27 December 1919 to 23 April 1920
Ankara and the Grand National Assembly
The Representative Committee moves to Ankara on 27 December 1919. On 16 March 1920 the Allies formally occupy İstanbul and arrest nationalist deputies. The Ottoman parliament stops meeting, and the Sultan dissolves it on 11 April. The Grand National Assembly opens in Ankara on 23 April 1920 and elects Mustafa Kemal its president.
Prayers in front of the Assembly building on its opening day, Ankara, 23 April 1920Wikimedia Commons, Unknown author, Public domain (Prayers in the front of BMM large.jpg)
British occupation troops marching in Beyoğlu, İstanbulWikimedia Commons, NA, Public domain (British occupation troops marching in Beyoglu.jpg)
In the south, British troops hand Gaziantep, Kahramanmaraş and Şanlıurfa (then Antep, Maraş and Urfa) over to France at the end of 1919. Local forces drive the French out of Kahramanmaraş on 11 February 1920 and out of Şanlıurfa in April. Fighting for Gaziantep begins on 1 April.
Sources
- Andrew Mango, Atatürk (1999), ch. 13 and 14.
- Michael Llewellyn-Smith, Ionian Vision: Greece in Asia Minor 1919 to 1922 (1973).
- Erik J. Zürcher, Turkey: A Modern History (1993), ch. 9.
Prev: Amasya, Erzurum, SivasNext: The Greek summer offensive