CEREMONY SPEECH OF PRESIDENT GAZİ MUSTAFA KEMAL IN DUMLUPINAR

August 30, 1924

On the occasion of the second anniversary of the Battle of the Commander-in-Chief:

On August 30, 1924, the main ceremony of the Unknown Soldier Monument was held in Dumlupınar in the presence of Atatürk, and the government and army officials, military continents and tens of thousands of people were present at the ceremony. After the speech of the General Staff of the General Staff, Fevzi Pasha (Marshal Çakmak), describing the military phases of the War of the Commander-in-Chief, Gazi Mustafa Kemal took the podium. After Atatürk made a short story of the victory, he focused on its political importance and its consequences. This victory was the first goal of a rebellious nation. What will be the next goals? Atatürk told them and ended his speech by addressing the Turkish youth.

Now let's listen to Atatürk:

Lords!

Fevzi Pasha, the Chief of the General Staff, gave valuable explanations to those present here, and summarized an idea about the formation of the Afyonkarahisar-Dumlupınar Pitched War and the 30 August War, which gave a definite result. The real content of the greatest Battle, which lasted for five days, day and night, will be understood more clearly and more clearly when the researchers' research studies and decisions are read by the referees of history tomorrow, rather than the explanations given today. Deeming me worthy of the trust of my nation, the Turkish nation, he put me at the head of these movements. I keep the happy memory of this task and my job with emotion and joy and pride. I cannot express the happiness I feel when I am standing before you today with a special clear conscience for those who have done their duty in accordance with the real need of the nation's conscience and only its high idea.

Gentlemen, just like today, on the thirtieth day of August the thirty-eighth, at two o'clock, I arrived at this point where we are now all together. On these ridges we were on, our heroic eleventh division was advancing to attack the main force of the enemy who was forced into battle on those hills opposite. The village of Çal we saw was burning in flames and smoke. Here, I will repeat a few points I remember to explain what the driving force was that brought me here: On the night of 29/30 August, the Director of the Western Front Movements Branch, Tevfik Bey, as usual, determined on the map according to reports from various decision centers and from all sides. and he showed the general situation he had shown to the front commander İsmet Pasha and he sent Tevfik Bey to me with the order to show it to Pasha immediately. I was sleeping in the room reserved for me in the municipality office in Karahisar. I looked at the map shown by Tevfik Bey, who woke me up, and immediately jumped out of bed. Friends, what I saw on the map was that our armies were in a position suitable to encircle the enemy's significant force from the north, south and west. So situations arose that we thought would yield the greatest results. Call Fevzi and İsmet Pashas immediately, I said; the three of us gathered. We reconsidered the situation and firmly decided that the real sun of salvation of the Turk will rise from the horizon in all its brilliance on the morning of August 30th. According to this decision, new orders were written to the armies. (Before 6.30 p.m.) But the situation was so important, it demanded such speed and violence that it would not have been appropriate to be content with these written orders. From Fevzi Pasha for him,

With the fourth corps, I was going to go myself to the first army center, which was watching most of the enemy we aimed from the south. I saw fit for İsmet Pasha to stay in the center and manage the general situation. While Fevzi Pasha was moving to the north, I followed the train track by car and moved to the west. I arrived at the first army headquarters in Akçaşar before 9 am. While the commander of the army was entrusted with the written command of the front, I verbally explained the situation to him and ordered him, together with all the divisions of the fourth corps, to violently force this village into battle, encircling most of the enemy west of the village of Cal. And I added that the enemy army will definitely be destroyed. The army commander found Corps Commander Kemâleddin Sami Pasha by phone with me. He informed me that I was there and what my order was. I stayed in this center for a while. I interviewed captive officers of various ranks, who come regularly. One of them was a staff officer. In the light of the information he gave, the poor man said that General Trikopis, who unwillingly took the post of commander-in-chief, and General Digenis, Commander of the Second Corps, were also in the circle we wanted to turn. I said to the army commander who was right next to me: Find Kemalettin Pasha, and tell him to take all the enemy generals prisoner together with Trikopis. This order was immediately communicated by telephone. As soon as the poor captive officer heard my order, he could not drink the tea I offered him, and he fainted. I couldn't stay in this army headquarters any longer. It was an irresistible need for me to see the war situation with my own eyes. Taking the army commander with me, we came to a hill in this direction where the Fourth Corps Commander was located.

