Love and Rebellion on Mount Ararat: Yaşar Hanım

Dear Readers:

In 1904, the Ottoman Empire was referred to as the "Sick Man" by Western powers. Throughout the 19th century, the Empire had experienced significant territorial losses, particularly in North Africa, yet it still governed a vast geography spanning three continents.

Hacı Mustafa Efendi, a medical doctor and surgeon of Caucasian origin from Kütahya, was serving in Bayburt in 1904. He was married to İffet Hanım. İffet Hanım's mother was from the Kurds of Erzurum, and her father was Turkish. They had a son named Ali Haydar and a happy life. In 1904, a daughter joined the family. They named her Yaşar. When Yaşar was three years old, the family moved to Istanbul and settled in Üsküdar. In the meantime, another son, Hayri, was born.

Ali Haydar continued his education at the Military Medical Academy. In 1914, World War I broke out. The army needed doctors. Ali Haydar, a final-year student, left school and began serving as a military doctor.

Military Doctor Ali Haydar Bey

The Ottoman Empire emerged defeated from the war. On October 30, 1918, the Armistice of Mudros was signed between the Ottoman Empire and the Allied Powers. According to this, the Ottoman army would be demobilized.

It was in this ominous year that Doctor Hacı Mustafa Efendi passed away from a heart attack. He was buried in Karaca Ahmet Cemetery. The family was left, in a sense, unprotected and orphaned.

The Greeks occupied Izmir on May 15, 1919. Soon after, a resistance movement began in Anatolia under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal. First, the Eastern Front needed to be secured.

Doctor Ali Haydar began his duty as a Captain in the 21st Division (Fırka) in Iğdır. Doctor Mehmet Derviş Bey, also a doctor, served in the same unit. Coincidentally, Doctor Mehmet Derviş (Kuntman) Bey would later write his memoirs, offering a glimpse into Iğdır during the years 1920-21-22.

Doctor Ali Haydar had another respected friend: Captain İhsan Nuri Bey.

***

Istanbul was under occupation. İffet Hanım decided to take her two children and cross into Anatolia to join her son Ali Haydar. In fact, this request had come from her son Ali Haydar. She sold her house and property in Istanbul. In 1921, they boarded an Italian ship named "Remo." Their goal was to reach Trabzon and from there, go to Iğdır.

Yaşar Hanım, 1920s

Patriotic officers were escaping to Anatolia in disguise. When the ship set sail, Topal Osman, who would make a name for himself in later years, was on board with his henchmen. His business was to harass young girls and women. İffet Hanım made efforts to protect her daughter Yaşar from them. The officers in disguise on the ship protected this family, who were trying to reach their military doctor son.

After a seven-day journey, the ship arrived in Trabzon. İffet Hanım and her children stayed in Trabzon for six days. In those years, there were four-horse, covered carriages for travel between Trabzon and Erzurum. They boarded one of these carriages and set off.

When the carriage arrived in Bayburt, Yaşar became emotional, as she had been born in this city. Her aunt also lived in Bayburt. They stayed in Bayburt for two days and then set off for Erzurum. On the way, İffet Hanım contracted dysentery. She was in pain. The journey continued in this manner, and they arrived in Erzurum, settling in Arpacı Han, which they came across. İffet Hanım was lying in bed, writhing in agony. Young Hayri desperately went out to find a doctor.

Captain Doctor Ali Haydar had come to Erzurum to meet his family. Coincidentally, Hayri saw his elder brother and came to the inn with him. Ali Haydar cured his mother. They stayed in Erzurum for six days. They set off for Sarıkamış by train. Captain Ali Haydar's fiancée was also a girl named Sıddıka from Sarıkamış. The train, sliding on the narrow-gauge tracks built by the Russians, finally arrived in Sarıkamış. It was spring, but everything was covered in snow.

Sıdıka Hanım, Ali Haydar Bey (with his son Oğuz in his arms) and Yaşar Hanım, Erzurum 1925

They stayed at his fiancée's house for a few days. This time, they set off for Iğdır in a military horse-drawn carriage. They had a four-day journey ahead of them. Captain Ali Haydar said to his younger brother Hayri: "Let's make a bet. There's snow everywhere here... There's not a single flake of snow in Iğdır." Hayri accepted the bet. If there was no snow in Iğdır, his brother would cut off Hayri's ear!!!

