole.

However,

in

discussing

Ali Fuat Pasha and the Turkish National

Movement

Professor

Spector

has distorted

Cebesoy's

role so that

Cebesoy

emerges

as

one of

the

three

who made the revolution

(p. 292),

no doubt an

analogy

drawn from con-

temporary

Russian

history. Cebesoy's appointment

as ambassador to

Moscow in

November

I920,

as

though

he was

specially

chosen

by

Mustafa Kemal

Ataturk

'to

conclude

the Turkish-Soviet

Treaty

of

Friendship

and

Fraternity',

also misses

the

point.

As for

Cebesoy's

intervention

in

the

Kronstadt

affair,

it was

not

merely

a

question

of 'General

Cebesoy [having

to

be] persuaded

to come to the aid of the hard-

pressed

Soviet

regime'

(p.

493).

Had

Cebesoy

failed to

act

in the

given

situation,

any

setback

for the Bolsheviks would

perhaps

have had

great repercussions

for

the

Nationalists

in

Anatolia,

who

were at this

point hard-pressed

and

preparing

to

meet

a

major

Greek

offensive.

The

subject

of

Soviet aid to the Nationalists

still

awaits

a

scholarly

evaluation.

But it is no

exaggeration

to claim that

without Soviet

help

the

Nationalist

movement would

have been

seriously jeopardized.

However,

my

concern

here is

with

the first

two

points,

and it is

to them

I

now

turn.

Cebesoy's appointment

as

ambassador,

far from

being

a

sign

of Mustafa

Kemal's

confidence

in

him,

was a manifestation of his dissatisfaction

with

Cebesoy

as

a

military

commander.

It

was

a minor

military

blunder

on the

western

front,

which

Cebesoy

was commanding, that led to his being appointed ambassador. The failure of an

offensive

against

Gediz,

which

Cebesoy permitted

on

24

October

I920,

led

parliament

to

appoint

him ambassador to Moscow on 20

November.

Mustafa Kemal

is

said

to

have been a man who did not

permit

his

generals

to

make

any military

blunders,

and

Cebesoy

was therefore

never

given

another

active

command.

(I

owe this

information

to

Hikmet

Bayur,

historian

and

private

secretary

to

Mustafa

Kemal.

Interview in

Istanbul,

20

September I971;

see also Lord

Kinross,

Ataturk,

New

York,

I966,

pp.

286-7.)

As for the

signing

of the

Treaty

of

Friendship,

the

negotiations

for its

signing

had

already

taken

place

in Ankara under Mustafa

Kemal's

personal supervision.

As

Cebesoy

told

Spector,

he had not

been in contact

with Frunze in

Turkey

Had

there been

important negotiations

in

Moscow

prior

to

the conclusion

of the

treaty,

Mustafa Kemal would most certainly have sent a professional diplomat and not a

discredited

general.

As

for

Cebesoy being

one of the

'makers' of the Turkish

revolution,

this is

perhaps

a

more serious distortion

of the

facts.

It

is true that

Cebesoy

was active

in

the

national

movement from the

beginning,

but here

we have to

distinguish

between

the

national

24

MES

4

3

This content downloaded from 152.118.24.10 on Mon, 16 Mar 2015 16:36:36 UTCAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

8/9/2019 The Role of Ali Fuat Cebesoy in Turkish Revolution

3/3

366

Notes

and

communications

66

Notes

and

communications

struggle

and

the

revolution.

When Mustafa Kemal

began

to think

in terms

of a

revolution,

Cebesoy

and his

friends

(Rauf Orbay,

Kazim Karabekirand

others)

went

into active opposition. It was a conflict of social backgrounds.Cebesoy and Orbay

were

sons

of

pashas;

Mustafa

Kemal's

background

was more

humble.

Therefore

it

is

not

surprising

that

they

should

oppose

the abolition

of

the

Sultanate and

Caliphate

and all that this

implied.

Here is how

Orbay

is

alleged

to have felt: 'I

am...

devoted

heart and soul to the

Throne

and the

Caliphate

because

my

father

has

received

benefits

from the

Padishah and was

one

of

the

dignitaries

of the Ottoman

Empire.

