AT IZMIT STATION

This memory was told in the presence of Atatürk on 22.11.1938.

Mustafa Kemal came to Izmit some time after Izmit survived the attack of the enemy, and was settled in the mansion, which is the current government mansion, which Sultan Aziz once had built by spending handfuls of money from the state treasury to have a good time for a few days a year, and which is now given to the real owner of the Republican regime, namely the nation. .

Claude Farrere, a French writer and novelist who was thought to be famous at that time and whose character was understood as well as his reputation, came to Izmit with a longing to see Mustafa Kemal. While Mustafa Kemal was receiving this Frenchman in a hall of that sultan's mansion, I was present with some other citizens.

As soon as Claude Farrere stood before Mustafa Kemal and held his hands respectfully, he saw the Turkish nobility and virtue, as well as his magnificence, in all its fascination and attraction in the depth of a pair of blue eyes, and before he could find the strength to say anything, he sank to the ground with his knees bent and fainted.

Mustafa Kemal immediately had the unconscious man treated. After Claude Farrere regained consciousness, he stayed with Mustafa Kemal for a while.

Claude Farrere began to speak first:

-“ Expose me. While I wanted to come here with the inspiration of a poet and the feeling of a writer, there were some who wanted to give me some political duties. My astonishment and swoon came from this. When I appeared before you to play a political role, I fainted as soon as I saw you.”

Mustafa Kemal consoled this poor man, who was sent to be the political tool of those who did not yet understand himself and the importance and greatness of the revolution he was attempting.

Kemal Öz

Source: Atatürk’ten Anılar, Kemal Arıburnu, İnkılap Kitapevi 1998. ISBN: 975-10-1392-5. Sayfa:51 (Kemal Öz, Ulus gazetesi, 27.11.1938)