I could hear the sounds of cannons exploding in the west and north of Çal Village. It was difficult for me to try to observe the situation with binoculars from there. I felt the absolute necessity and need to go further, to the place of fire, and I pointed out this point, this hill on which we are now. It is necessary to go there and I said let's go. We jumped into cars and entered the road leading to this hill. From time to time, enemy shells were falling to the left of our path. The divisions of the Fourth Corps were advancing at a brisk pace, crossing our way from east to west. As I just said, we were up there at two o'clock. It was necessary to completely encircle the enemy forces in daylight and to get a definite result by entering the battlefields stubbornly defended by the enemy with bayonet attacks. For this, the whole army must advance with great devotion and all our batteries, I even wanted it to break into fire zones and shake up enemy areas, regardless of stealth. As soon as the commanders next to me understood my view, they took action immediately and most angrily. Unfortunately, I sent a few words to a mounted officer next to me, whose name I can't remember now, and sent it to the second army, which surrounded the enemy areas from the north. And I verbally ordered him to tell them what he heard from me here. This officer had done his duty and a few hours later he came back to me and gave me information. Derviş Bey, the heroic commander of the eleventh division, was advancing towards the enemy area with all his might by leaping forward. The Commander of the Corps, Kemalettin Pasha, was sending his orders to the other divisions, which he had attacked the enemy from the south and west, for violent and rapid movements. The sixteenth and sixty-fifth divisions of the Second Army were engaged in real combat with the enemy, while the other divisions were narrowing the siege circle. I was seeing these. The mounted officer told me that our mounted arm was about to cut off the enemy's back from further west.

Friends!

As the hour progressed, the scene that developed before my eyes was this: I seemed to see the enemy commander-in-chief struggling with his last strength on that hill opposite. There was great excitement and rush in all enemy areas. It was as if the fire of their guns, rifles, and machine guns no longer had any lethal ability. From this plain, the bayonets of our successive striking lines from the north and south, shining with the last rays of the approaching sun, were always visible further ahead. The uninterrupted and relentless fire of our batteries, which were located on a circle surrounding the enemy areas, was turning the enemy areas into an unstoppable hell. As the sun approached the west, it was heard in all souls that a fiery, bloody and mortal apocalypse was about to break. After a while, there would be great destruction in the world. And this destruction was necessary so that the sun of salvation we expected could rise. This destruction had to take place in the dark. Indeed, at a moment when the sky got dark, Turkish bayonets attacked those ridges full of enemies. There was no longer an army or a force in front of me. There was a shabby remnant mass that had completely disappeared. A shapeless mass, terrified and trembling, as they called it, was in a strange confusion seeking an opening to escape. Now the darkening weight of the night made it necessary to wait for the sun to rise again in the east to see the result with the naked eye. A shapeless mass, terrified and trembling, as they called it, was in a strange confusion seeking an opening to escape. Now the darkening weight of the night made it necessary to wait for the sun to rise again in the east to see the result with the naked eye. A shapeless mass, terrified and trembling, as they called it, was in a strange confusion seeking an opening to escape. Now the darkening weight of the night made it necessary to wait for the sun to rise again in the east to see the result with the naked eye.

Gentlemen, when I toured this battlefield again the next day, I was touched by the glory of our army's victory and the magnitude of the disaster in which the enemy army was brought down. All the valleys, all the creeks, all the closed places behind the opposite ridges really looked like a place of apocalypse, with abandoned cannons, cars, and inexhaustible equipment and supplies, and with the dead piling up in the midst of all this leftovers, and the hordes of captive groups being collected and sent to our centres. Those who survived this narrow circle of fire and attack consisted of a few thousand remnants. However, they were not successful in getting out of the larger Turkish circle and they were compelled to raise the white flag even though they had their commander in chief.

Gentlemen, it was about noon on the thirty-first day of August, when we met with İsmet Pasha and Fevzi Pasha in the courtyard of a ruined house, again in this Çal Village. Reaching for the tiles and arrows of the broken oxcarts, we thought about the next situation. We were united when the pitched battle we won was of such determination and importance that it could end the entire campaign. Now, although we had destroyed the enemy forces retreating in the direction of Bursa, we were going to march to Izmir with the whole army without rest.