They spent one night in a Kurdish village, in a Kurd's house. Yaşar met Kurds for the first time in her life. The generosity and hospitality of the host left a deep impression on Yaşar. The next day, they set off. They spent one night in Pernavut (Gaziler) in an Azerbaijani house. They stayed one night in Kulp (Tuzluca). They were now very close to Iğdır. When the horse-drawn carriage left Tuzluca and entered the Sürmeli plain, the family was astonished. The weather in Iğdır was mild. There was not a single flake of snow on the ground. Captain Ali Haydar had won the bet. At that moment, Yaşar's eyes caught sight of two huge mountains in the distance.

"Brother, what are the names of these mountains?"

"One is Little Mount Ararat, the other is Great Mount Ararat. Iğdır was previously in Russian hands. Cavid Bey, with the help of Kurdish tribes, drove the Armenians across the Aras."

Just as the horse-drawn carriage was about to enter Iğdır, another military car came from the opposite direction. An officer inside saluted Captain Ali Haydar. Yaşar became curious and asked:

"Brother, who was that?"

"Captain İhsan Nuri Bey. He is one of the most valuable officers of the division."

Doctor Mehmet Derviş Bey met the arriving car. Together, they went to Captain Ali Haydar's house.

Yaşar spent her free time playing the oud. Sometimes she would sit by the window and watch people pass by.

Yaşar Hanım never stopped playing the oud since her youth

One day, her brother went to Sarıkamış, brought his fiancée, and they began to live together. The bride was ill-tempered and quarrelsome. She particularly bothered Yaşar. Yaşar wished to escape from this house as soon as possible.

While looking out the window, Yaşar had fallen in love with an officer she found handsome. She didn't know who he was. One day, her brother said, "Someone named İhsan Bey wants you. Would you like to marry him?"

Yaşar didn't know that the officer she saw every day from the window was Captain İhsan Nuri Bey. As a 16-year-old girl, she feared being married to an old man. As she sat by the window and saw the officer she loved, she thought, "Oh, if only this man they call İhsan Nuri Bey were him!"

One day, her brother introduced his sister Yaşar to Captain İhsan Nuri Bey. Yaşar's heart almost stopped. It was the officer she saw every day from the window. They married on April 18, 1922. Yaşar was 18 years old; Captain İhsan Nuri Bey was 30.

Yaşar Hanım and İhsan Nuri Pasha, Tehran, 1936

Once tranquility was established on the Eastern Front, the 21st Division (Fırka) was dispatched to the Western Front to fight against the Greeks. Only one regiment remained behind.

Soon after, Captain Ali Haydar Bey was appointed as the Cavalry Division doctor in Karaköse; Captain İhsan Nuri Bey was appointed to the Bayazıd Border Command.

***

İhsan Nuri Bey was a member of the secret Azadi organization, chaired by Cibranlı Colonel Halit Bey. Their aim was to establish an independent Kurdistan. Yaşar Hanım was unaware of her husband's secret activities.

Two loves intertwined. Captain İhsan Nuri Bey's "Love for Kurdistan" and Yaşar's "Emotional Love" for her husband... In these conditions, shaken by rebellions and families torn apart, Captain İhsan Nuri found himself at the establishment of the Hoybun (Xoybûn) Society in Syria; Yaşar and her mother İffet Hanım found themselves in Izmir, at Captain Ali Haydar's house.

Yaşar Hanım and İhsan Nuri Pasha, 1946, Tehran

Yaşar's greatest longing was to reunite with her beloved. One day, she received a letter. She and her mother set off. With great difficulty, they reached Tabriz via Baghdad and from there, Mount Ararat. During the hottest days of the Mount Ararat Rebellion, Yaşar and İffet Hanım lived in caves and under harsh conditions. Yaşar was happy because she was with her great love, İhsan Nuri Pasha.

Moment of reunion: Yaşar Hanım and İhsan Nuri Pasha (near Mount Ararat, 1929)

When the rebellion ended in defeat in 1930, they crossed into Iran. Their subsequent lives were spent in Tehran. İhsan Nuri Pasha was hit by a motorcycle while crossing the street on March 25, 1976, and died at the scene. Yaşar Hanım was left alone with her adopted daughter Zehra. On January 1, 1984, Yaşar Hanım also passed away.

