22 June to 11 September 1919
Amasya, Erzurum, Sivas
From Samsun the route runs inland to Havza and then Amasya. In Amasya the circular of 22 June declares that the nation will save its own independence. Mustafa Kemal reaches Erzurum in early July and resigns from the army on 8 July 1919.
Mustafa Kemal Pasha in Erzurum during preparations for the congress, 5 July 1919Wikimedia Commons, Unknown author, Public domain (Mustafa Kemal Paşa, Erzurum, 5 Temmuz 1919.png)
The Erzurum Congress in July and the Sivas Congress in September unite the regional defence societies into a single movement with a Representative Committee at its head.
Mustafa Kemal Pasha with delegates of the Sivas Congress, September 1919Wikimedia Commons, Unknown author, Public domain (Delegates of the Sivas Congress-1.jpg)
Rauf, Mustafa Kemal and Ahmet Rüstem at the Sivas Congress, 1919Wikimedia Commons, Published by Turkey and many other sources., Public domain (Rauf Orbay, Kemal Atatürk and Rüstem Bilinski at the Sivas Congress (1919).png)
Sources
- Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, Nutuk (1927), sections on the Amasya circular and the two congresses.
- Andrew Mango, Atatürk (1999), ch. 11 and 12.
- Stanford J. Shaw, From Empire to Republic, vol. 2 (2000).
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