Kuvâ-yi Seyyâre (), also known as the Green Army Society (

Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

: Yeşil Ordu Cemiyeti) or the People's Branch (

: ''Halk Zümresi'') was a force of Circassian and Abkhazian volunteers led by

Çerkes Ethem Çerkes Ethem (1886 – 21 September 1948), known in English as Ethem the Circassian, was a Circassian Ottoman guerilla leader, social bandit, efe and soldier. He initially gained fame for establishing the Kuva-yi Seyyare and putting down mu ...

against the allied invasion forces during the

Turkish War of Independence The Turkish War of Independence "War of Liberation", also known figuratively as ''İstiklâl Harbi'' "Independence War" or ''Millî Mücadele'' "National Struggle" (19 May 1919 – 24 July 1923) was a series of military campaigns waged by th ...

. The group saw themselves as a force to fight against "those who caused disturbance to the greater good of

Anatolia Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...

". The forces put down several rebellions and played a big role in significantly slowing down the Greek army during the

Greco-Turkish War (1919-1922) There have been several Greco-Turkish Wars: *Greek War of Independence (1821–1830), against the Ottoman Empire *Undeclared war in 1854 during the Crimean War, with Greek irregulars invading Ottoman Epirus (Epirus Revolt of 1854) and Thessaly * Fir ...

. In time, as Ethem's

Islamic Socialist Islamic socialism is a political philosophy that incorporates Islamic principles into socialism. As a term, it was coined by various Muslim leaders to describe a more spiritual form of socialism. Islamic socialists believe that the teachin ...

views clashed with the Turkism-nationalism of

Mustafa Kemal Mustafa ( ar, مصطفى , Muṣṭafā) is one of the names of Prophet Muhammad, and the name means "chosen, selected, appointed, preferred", used as an Arabic given name and surname. Mustafa is a common name in the Muslim world. Given name Mo ...

Turkish National movement The Turkish National Movement ( tr, Türk Ulusal Hareketi) encompasses the political and military activities of the Turkish revolutionaries that resulted in the creation and shaping of the modern Republic of Turkey, as a consequence of the defe ...

, he eventually cut ties with them, and was declared a traitor due to clashes with

İsmet İnönü Mustafa İsmet İnönü (; 24 September 1884 – 25 December 1973) was a Turkish army officer and statesman of Kurdish descent, who served as the second President of Turkey from 11 November 1938 to 22 May 1950, and its Prime Minister three tim ...

History

Kuvâ-yi Seyyâre, founded by

Ethem Dipsheu Ethem (pronounced // or //) is a Turkish male given name and may refer to: * Ethem Nejat, Turkish revolutionary communist militant * Ethem Pasha, Ottoman commander * Çerkes Ethem, Turkish militia leader See also * Ethem, in the Lineage of Ethe ...

, was the only semi-organized military force in Anatolia during 1919–1920 period between the

Armistice of Mudros Concluded on 30 October 1918 and taking effect at noon the next day, the Armistice of Mudros ( tr, Mondros Mütarekesi) ended hostilities in the Middle Eastern theatre between the Ottoman Empire and the Allies of World War I. It was signed by th ...

and the

Treaty of Sèvres The Treaty of Sèvres (french: Traité de Sèvres) was a 1920 treaty signed between the Allies of World War I and the Ottoman Empire. The treaty ceded large parts of Ottoman territory to France, the United Kingdom, Greece and Italy, as well ...

. After the Greek landing at Symrna, Ethem made the following declaration, effectively starting his resistance: He then declared a

holy war A religious war or a war of religion, sometimes also known as a holy war ( la, sanctum bellum), is a war which is primarily caused or justified by differences in religion. In the modern period, there are frequent debates over the extent to wh ...

against oppression, and invited all

Circassians The Circassians (also referred to as Cherkess or Adyghe; Adyghe and Kabardian: Адыгэхэр, romanized: ''Adıgəxər'') are an indigenous Northwest Caucasian ethnic group and nation native to the historical country-region of Circassia in ...

to fight for his cause. After that, he coordinated his military operations with Ali Fuat Pasha in

Ankara Ankara ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and over 5.7 million in Ankara Province, maki ...

and fought against the invading Greek armies with his cavalry. He was instrumental in putting down various rebellions against the authority of the

Grand National Assembly of Turkey The Grand National Assembly of Turkey ( tr, ), usually referred to simply as the TBMM or Parliament ( tr, or ''Parlamento''), is the unicameral Turkish legislature. It is the sole body given the legislative prerogatives by the Turkish Consti ...

. Eventually, Çerkes Ethem had disagreements with

, refusing to join his forces with the regular army established under his command, as he would be a regular soldier as well. Ethem claimed that his soldiers were made up of Circassians and mountain clans, so they would never obey anyone other than him, and he would have to be given the rank of commander in the army. Although Mustafa Kemal had a positive view of Ethem, İsmet Pasha disliked him, and so the newly reconstituted Turkish Army had to put down Ethem's forces whilst also fighting the Greeks at

First Battle of İnönü The First Battle of İnönü ( tr, Birinci İnönü Muharebesi) took place between 6 and 11 January 1921 near İnönü in Hüdavendigâr Vilayet (present-day Eskişehir Province, Turkey) during the Greco-Turkish War (1919–22), also known as ...

. While Ethem's forces were clashing with Greeks, the Turkish army arrived, and Ethem, stuck between two hostile armies, made a non-aggression pact with the Greeks and fled Anatolia. İsmet İnönü later claimed that Ethem subsequently cooperated with the Greek army, which has been disputed and rejected by most historians. This resulted in Ethem's citizenship getting revoked on the grounds of treason and his being declared ''

persona non grata In diplomacy, a ' (Latin: "person not welcome", plural: ') is a status applied by a host country to foreign diplomats to remove their protection of diplomatic immunity from arrest and other types of prosecution. Diplomacy Under Article 9 of the ...

'' by the

TBMM The Grand National Assembly of Turkey ( tr, ), usually referred to simply as the TBMM or Parliament ( tr, or ''Parlamento''), is the Unicameralism, unicameral Turkey, Turkish legislature. It is the sole body given the legislative prerogatives ...

, amongst

many others Many may refer to: * grammatically plural in number *an English quantifier used with count nouns indicating a large but indefinite number of; at any rate, more than a few ;Place names * Many, Moselle, a commune of the Moselle department in Franc ...

. From Greece, he went to Jordan and settled there. Ethem was later personally forgiven by Atatürk, but he rejected to return and died in

Amman Amman (; ar, عَمَّان, ' ; Ammonite language, Ammonite: 𐤓𐤁𐤕 𐤏𐤌𐤍 ''Rabat ʻAmān'') is the capital and largest city of Jordan, and the country's economic, political, and cultural center. With a population of 4,061,150 a ...

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

Notes

References

{{Socialism Militias in Asia Islamic socialism Militias in Europe Turkish War of Independence Circassians Socialism in the Ottoman Empire Socialism in Turkey Anti-imperialism in Asia Anti-imperialism in Europe