Gentlemen, after today, 8-9 days have been enough to see the "Mediterranean" in Izmir and "Marmara" in Mudanya. But I must remind you that the time we have spent, starting from Sakarya alone, in order to come to this day, this hill we are on, this burnt Çal Village, is exactly one year. But I think you won't find a year too long to prepare for this victory we have determined. For, lords, war, and especially pitched warfare, is not only the clash of two armies facing each other; It is the clash of nations. The field battle is a testing ground where nations collide with all their assets, their degrees in science and science, their morals, their cultures, in short, all their material and moral strengths and good habits, and all kinds of tools. In this field, the real strength and value of the warring nations are measured. The result is not only bodily strength, but all forces, In particular, it brings the rise of moral and cultural power to the level of realization. For this reason, the defeated party in the field war is deemed to have been defeated by the nation and the country, with all its material and spiritual existence. You can imagine how terrible such an end could be. Disappearance does not belong only to the army on the battlefield. The nation to which the original army belongs suffers terrible ends. History is full of such terrible ends that the rulers at their head, ambitious politicians, some imaginary wishes, the invading armies and the occupied nations suffered. It doesn't just belong to the army on the battlefield. The nation to which the original army belongs suffers terrible ends. History is full of such terrible ends that the rulers at their head, ambitious politicians, some imaginary wishes, the invading armies and the occupied nations suffered. It doesn't just belong to the army on the battlefield. The nation to which the original army belongs suffers terrible ends. History is full of such terrible ends that the rulers at their head, ambitious politicians, some imaginary wishes, the invading armies and the occupied nations suffered.

Gentlemen, we saw with our own eyes that those who tried to put the idea of ​​capturing the Turkish homeland and the dream of enslaving the Turks into a general and common idea could not escape the end they deserved. Gentlemen, the men entrusted with the future of a nation should not forget for a moment that they are responsible for using the power and power of the nation only and only in order to achieve real and acceptable benefits for the nation. These men should think that capturing and occupying a country is not enough to dominate the owners of those countries. Unless the spirit of a nation is suppressed and the determination and will of a nation are not broken, it is not possible to rule over that nation. However, this national spirit, which is the child of centuries, cannot be resisted by any force against a permanent and permanent national will.

The tyrants who are strong enough to keep a nation that does not want to be dominated in captivity are no longer on the face of this world. The Turkish nation has once again etched these well-known facts into the chest of history with a steel pen, with their last battle, especially with the victory they won here, with the determination and willpower they won.

Gentlemen, the Battle of Afyonkarahisar-Dumlupınar and its final phase, the Battle of August 30, constitute the most important turning point in Turkish history. Our national history is full of great and brilliant victories. However, I do not remember a battle that was as decisive as the victory of the Turkish nation here, which was effective in giving a new direction not only to our history but also to the world history.

There should be no doubt that the foundation of the new Turkish state, the young Turkish Republic, was consolidated here. His eternal life is crowned here. The Turkish blood shed in this field, the spirits of martyrs flying in this sky are the eternal protectors of our state and republic. The "Martyr Soldier" monument, whose truth we are telling here, will represent those spirits, together with those spirits, their veteran friends, the self-sacrificing and heroic Turkish nation. This monument will remind those who covet the Turkish homeland, the fire, bayonet, attack of the Turks on August 30, and the violence in his power and will.

Gentlemen, the most important and greatest of the various elements of this great victory is the unconditional sovereignty of the Turkish nation. I do not see the need to explain what a great and fruitful revolution this event was in our history and throughout the world. If we consider how much our nation has been oppressed by khans, khans, sultans and caliphs for many centuries, under their rule and pressure, and how much disasters and losses have been suffered in the way of ensuring their ambitions, the whole magnitude and importance of the fact that our nation has taken over its sovereignty comes to life before your eyes. Although, until the next day of the great victory, there was a person under the name of caliph and sultan and a position with the title of caliphate and sultanate occupied by him. But after this victory, the nation brought those positions and those who held those positions to the end they deserved.

Gentlemen, national sovereignty is such a light that chains melt in front of it, crowns and thrones burn and disappear. Institutions founded on the bondage of nations are doomed to collapse everywhere. If we look at the countries that are thousands of years old from the middle of Europe to the other end of the east, we can better understand the end that the Ottoman Empire deserved.

Friends, the expulsion of the rotten shadow men of Anatolia, who marched against the Turkishness of Anatolia by uniting with the enemies, relying on elements other than Turks in their palaces, is a more liberating move than the pouring of the enemies into the sea. The Turkish nation's living as a true master in these lands, which are the blessed trust of their ancestors; it could only be possible with the destruction of the authorities whose existence was complete damage and disaster, other than being unnecessary and meaningless.

Gentlemen, there is no individual of us who has not felt the pain and sadness of the Turkish homeland and the Turkish nation because of them. After going through so many sorrows and evils, of course, the Turks have learned that in order to rebuild their homeland and live there happily and freely, it is absolutely necessary to maintain their sovereignty and to keep all their children together and carefully under the flag of the Republic.