The

recollection of

these benefits is

coursing

through my

veins.

I

am not an

ungrateful

man and

could never

become one....

'It

is

my

duty

to remain

loyal

to the

Padishah.

Regarding my

attachment

to the

Caliphate,

t is

imposed upon

me

by

education...'

(Ghazi

Mustafa

Kemal,

A

Speech

Delivered

by

Ghazi

Mustafa

Kemal,

Leipzig,

I929,

p.

572).

Both

men

became the

backboneof the opposition againstMustafa Kemal and the revolution.They founded

an

opposition

party

-

the

Progressive

Republican

Party

-

(Terakkiperver

Cumhuriyet

Firkasz)

on

17

November

I924.

In

I925

some

members of the

opposition,

including

Cebesoy,

were arrested on

charges

of treason and

conspiracy

and

tried before the

Independence

Tribunals.

Cebesoy

was

acquitted,

but was

forced

to

go

into

political

oblivion

until

after Ataturk's

death in

November

I938.

Orbay,

who was

outside

the

country,

was

sentenced in abstentia

o

exile.

After

Ataturk's

death

Indnii wanted

to

paper

over the

political

cracks and

create a

concensus in order to be able to

face

the

dangerous

nternational ituation

which

was

soon to

explode

into

the Second

World

War.

Cebesoy

was

therefore

appointed

Minister of Public Works

(3

April

I939

to

1943)

and

Communications

(I943

to

15 March

I946).

He was elected Speakerof the House in I947, this time to counter-

balance

the

influence of

Marshal

Fevzi (akmak in the Democrat

Party.

Before

the

elections

of

I950,

Cebesoy

left the

RepublicanPeople'sParty

and

joined

the

Democrat

Party.

He served as a

member

of

parliament

until

I960.

University

of

Massachusetts,

FEROZ

AH MAD

Boston,

Massachusetts

RESEARCH

FACILITIES

IN

QUM,

IRAN

The re-establishment

of the

Circle

for

[Religious]

Studies

(.Havza-yi 'Ilmfyyah)

in

Qum,

Iran,

in

1922,

by

the

then

great religious

leader

Haji

Shaykh

'Abd

al-Karim

HIa'iriYazdi (d.

I937),

included also the first public libraryof that city, called the

Fazyiyyah

Library.

Since then

Qum,

I20

miles

to the south

of

Tehran,

has

become

a

distinguished

center for

religious

studies.

This,

in

turn,

increased

the

need for more

advanced

research

facilities.

Not much

concern

was

devoted to

this need until

the

time

when the

important

marja'

al-taqlid, Hiaji

Sayyid

Husayn

Tabataba'i

Burfujirdi

d.

I96I),

established

himself in

Qum,

near the end of

I944.

He founded

a

fairly

important ibrary,

useful

not

only

for

religious

students

but also for

all

interested

students

of the

humanities

and social

sciences.

Several

other

good

libraries

have been established

which are

worth

mentioning

here: the

HujjatiyyahLibrary,

the

Library

of

the

Dar

al-Tabligh-i

Islami,

the Astanah

Library,

and

the

Public

Library

of

Ayatullah

Mar'ashi-i

Najafl.

Thanks to a lifetime of effort on the part of one of Ha'iri's disciples, Haji Sayyid

Shahab

al-Din Mar'ashi

Najafi,

now

a

religious

leader and

a

distinguished

geneal-

ogist,

the latter

library

is

making

its

elegant appearance

n

Qum.

Still under

con-

struction,

it is

due to

be

completed

in

1973.

This

library,

according

o the

design,

will

be

equipped

with modern

facilities

and will contain

five

main

departments:

Xerox,

struggle

and

the

revolution.

When Mustafa Kemal

began

to think

in terms

of a

revolution,

Cebesoy

and his

friends

(Rauf Orbay,

Kazim Karabekirand

others)

went

into active opposition. It was a conflict of social backgrounds.Cebesoy and Orbay

were

sons

of

pashas;

Mustafa

Kemal's

background

was more

humble.