Yaşar Hanım with her adopted daughter Zehra

(Source: A WOMAN FROM ISTANBUL IN THE ARARAT REBELLION: Memoirs of Yaşar Hanım, Sedat Ulugana-Kumrtu Toktamış)

PART TWO

DOCTOR MEHMET DERVİŞ KUNTMAN'S YEARS IN IĞDIR

Military doctor Mehmet Derviş Bey (Kuntman)

My dear readers! Now I want to introduce you to an important personality who witnessed Iğdır's most critical periods and was friends with İhsan Nuri Pasha in Iğdır: Doctor Mehmet Derviş Kuntman.

Dr. Mehmet Derviş Bey was originally from Kilis. He was a military doctor. After graduating from the Military Medical Academy in 1909, he first did his internship at Gülhane, then was appointed as a battalion doctor. After that, he found himself in wars, first participating in the Balkan War, and then the Sarıkamış Front. He treated soldiers and officers in the Allahuekber Mountains.

He participated in the War of Independence. He moved a military hospital, established at the foot of Mount Ararat (in Iğdır), with 500 beds and equipment, along with two doctors, a pharmacist, a provost marshal, an accounting officer, and a staff of 50 soldiers, to the Western Front after a four-month journey.

In those years, the ignorance of the people in every matter was also evident in the field of health. Derviş Kuntman mentions an interesting incident in his memoirs. A man with eczema (a skin disease) on his neck applied to Doctor Kuntman one day. The doctor wrote a prescription, handed it to the man, and explained: "Take this, apply it to your neck, and tie a cloth over it!" When the man went home, he placed the prescription paper over the wound on his neck, tied it tightly with a cloth, and went out to the market.

Doctor Kuntman traveled from front to front with the military unit he was assigned to. After World War I, he participated in the War of Independence under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal, and he sincerely penned his views and feelings from those years.

Dr. Kuntman's memoirs were first published on September 1, 1965, in the Armed Forces Magazine. A part of these memoirs contains a section about Iğdır in the 1920s. I wanted to share this section with you, which I believe every resident of Iğdır should read. (Source: General Staff Military History and Strategic Studies Directorate Publications / General Staff Printing House 2009)

WAR WITH THE ARMENIANS (October 7, 1920) (From Dr. Kuntman's memoirs)

The Armenian government, while settling in the vicinity of Yerevan by massacring the Turks there, had attacked us from Bardiz to annex the Kars-Ardahan region, which had been ceded to us by the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk and which we had temporarily evacuated due to the armistice. At this time, since Kâzım KARABEKİR Pasha had received the title of Commander of the Eastern Front and partial mobilization had been carried out, he immediately launched a counter-attack, captured Sarıkamış on October 12, 1920, and stopped the Armenians. Our division, consisting of the 18th, 33rd, and 34th Regiments in Bayezid, had not been able to receive reserve soldiers from anywhere due to the situation, and since the strength of the battalions could not exceed a certain number of people, it had called for help from the Karapapak and Celali tribes in Karaköse and Bayezid (Both are Hamidiye Regiments. Mücahit). The division was busy preparing them. I was giving practical and theoretical lessons for the provision of health services during the campaign and was engaged in procuring missing medicines and materials.

OCTOBER 25, 1920

Our 34th Regiment, with the Celali Tribe, moved to the Iğdır Front. We held the trenches assigned to us: This was the left flank of our division's front, extending from the foot of Mount Ararat to the Sinekli Plateau. In front of us was the Iğdır Plain; further ahead, the Aras River, and in the distance, Yerevan, with Mount Alagöz to its left and Mount Ararat to our right. Our trenches were dominant everywhere and very secure. There was no contact with the enemy on the front yet. Although people were seen passing among the trees in the far distance, no hostile actions against us were sensed from them. Apparently, all the Armenian forces and activities were on the Kars side... For this reason, we set up our tents in the sheltered places of our trenches; with binoculars in hand, we kept watch over the surroundings.

The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was a peace treaty signed on March 3, 1918, between Russia and Germany, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and Bulgaria. As a result of the insistence of Talat Pasha, who represented the Ottoman Empire, all territories taken by Russia during the 93 War in 1878, namely Ardahan, Kars, Artvin, and Batum, were to be immediately returned to Turkey. After the signing of the agreement, the Ottoman armies immediately entered these regions.

Although it has been fifteen days since we arrived here, we have heard neither cannon nor rifle fire. We live in constant silence. Only the noises of the tribal soldiers break this silence. They talk continuously with their white conical hats, bushy mustaches, and strange clothes.