Gentlemen, the poor homeland, which has been groaning for centuries, but could not make its heart-rending voice heard by the obstacles created by the oppressors, deceivers and the ignorant, says today; Always keep your ears open to the sincere words of your mother, who felt the deepest sorrow in her bosom. Masters, if our ancestors, who showed their power and ability to rule in Asia, Europe and Africa, had not been turned away from hearing this voice in time; Would we inherit the homeland in its present fragmented form, where the Turkish community, the Turkish ideal, the Turkish interests would be preserved and multiplied?

Gentlemen, the country now wants reconstruction, wealth and prosperity. It demands knowledge and skill, high civilization, free thought and free mentality. Honor, honor, independence, real existence... The homeland commands to work in a regular and real way in order to fulfill these wishes completely and quickly.

Lords! The rulers of Turkey for centuries have thought of many things; but they did not think of only one thing: Turkey. We can only remedy the damage suffered by the Turkish homeland and the Turkish nation because of this indiscretion: It is no longer to think about anything but Turkey in Turkey. Only by acting with this thought can we achieve all kinds of liberation and happiness goals. Our nation is a self-sacrificing people for the country, for its freedom and sovereignty; proved it. Our nation is also a determined defender of the revolutions it has made. No one, no force can hinder a nation in which these good habits are ingrained, from the right path on which it is walking.

Lords! The day our nation took its sovereignty, no one knew, it was on the edge of the deepest abyss of the darkest evils. His material strength was worn out, his means of defense were taken from him, and his spiritual world was in a sad state of being attacked, which he considered sacred. Despite all this, he decided to save his existence and independence. In order to be successful in this decision, the whole nation had to choose a target and a movement for itself. The whole nation had to consider achieving success on that goal as a goal. The nation had to walk towards that goal with all their self-sacrifice, with all their faith, and to be successful. Gentlemen, that was the destination. Success was the goal, the victory won here.

Lords! Our nation has determined its national goal with all clarity and precision, with all its brilliance in the eyes and hearts of all citizens, in order to be successful in its next business as well. If you want, you can call what I call the target here as the ideal of the nation. But be careful when giving this title so that we do not get caught up in an imaginary meaning.

Lords! The goal of our nation, the ideal of our nation; to be a fully modern social society in the whole world. You know that the existence, value, right of freedom and salvation of every society in the world is possible with contemporary works that they will make in accordance with their essence. Nations that lack the ability to create civilized works are doomed to be separated from their freedom and liberation. The history of humanity confirms what I have said throughout. Walking on the path of civilization and being successful is the condition of life. Those who wait on this road, or those who are ignorant and careless on this road to look back rather than forward, are doomed to drown under the flood of civilization.

Lords! Success on the road to modernity depends on renewal. This is the only way to mature and rise in order to be successful in science and science in social and economic life. It is imperative that the commandments governing life and life change, mature and renew with time. In a period when the inventions of civilization, the wonders of science, shape the world from shape to shape, it is not possible to preserve its existence by worshiping the past with centuries-old thoughts. Speaking of civilization, I should definitely say that the foundation of civilization, the foundation of elevation and power, is in family life. Evil in this life necessarily requires social, economic and political weakness. It is one of the requirements that the male and female elements that make up the family should have natural rights and be sufficient to manage their family duties.

Lords! Our nation is after a more important task than the great victory we have determined here. Understanding that victory will be possible with the achievements of our nation in the field of economy. You know that an economically weak structure cannot get rid of poverty, cannot attain a strong civilization, prosperity and happiness, and cannot avoid social and political disasters. The success in the administration of the country is also compatible with the degree of knowledge acquired in its economy. There is no civilized state that did not consider its economy before its army and navy. All the forces and means necessary for the defense of the homeland and independence can be perfect with the expansion and opening of the economy.

The strong character, unwavering will, ardent nationalism inherent in our nation must be supported to the extent it deserves by the yields that will result from economic success. Our general education and education systems, which aim to provide an economic life that will make our nation successful in the struggle of the century, will develop more and more every day and of course will be successful.

Lords! Today, the necessities of life and humanity have emerged with all their reality. Rumors against them do not comply with morality and belief. When the truth comes out, the lie disappears. Empty words and fabrications should come out of their heads. The obstacles that want to shorten the social and intellectual reform steps of our nation, which has the ability to rise and mature in every way, must be eliminated immediately. Lords! I would like to address my last words especially to the youth of our country:

Youth! It is you who support and sustain our courage. With the education and understanding you receive, you will be the most precious example of the high character of humanity, patriotism and freedom of thought.

O rising generation! The future is yours. We established the Republic, you are the one who will raise it and maintain it.

Friends, as we leave this land of veterans and martyrdom, let's all salute the "Martyr Soldier" with respect.

Source:  Hâkimiyet-i Milliye,: 31.08.1924