The unique Commander Mustafa Kemal Pasha is described in my article published in recent years, detailing the day he arrived at Haydarpaşa on November 13, 1918, during the hours when the capital of the vast Ottoman Empire, Istanbul, was beginning to be occupied. My document, which traces his departure from Istanbul on the Bandırma Ferry on May 16, 1919, until his arrival in Samsun on May 19, 1919, was published by DTO Publications under the title 'From Istanbul to Samsun with Mustafa Kemal Pasha, May 16-19, 1919.' I prepared this article to commemorate the unforgettable day of May 19, 1919, when he initiated the War of Liberation and Independence against those who sought to enslave the Turkish nation. I begin my writing by honoring all our heroes who fought for the homeland and fell as martyrs, starting from the morning of November 13, 1918.

Mustafa Kemal Pasha arrived in Istanbul from Adana on the morning of November 13, 1918. Until that historic day when the first steps of the National Struggle would be taken, Minister of the Navy Rauf Bey had sent a message to Admiral Somers Arthur Gough-Calthorpe, informing him when the warships of the Allied Powers would arrive in Istanbul. The aim was to plan the measures and implementations to be taken in Istanbul. In line with the response received, a decree was published by the Ministry of the Navy. According to this decree, buoys would be placed in Dolmabahçe and further ahead for the warships of the Allied Powers as indicated in the plan.

On Wednesday, November 13, 1918, starting from the morning hours, all quays, including Karaköy Pier and Tophane-i Amire Pier, would be cleared, and there would be no ships docked at these piers.

From 07:00 in the morning until 12:00 in the afternoon, all maritime traffic was prohibited. During these hours, no maritime vehicle, including boats, would operate at sea from Karaköy to Sarayburnu, the Maiden's Tower, and the Bosphorus.

The notification from the Ministry of the Navy was as follows: 'Today, the Allied Powers' Fleet will arrive and depart at our port, and to ensure that the maneuvers of the fleet are not hindered and to prevent accidents such as collisions, it is announced that from eight in the morning until two in the afternoon, the passage of all types of vessels and naval craft is prohibited in Istanbul Port.'

After the Armistice of Mudros, orders were given for British, French, Italian, and Greek warships to be ready for their voyages to Istanbul. Coal ships were boarded by warships to supply all bunkers. Other supplies were completed. By the evening of November 9, they began waiting for the order to move.

On Sunday, November 10, 1918, they set sail in formation towards the Dardanelles Strait.

The flagship was HMS Superb. Others included HMS Temeraire, HMS Lord Nelson (the flagship), HMS Agamemnon; Cruisers: HMS Canterbury, HMS Skirmisher, HMS Liverpool, HMS Sentinel, HMS Forward, HMS Foresight, and ten destroyers. The French squadron consisted of the battleship Condorcet as the flagship, along with communication ships and cruisers. The third line consisted of Italian warships and the Greek warships, with the Georgios Averof battleship as the flagship. These warships included Georgios Averof, Kılkıs, Aeotos, Ierax, and Panthir.

The Allied Fleet began entering the Dardanelles Strait on Tuesday, November 12, 1918, at 12:30 PM. By around 5:00 PM, they had reached the Sea of Marmara.

The following morning, starting from 07:00, the warships of the Allied Powers that would occupy Istanbul were entering the Bosphorus. From 08:00 onwards, the ships began to anchor.

On Wednesday, November 13, 1918, at local time 08:00, following four British torpedo boats, the 'Superb Dreadnought' carrying Fleet Commander Admiral Somerset Arthur Gough-Calthorpe and a large fleet of 61 vessels from the Allied Powers anchored in Istanbul, passing in front of Dolmabahçe Palace. The waters of Kabataş, Beşiktaş, Ortaköy, Büyükdere, Haydarpaşa, Kadıköy, Moda Bay (with the Penelope coal supply ship), and the open waters of Fenerbahçe were suddenly filled with enemy ships. Two aircraft from the Allied Powers provided aerial support for this fleet arriving in Istanbul.

The warships of the occupying forces were anchoring off Istanbul. As the occupying warships anchored in the Bosphorus, military units were disembarking from the ships that docked at the Galata piers. The arrival of the fleet in Istanbul was delayed by fifteen days from the Dardanelles Strait to allow for the clearing of mines in the Marmara Sea until security was ensured. Mine-clearing vessels that completed their task also arrived in Istanbul. Part of the fleet anchored from Haydarpaşa towards the Islands, and some auxiliary ships anchored off Yeşilköy. The occupation of all districts began on November 13, 1918.