NOVEMBER 12, 1920

Kars had been captured, and the Armenians had fled towards Gümrü. Although they had also evacuated Iğdır, we were unaware of Iğdır's evacuation because our division and front were very wide and most of our forces were irregulars.

NOVEMBER 26, 1920

Only today did the entire division, with its tribal regiments, pour into the Iğdır Plain. Each regiment began to advance in the direction given to it. We did not encounter any Armenians. They had withdrawn a long time ago; there was no one left in the streets of Iğdır except for hungry cats and dog packs. Nevertheless, the state of the tribes was worth seeing: They were charging into the empty Iğdır Plain like Don Quixote, full gallop, swords drawn, feigning heroism. In this way, we went as far as the Aras coast and stopped there. However, at this time, our army in Kars had captured Gümrü, and the war had ended. Thus, the Armenian megalo idea had been overturned; they were squeezed into the narrow area beyond the Aras and Arpaçay and begged for mercy from us. But our soldiers, who had waited in the mountains for days to take revenge on the Armenians, were very saddened by their unnoticed escape, and they found solace and relief by calming the fire in their hearts with the waters of the Aras flowing from the Bingöl Mountains. I, too, felt great joy at the defeat of the Armenians and the collapse of the Ararat government, considering it a sign of our victories on other fronts, and I thanked God.

DECEMBER 25, 1920

After the war ended on this front, the division headquarters, the 33rd Regiment, and the artillery settled in Iğdır; our 34th Regiment settled in a large farming village called Pulur. Iğdır is the most developed town in this region, and with its sturdy single-story buildings, vineyards, and gardens, it gives one the feeling of a civilized city. But its villages are equally primitive. Especially the village where we are located is deprived of all kinds of facilities, and its streets are impassable due to mud and filth. After finishing my duty, I withdraw to my room, writhing in the sadness and suffering caused by the environment and loneliness. After front-line life, this place feels like a dungeon to me. I long for the pure, calm, brave atmosphere of that place. Oh, how comfortable I was there!

JANUARY 21, 1921

Tonight, while I was locked in my room in Pulur, thinking, it occurred to me to create a newspaper draft. This had become a recurring habit in my life as a battalion doctor. I shared this idea with my friend, Captain Zihni of the Machine Gun Company, and he approved. We immediately prepared a small newspaper called Aras, to be published weekly, and after writing some literary and humorous pieces for it, we sent and distributed the newspaper to Iğdır. This was an entertaining thing for the people of Iğdır. Everyone eagerly took and read the newspaper. Hoping that this would be well received by the commanders, we also sent a copy of the newspaper to Kâzım KARABEKİR Pasha in Sarıkamış. About ten issues were published. Although many articles in the newspaper attracted everyone's attention, the critical sections were not well-liked. At that time, poker playing had become an epidemic in Iğdır. Even stablemen in the stables were abandoning their work to engage in this game. We drew the attention of the authorities by writing an article on this matter. The division commander showed sensitivity and strictly prohibited this game with a strong order. Because of this, a person from the Hatunoğulları (Note: Today, there is a large family named Hatunoğulları in Kars. Engineer Fuat Hatunoğlu, who built the Iğdır State Production Farm, and Sakıp Hatunoğlu, a former Senator from Erzurum, are from this family. Mücahit) was offended by us. Sitting in the village and criticizing the social life in the city was considered impertinence. But we, ignoring everything, encouraged by the appreciation of our commanders, did not hesitate to write about the irregularities we saw and heard.

I was promoted to Major, effective October 1920. I was very pleased with this. Because my prestige in the Regiment increased a little. Iğdır Hospital (May 24, 1921) By order of the Eastern Front Command, I was appointed Chief Physician of the Iğdır Area Hospital. Once again, I was saved from battalion doctor duty. This appointment was a true reward for the difficulties and hardships I had endured for two and a half years. I immediately severed my ties with the regiment in Pulur, closed the Aras newspaper, which had kept me quite busy and comforted, and came to Iğdır.

