Anadolu Agency Voice Of Turkish War Of Independence

Anadolu Agency announced Anatolia's voice to the world by publishing bulletins within national borders and in the international sphere to disseminate correct information about the harsh circumstances of the Turkish War of Independence of 1919-1922.

On April 6, 1920, Anadolu Agency, founded by Gazi Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, began its news journey with the mission of disseminating true information.

On one hand, the Agency helped military leaders mobilize masses in the fight against the invasion forces and on the other, through its publications via the telegraph system, it continued to search for ways to reach the most remote corners of the homeland.

Yunus Nadi, who played an active role in the establishment of the Agency and was assigned to carry out its affairs after it was established, had some correspondence with Mustafa Kemal Ataturk on the issue.

Foundations of Agency's communication with Europe laid in Antalya

Nadi, who believed that it was necessary to have a center in Antalya and Rhodes to establish a relationship with Europe and to quickly send out the news about the War of Independence to the outside world, sent a telegram to Turkish Col. Refet Bey in Afyonkarahisar on April 12, 1920.Nadi, who asked Refet Bey if he had established a headquarters for the Agency in Antalya, also stated that there were Turks he knew in Rhodes.Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, like Nadi, attempted to establish a regular office to gather intelligence in Antalya.

Ataturk, who sent a telegram April 16 to Refet Bey in Nazilli four days after Nadi, instructed that Moralizade Halit Bey -- through his friends in Antalya, Rhodes, and Europe -- should set up an office for communication with Europe in Antalya.

Soon after, an office was established in Antalya to transmit the Agency's news bulletins to Europe over Italy.

Anadolu Agency news bulletins in American reports

Anadolu Agency's first news bulletins were also cited in reports Americans had sent to Washington during the Turkish War of Independence. These first bulletins were published by the Agency's Antalya office in French.

Bulletins dated of January 1921 and February 1921 from the "Bureau d'information-Adalia" (Information Bureau-Antalya), heralds the Turkish arm's victory at the First Battle of Inonu on Jan. 10, 1921, against the invading Greek forces, and they highlight efforts by Greeks to downplay the Turkish superiority at the battlefield as "inconclusive".

The bulletins also tell about how Cherkess Ethem, a Turkish militia leader, and his followers had surrendered to Greek forces.

"The victory of our heroic western army against the Greeks has created unprecedented joy among the Turkish and Muslim people in the capital as well as in the provinces, and sadness among the Christians and allies, according to the reports from Istanbul and the other region," Bulletin Number 48 wrote.

"Anadolu Agency states that the Greek headquarters is trying to reduce the importance of the defeat suffered by the Greek troops at the Battle of Great Inonu by claiming that there is no real attack, only a reconnaissance operation, with a delayed statement issued by the Greek headquarters. They also claim that their losses are not serious. We should remind you that the Greek troops had to fight for 36 hours on the outskirts of Eskisehir, suffered great losses and they fled. If they had stayed on the battlefield for another 12 hours, they would have been destroyed. It should also be noted that the General Staff of the National Army, following a plan prepared in advance, condoned the advance of the enemy troops outside Eskisehir to strike the final blow.

"The defeat of the Greeks was evident from the large numbers of wounded soldiers they had to carry back to Istanbul. This reveals just how much the belated declaration by the Greek General Staff is a lie. The Greeks thought that they had irregular forces facing them and that they could easily be destroyed in front of Eskisehir, so they went on a military trip. The British forces, who intended to crush the Greeks and the Turks, were stunned in front of our high morale, good order, heroic and young army.

"The government of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, which had the task of freeing the Turkish nation and the homeland from the yoke, which had taken up arms to protect its right to live and its existence, proved its unwavering power once again with this last victory and glorified its glory. A nation with a glorious history of almost seven centuries of heroism and not wanting to die cannot be destroyed, the TBMM (Turkish parliament) government cries out against aggressive enemies who want to erase the name of Turkey from the world map.

"Anadolu Agency also wants to state that the famous provocateur Ethem, his brothers Resit and Tevfik, who committed treason, committed crimes and showed the infamy to join the ranks of our Greek enemies, as well as those in their path, were monitored by our forces. Many of these instigators have been killed, imprisoned or surrendered to our troops. In short, these traitors were finally destroyed or dispersed in the direction of Sindirgi, Akhisar, and Marmaracik. This success completes the victory of our heroic troops at Inonu.

"According to the reliable information that has come to us, when fleeing in the direction of Bursa in haste after the last defeat, nothing escaped the hands of the Greek troops, our enemies set fire to villages everywhere they passed through, raped Muslim women and girls, looted, robbed and massacred. These events should fry the face of supposedly civilized Europe. Would the allied governments, especially the British government led by Lloyd George, think about this?"

Response to Greek declaration

Bulletin Number 49 was an answer to the Greek declaration on the First Battle of Inonu. The bulletin dated Jan. 25, 1921, read: "Our forces have drawn the enemy to the vicinity of Inonu following the orders they received within the framework of a certain plan. So much so that the Greek troops were 150 kilometers away from the point where they began their attack. Such a large operation is not called a reconnaissance offensive." Bulletin Number 50 dated Jan. 25 shares the news about how the British condoned efforts by the Fener Greek Patriarchate arm Greeks of Istanbul.

Anadolu Agency "also received the news that the British forces have engaged in a new bad behavior in Istanbul," the bulletin wrote.

"We are already attracting the attention of the whole world on this plot against the Turks. The British forces, who do not allow the Turks to carry even a small pistol, have the machine guns and rifles sold in the streets of Istanbul by Russian soldiers and Russian migrants fleeing Crimea and have the Greek Patriarchate buy them to arm the Greeks. 15 days ago, 15 machine guns were purchased and moved to the Fener Patriarchate. It has become clear that the British intend to arm the Greek Cypriots in Istanbul to break the Turkish people and thus create new problems."

Bulletins sent by Admiral Bristol of US

U.S. State Department archives show Admiral Mark Lambert Bristol, whom the United States had appointed as high commissioner in Istanbul in late 1919, had sent Anadolu Agency bulletins to his superiors in Washington.

In a preliminary article of the crypto dated April 13, 1921, which he sent the documents, Bristol mentions "the difficulty of obtaining satisfactory information about what is happening in Anatolia and especially the activities of the Ankara government."

Bristol had sent to Washington a large collection of Anadolu Agency bulletins which he deemed worth sending. Among the Anadolu Agency news bulletins sent by Bristol is the one in which the Agency reports the first constitution the Turkish Grand National Assembly adopted on Jan. 20, 1921.

Anadolu Agency bulletins sent by Bristol also include telegrams between Tevfik Pasha and Mustafa Kemal Pasha about sending delegations to the London Conference, notes sent by Soviet politician Georgy Vasilyevich Chicherin to the Ankara government, correspondence between Turkey and Georgia about the annexation of Ardahan and Artvin, and information on the exchange of telegrams between the Pope and Mustafa Kemal Ataturk on the protection of Christians in Asia Minor.

Mustafa Kemal cites Anadolu Agency as source

Among documents Brig. Mark Lambert Bristol, the High Commissioner of the U.S. in Istanbul, sent to Washington, there were Mustafa Kemal Ataturk's answers to the written questions by American journalist Clarence K. Streit.

On February 26, 1921, Streit sent 19 questions to Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, asking him to answer them in French.Ataturk answered Streit's questions about relations with Soviet Russia in writings the same day, citing Anadolu Agency as a source, and gave the following answer:

"The final note sent to our government by Comrade [Georgy Vasilyevich Chicherin] and presented to you with a copy attached constitutes a sufficient answer to this question. This note was originally published by Anadolu Agency on the 14th of this month."

During the War of Independence, French-language bulletins from the Antalya Office of Anadolu Agency were transmitted by the American High Commissioner's office in Istanbul to the U.S. State Department without any comment, a sign of Anadolu Agency's impartiality and reliability.

Anadolu Agency attracts British attention

Anadolu Agency's reporting has quickly attracted the interest of the British forces too.

British High Commissioner Admiral Sir John Michael de Robeck wrote in his report on May 22, 1920: "Some time ago, the Turkish militia started a news agency that published daily news bulletins inside.

"They come to Istanbul with a certain delay. They contain news about what happened in Ankara." -