Military postal communication during Mustafa Kemal Pasha's journey from Adana to Istanbul by train conveyed information to the 1st and 2nd Army Commanders and the district commanders through military postal centers via a letter written by the General Inspectorate of Communications.

It should be noted that the foreign post offices that were closed on October 1, 1914, with the declaration of mobilization, resumed operations after the Armistice of Mudros, and the British and French post offices in Istanbul were reopened. The Italian post office would also resume operations in 1919. The Greeks would later establish post offices and activate their postal organization in the regions they occupied.

Mustafa Kemal Pasha's Arrival in Istanbul

After the signing of the Armistice of Mudros, Mustafa Kemal Pasha, the Commander of the Yıldırım Army Group, who arrived in Adana, encouraged the prominent figures and youth of Adana to resist and defend against enemy occupation, urging them to form an organization and prepare. He similarly encouraged Ali Fuat Pasha to gather national forces by forming an organization. In discussions with Ali Fuat Pasha in Adana during the same days, he stated, 'From now on, the nation must seek and defend its own rights, and we must show this path as much as possible and assist with the entire army.' (Source: Atese)

The distance between Adana and Istanbul-Haydarpaşa is given as 710 km. Steam trains were making coal and water supplies at various stops along the route. The average speed between Adana and Istanbul was reported to be 25-40 km per hour. (Source: Railway Encyclopedia). The train that would take Mustafa Kemal Pasha to Istanbul departed from Adana on the morning of November 10. This train would be in Haydarpaşa on the morning of November 13, 1918, while the Allied Powers' warships were occupying Istanbul.

In the 'Memoirs' of Avni Pasha, which I have translated into Turkish, there is very important information regarding Mustafa Kemal Pasha's departure from Adana to Istanbul, which I am publishing for the first time.

Avni Pasha wrote on this matter: 'Mustafa Kemal Pasha insisted on two main points; the first was the appointment of Fethi Bey to the Ministry of Interior, and the second was that he could no longer hold on to that region and was demanding and proposing an armistice, regardless of the cost.'

In the responses from İzzet Pasha, it was stated that Fethi Bey had been appointed to the Ministry of Interior and that the Ministry of War had been temporarily assigned to him and was being managed on an acting basis, and it was requested to gain a little time to ease the conditions of the Armistice. However, despite such guarantees and assurances, the Pasha was still impatient to go to Istanbul an hour earlier. Finally, he departed from Adana on a special express train to Istanbul. I joined the same train at Çumra station near Konya as it passed through Konya, and we arrived in Istanbul together.' As stated by Ahmet Avni Pasha, this means that taking into account the day Mustafa Kemal Pasha departed from Adana by special train, he had previously gone to Çumra, which at that time was a large village located about 43-45 km southeast of Konya, and joined Mustafa Kemal Pasha at the Çumra Railway Station to come to Istanbul.

According to this Memoir, besides Mustafa Kemal Pasha and his aide Cevat Abbas, Minister of the Navy Ahmet Avni Pasha was also present upon reaching Haydarpaşa Station. They passed through Sirkeci with the official naval vessel Muş and then reached Pera Palas by official automobile. What I have written here is based on Ahmet Avni Pasha's Memoirs and is being recorded for the first time.

The fact that Mustafa Kemal Pasha arrived in Istanbul on the same day is not a pre-planned event with the statement 'I will be in Istanbul on the morning of the occupation.' However, it carries a profound historical significance. The stages of Mustafa Kemal Pasha's train journey were monitored, and on the afternoon of November 12, 1918, a naval vessel (Muş) was dispatched to the Haydarpaşa Train Station pier by the Transportation and Shipment Department of the Ministry of War, and an official automobile was prepared to wait at Sirkeci Pier, at the Sepetçiler Mansion - Military Shipment Pier, at dawn on November 13, 1918.

Mustafa Kemal Pasha and his aide Cevat Abbas were ready on the train at Adana Train Station.

While it belonged to the Chemins du Fer Impérial Ottomans de Bagdad / Ottoman Empire Baghdad Railways (CIOB) Company, all railways were confiscated in the conditions of mobilization during World War I and were being used for military purposes. With the agreement signed between Turkey and the BANP Company on October 27, 1932, the sections of the railway lines operated by this company within the borders of Turkey were purchased by TCDD on April 27, 1933.

One year earlier...

The date was September 6, 1917, The time was 16:30... There was a tremendous explosion...

On September 6, 1917, as a result of sabotage, Haydarpaşa Station and its surroundings were devastated by an Armenian doctor settled in Ireland, according to information from a British source.

Source: SeaNews Türkiye