I started working at the hospital after taking over from Doctor Mazhar Bey. First, I brought my family from Bayezid, found a house with a garden near the hospital, and settled them. Then, I dedicated all my material and moral strength to the hospital and started working. Upon the movement of the 11th Division to Ardahan under the name of the 2nd Division, the units in Iğdır were placed under the command of the group commander, and the mobile hospital was named the 300-bed Iğdır Area Hospital. For this reason, when I took over the hospital, I saw that it was not yet fully established and found its deficiencies to be very significant. In particular, it lacked a cleaning area, a quarantine ward, and a laboratory. Therefore, since it was not possible for it to operate in its existing state, and since official channels would take a long time, I completed the deficiencies with the efforts and help of the stonemasons and carpenters I found among the hospital soldiers, and made the hospital operational. At this time, they informed me that Group Commander İsmail Hakkı Bey would visit the hospital. The provost marshal became agitated. He wanted to change the patients' beds, blankets, and sheets with new ones. I asked him the reason. He said that previous doctors had done so. I said, I want to appear as I am, there is no need for ostentation. The next day, the commander came, I explained what I had done and what I would do, and he left satisfied.

SEPTEMBER 18, 1921

We had won a great victory in the Battle of Sakarya. This news created great joy in Iğdır. In the evening, a grand feast was given at the division headquarters. Speeches were made. A text of mine, some parts of which I have included below, was read: After the World War, the Armistice of Mudros which wanted to drown us, and the Treaty of Sèvres which ended our lives, no one believed that this nation would survive. Even the Istanbul government, convinced that there was no other way but to implement these armistices and agreements, wanted to make us miserable and wretched like the people of Israel by staining our national honor and the sacred values of three hundred million Muslims. The nation, understanding this situation beforehand, rebelled by throwing those rags in the faces of those who made them and those who wanted to implement them. Such a conscious, nationally aimed rebellion is rarely encountered in history. This outburst from the soul of the nation forced it to take up arms against its enemies again. Today's Western Front is the Kaaba of our honor and sacred values. While in such a dire situation, to create such a great front and to honor it with a great victory like Sakarya is a characteristic ability to survive and a high character unique to our nation.

As signs of the joy awakened in public opinion by the Sakarya victory, meetings and entertainments were frequently held in the houses and gardens of Iğdır; local musical groups also participated in these, filling the air with joy and pride. The most played and sung by the Azerbaijanis was this:

On the plain of Şeşkilan

Gazelles roam in its essence

I die, I die

The melodies of this folk song were so poignant and touching to me that they reminded me of the Eğin airs, deeply saddening me to the core of my soul. Now, with the stabilization of our political and military situation, a great commercial activity began in Iğdır. Trade with the Armenians increased at the Markara Bridge. The people of Yerevan bought the salt they needed from us, and in return, they sent various manufactured goods. The people of Iğdır, who were very skilled in trade, benefited greatly from this exchange.

SEPTEMBER 1921

Group Commander Colonel İsmail Hakkı Bey organized a series of conferences among the officers; we would gather from time to time and benefit from them. Captain Bitlisli İhsan Sezai's conference on machine guns amazed everyone. The knowledge and speaking power of this officer were beyond imagination. I was assigned to give a talk on syphilis. I did it, but I vowed never again to speak in front of such a crowd. I described my state at this conference to my friend Captain Zihni, who had been transferred to Sarıkamış, as follows:

Today, as I express the sadness I felt while talking about syphilis, I feel a great burden lifted from my heart. Last month, when I spoke about cholera, I attributed the discomfort, embarrassment, and awkwardness to my inexperience, but today I clearly understood that I absolutely have no talent for public speaking; I felt that my way of expressing myself was bothering the listeners, my tongue was tied. If I had continued a little longer, I would have put everyone to sleep. No one understood anything from the medical terms I used, they weren't even listening. Everyone was lost in their own thoughts, living in their own world. From time to time, they would look at me as if to say, "Don't test our patience anymore." As I saw these, my knowledge about syphilis left my mind, my tongue became tied, cold sweat ran down my temples, my eyes blurred, and I felt like I was going to fall. This is how I finished the conference. Nevertheless, the gentleman commander pleased me by saying that the conference was beneficial.

OCTOBER 1921

An order came from the Eastern Front, stating that I was appointed as the Rank Doctor of Sarıkamış Hospital and that while working there, I should also write articles for the newspaper published by the front and move quickly. I was suddenly surprised. Then I realized that this was at the instigation of my friend Zihni in Sarıkamış. I immediately went to the division commander and asked him to relieve me of this duty, saying that I did not have the time or ability to write for newspapers, and requested to be kept in my current position. The understanding commander accepted my request and did not send me there.

OCTOBER 1921

If one sits by a window in Iğdır and glances around at night, the view appears magnificent: a flat, wide Iğdır Plain in dim light, the Aras River flowing through it like a main artery; on one side, Mount Ararat, the mountain of mountains, and on the other side, Mount Alagöz, facing each other as if looking at each other. Above them, the boundless sky with its glittering stars... Although a light breeze like a breath blows around, a deep, sublime silence prevails. In the face of this infinite grandeur of nature, I feel that the truly eternally living and, with the changing seasons, laughing, rejoicing, fading, crying is this vast world, and we are mortal, helpless creatures upon it. For this reason, I felt like a miserable wretch, living a mole's life in the mud-roofed houses of Iğdır, amidst the sounds of jackals and the howling of dogs, crawling and destined to become earth at any moment.

NOVEMBER 1921

The people of Iğdır are being conscripted for the first time. For a nation that has not done military service, this was an extraordinary event. The people of Iğdır leave no stone unturned to avoid separation from their children, to save them; they struggle and strive. They think that if their children go to the army while thousands of other parents' children stand healthy before their eyes, they will die immediately. For this reason, those called to military service resorted to a thousand tricks. A committee was formed in the hospital to examine them. The front of the door was impassable due to the crowd; more relatives of soldiers had come than soldiers themselves. In the examination, those who feigned illness occupied us the most. Among them, a young man entered, bent over, leaning on a stick. He stated that his back was crooked and that he had been walking with a stick for a long time. Since they entered the examination naked, every defect could be seen, and it was obvious that his movement was a feigned illness. Our patience had run out. I wanted to make him confess that his act was a lie, as I did in the battalions. But since we didn't have time to wait, I found a very quick method. I immediately hit his naked body, his crooked back, once or twice with the leather whip in my hand, and there was no need for more. He immediately dropped his stick, straightened his back, and rushed out the door. In this way, we both saved him from being in a difficult situation and saved ourselves from the headache of an inexperienced fake patient. But did we gain a good soldier? I don't know that.

The deficiencies of the Iğdır Hospital were now completed, winter provisions and fuel were prepared, the blue blankets that had been previously procured and distributed here and there were collected and covered the patients; our patients were fed with the milk and yogurt of about ten cows in the hospital. In short, with the valuable help of my hospital colleagues Dr. Hamdi SOFULAR, Dr. Haydar, and Pharmacist Vasıf Bey, this place had reached the desired level and we had the opportunity to be beneficial to the patients. A Russian nurse who had worked voluntarily in the Nakhchivan Hospital one day came to work in our hospital. She started working with the permission of the division. We provided her with all kinds of comfort. She found this place more orderly than the one in Nakhchivan. After working for a while, she was returned to Nakhchivan.

DECEMBER 1921

Winter has arrived in Iğdır. The air here is extremely humid and the cold is effective. The mountains surrounding the plain are now completely white. Especially Mount Ararat, having donned its white mantle down to its foothills, had begun to chill one to the bone. They say that the climate of a country determines the style of its buildings. This is very true. Here, the houses are all in gardens, single-story, made of stone and adobe, and their roofs are covered with hard earth. The interiors of the houses are painted with oil paint, and they are heated with wall stoves called 'peç'. These are fireplaces built into the wall between two rooms, heating everywhere like a radiator. To light one, only a load of wood is needed. For this reason, the issue of fuel comes first here. We manage by burning vine stumps here. Water for use is taken from the irrigation ditches flowing in front of their doors. Drinking water is also provided by passing these ditch waters through a stone filter. These stones are considered a great blessing for this place. The Aras River, which is almost always muddy and turbid, becomes clear and drinkable thanks to this.

JANUARY 1922

The roads leading to Iğdır were closed. Communication was cut off from all sides. It was as if we had come under siege. The foggy weather and the wolf packs approaching the town completed this siege, and we were confined to our homes. Especially at night, morning never came, and we were delirious in the nightmare of the sorrows caused by the situation. Nevertheless, from time to time, we would gather at Dr. Hamdi's house at night and spend enjoyable hours. The news that our division would move to the Western Front was heard. We were extremely pleased with this. For we would both escape from this region and participate in the real National Struggle. With this goal, we had started preparing for the journey, forgotten how the days passed, and embarked on a feverish activity. Movement to the Western Front (February 10, 1922) After the signing of the Gümrü Agreement and the Sakarya Victory, silence had settled on the Western Front, and it was time to withdraw the excess units here to the Western Front and strike a decisive blow against the Greeks. For this purpose, our group was given an order to prepare for movement. All units were preparing for the campaign with great enthusiasm and effort.

FEBRUARY 11, 1922

The group commander, with his order, stated that all heavy equipment of the units should be sent to Sarıkamış in advance by their own means, and that 30 beds of infirmary material should be allocated to the hospital, 20 for Iğdır and 10 for Bayezid, and then we should be ready to move with all our remaining belongings, provisions, etc. Since most of our transport vehicles consisted of ox carts, after first checking the wheels and yokes and making the necessary repairs, we set off our ten-cart load today as the first convoy.

FEBRUARY 13, 1922

Today, at the European hour, all doctors, female nurses, medical soldiers, and our transport vehicles gathered in battle dress in front of the group headquarters. The commander came and inspected us. It seems that our departure day is approaching.

MY STAGE COMMAND (February 15, 1922)

The group, for ease of movement, was divided into three stages: infantry, artillery, and technical units. The First and Second Stages moved under the command of regiment commanders. I was appointed as the commander of the Third Stage, which consisted of the remaining wireless, engineering, cavalry, transport companies, and the hospital. This was a rare honor given to a doctor. This was probably due to the commander's appreciation of the inspection I gave yesterday, or because there was no other major in the stage besides me, arising from a necessity. Whatever the reason, I was very pleased with this assignment.

FEBRUARY 20, 1922

Early in the morning, as per the daily order I wrote, all stage units gathered in front of the group headquarters. As I gave the full report to the commander and was leaving, he told me to exert all our strength to deliver the wireless to Sarıkamış. We said goodbye to the other friends who remained there and lined up on the road. The stage formed a long column with soldiers and officers belonging to various units, various war equipment, different types of transport vehicles such as camels, buffaloes, oxen, and horses, and officers' families in covered wagons with portable tents, resembling a migration convoy with its slow, heavy march. The stage commander at their head, with the fatherly demeanor given by his former battalion doctor duty, resembled a tribal regiment commander; nevertheless, everyone continued on their way with great order, obedience, and maturity. In this way, walking, stumbling on the stones of bad roads, sinking into their mud, we reached the town of Kağızman in three days.

We rested for a day in this garden-filled town. Here, the wife of one of our friends gave birth. We considered this a good omen for our journey. We also took advantage of this break to repair broken carts and wheels and to have ice nails hammered into the animals' hooves. Since our next road was snowy and icy, such an arrangement was urgently needed. The next day, we stayed in the village of Kötek, at the foot of the Paslı Pass. This pass was a very high point between Kağızman and Sarıkamış, rising steeply like a wall in front of us. How would we cross it now? How would we get this heavy wireless over the mountain? I kept thinking about this. In the morning, trusting the strength of three pairs of buffaloes, we started walking up the slope. But the wheels got stuck in the snow. Although we struggled for a long time, we couldn't get them out. We had to return to our old lodging. This place was also very dirty. No one was comfortable. On the contrary, the next day there was a terrible snowstorm. No one could leave their place. Now, this lodging, which we had disliked, began to look charming to us. We had forgotten our own troubles. We kept thinking and planning how we would deliver this wireless, which was expected in Sarıkamış, and finally, we found a solution.

FEBRUARY 26, 1922

Before dawn, while the snow was still frozen solid, we first made the camels, then the soldiers, walk to tread down the path. After the other vehicles passed, the snow became very compacted. Then, we came to the wireless and, with the help of the buffaloes, moved the machine. In this way, we approached the pass. We spent the night here in a place like a burrow. The next morning, moving in the same way, we brought the wireless to the plain. This was a great success; we were all happy. Now, we easily reached Sarıkamış with peace of mind, staying in the villages of Selimköy, Yolçekmez, and Yedikilise. On March 7, 1922, our stage entered Sarıkamış in an orderly manner, just as it had left Iğdır. The wireless machine, behind the steaming buffaloes, advanced at the very front, and everyone watched it with curiosity. The group commander, who had not expected the wireless to be brought over the mountain, was very pleased with this and considered it a success on my part. As I entered Sarıkamış, I remembered those disastrous days of the general war. As I looked around, I felt as if I was still living the painful, agonizing moments of that bloody tragedy that had occurred a little beyond the pine forests, and my heart ached. On the other hand, my chest swelled with pride to see our glorious flag waving over this enormous winter garrison built by the Russians, and that this place was now the center of the Eastern Front Command.