Therefore

it

is

not

surprising

that

they

should

oppose

the abolition

of

the

Sultanate and

Caliphate

and all that this

implied.

Here is how

Orbay

is

alleged

to have felt: 'I

am...

devoted

heart and soul to the

Throne

and the

Caliphate

because

my

father

has

received

benefits

from the

Padishah and was

one

of

the

dignitaries

of the Ottoman

Empire.

The

recollection of

these benefits is

coursing

through my

veins.

I

am not an

ungrateful

man and

could never

become one....

'It

is

my

duty

to remain

loyal

to the

Padishah.

Regarding my

attachment

to the

Caliphate,

t is

imposed upon

me

by

education...'

(Ghazi

Mustafa

Kemal,

A

Speech

Delivered

by

Ghazi

Mustafa

Kemal,

Leipzig,

I929,

p.

572).

Both

men

became the

backboneof the opposition againstMustafa Kemal and the revolution.They founded

an

opposition

party

-

the

Progressive

Republican

Party

-

(Terakkiperver

Cumhuriyet

Firkasz)

on

17

November

I924.

In

I925

some

members of the

opposition,

including

Cebesoy,

were arrested on

charges

of treason and

conspiracy

and

tried before the

Independence

Tribunals.

Cebesoy

was

acquitted,

but was

forced

to

go

into

political

oblivion

until

after Ataturk's

death in

November

I938.

Orbay,

who was

outside

the

country,

was

sentenced in abstentia

o

exile.

After

Ataturk's

death

Indnii wanted

to

paper

over the

political

cracks and

create a

concensus in order to be able to

face

the

dangerous

nternational ituation

which

was

soon to

explode

into

the Second

World

War.

Cebesoy

was

therefore

appointed

Minister of Public Works

(3

April

I939

to

1943)

and

Communications

(I943

to

15 March

I946).

He was elected Speakerof the House in I947, this time to counter-

balance

the

influence of

Marshal

Fevzi (akmak in the Democrat

Party.

Before

the

elections

of

I950,

Cebesoy

left the

RepublicanPeople'sParty

and

joined

the

Democrat

Party.

He served as a

member

of

parliament

until

I960.

University

of

Massachusetts,

FEROZ

AH MAD

Boston,

Massachusetts

RESEARCH

FACILITIES

IN

QUM,

IRAN

The re-establishment

of the

Circle

for

[Religious]

Studies

(.Havza-yi 'Ilmfyyah)

in

Qum,

Iran,

in

1922,

by

the

then

great religious

leader

Haji

Shaykh

'Abd

al-Karim

HIa'iriYazdi (d.

I937),

included also the first public libraryof that city, called the

Fazyiyyah

Library.

Since then

Qum,

I20

miles

to the south

of

Tehran,

has

become

a

distinguished

center for

religious

studies.

This,

in

turn,

increased

the

need for more

advanced

research

facilities.

Not much

concern

was

devoted to

this need until

the

time

when the

important

marja'

al-taqlid, Hiaji

Sayyid

Husayn

Tabataba'i

Burfujirdi

d.

I96I),

established

himself in

Qum,

near the end of

I944.

He founded

a

fairly

important ibrary,

useful

not

only

for

religious

students

but also for

all

interested

students

of the

humanities

and social

sciences.

Several

other

good

libraries

have been established

which are

worth

mentioning

here: the

HujjatiyyahLibrary,

the

Library

of

the

Dar

al-Tabligh-i

Islami,

the Astanah

Library,

and

the

Public

Library

of

Ayatullah

Mar'ashi-i

Najafl.

Thanks to a lifetime of effort on the part of one of Ha'iri's disciples, Haji Sayyid

Shahab

al-Din Mar'ashi

Najafi,

now

a

religious

leader and

a

distinguished

geneal-

ogist,

the latter

library

is

making

its

elegant appearance

n

Qum.

Still under

con-

struction,

it is

due to

be

completed

in

1973.

This

library,

according

o the

design,

will

be

equipped

with modern

facilities

and will contain

five

main

departments:

Xerox,

This content downloaded from 152.118.24.10 on Mon, 16 Mar 2015 16:36:36 UTCAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp