Ethem Dipsheu

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The native form of this personal name is Dıpşəw 'ətəm. This article uses Western name order when mentioning individuals.
Çerkes Ethem
Psheu Ethem
CerkezEthemPortre.jpg
Born1886
Bandırma, Hüdavendigâr Vilayet, Ottoman Empire (present-day Balıkesir, Turkey)
Died21 September 1948
Amman, Jordan
Resting placeCemetery of Habjouka in Al-Misdar, Amman, Jordan
NationalityCircassian
Other namesPsheu/Pşevu Çerkez/Çerkes Edhem/Ethem
EducationBakırköy Cavalry Junior Officer School
Known forMilitia leader gained fame for fighting against the Allied powers invading Anatolia
Height2.00 m (6 ft 7 in)
Parent(s)
  • Psheu Ali Bey (father)
FamilyHouse of Dipsheu

Çerkes Ethem (Turkish for "Ethem the Circassian"; 1886 – 21 September 1948) or Ethem Dipsheu (Adyghe: Дыпщэу Iэтэм, romanized: Dıpşəw 'ətəm) of House of Dipsheu was an Ottoman soldier and militia leader of Circassian origin. Nicknamed the "Rankless General", he initially gained fame for fighting and gaining victories against the Allied powers invading Anatolia in the aftermath of World War I and afterwards during the Turkish War of Independence.[1][2][3]

Early life and family[]

His family, House of Dipsheu of the Circassian people, was originally from Ubykhia province of Circassia, who were exiled to Ottoman Empire in the 1860s.[1] He was born in Emre village of Bandırma as the son of Psheu Ali Bey.[1] One of his brothers was a Member of Parliament for Saruhan (present-day Manisa) in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey's first legislative term and previously in the fourth term of the Chamber of Deputies of the Ottoman Empire. His other brother was a senior military officer who graduated from the Turkish Military Academy in 1902.

Ethem the Circassian had blond hair, light blue eyes, and very pale skin, as described by Halide Edip Adıvar.[4] He stood at 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in) tall.

Education and military career[]

He ran away from home when he was 14 years old to join Bakırköy Cavalry Junior Officer School. He joined the Balkan War and was wounded on the Bulgarian front. As a result, he was awarded with honours and seniority allowance. Later he joined Teşkilat-ı Mahsusa organized by Eşref Kuşçubaşı and participated in operations in Afghanistan and Iraq during World War I. He was again wounded and retired to his village. For a while he took up banditry in the mountains. He then founded Kuvâ-yi Seyyâre which was the only organized military force in Anatolia during 1919–1920, period between the Armistice of Mudros and the Treaty of Sèvres. He coordinated his military operations with Ali Fuat Paşa in Ankara and harassed the invading Greek armies with his fast cavalry. He was instrumental in putting down various rebellions against the authority of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. Eventually he had a disagreement with the İsmet İnönü government in Ankara, refusing to join his forces with the regular army established under the command of İnönü Paşa. The newly reconstituted Turkish Army had to put down the situation whilst also fighting the Greeks at First Battle of İnönü. The claim that allegedly he subsequently cooperated with the Greek army[5] (which has been disputed and rejected by most historians[6][7][8][9]) resulted in his citizenship getting revoked on the grounds of treason and his being declared persona non grata by the TBMM, amongst many others. From Greece, he went to Jordan and settled there.

Cooperation with Atatürk's forces against the Allied powers[]

Çerkes Ethem was an ally of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk who appreciated him for his successful fight against invading armies and bandits in different regions of Turkey.[10] Atatürk awarded Ethem the Circassian with the title of Millî Kahraman (Turkish: National Hero).[11]

Kuva-yi Seyyare[]

Main article: Kuva-yi Seyyare

Kuvâ-yi Seyyâre (Ottoman Turkish: كوآ-يى صييآر‎, lit. '"The Traveling Forces"') was a force of Circassian and Abkhazian volunteers led by Ethem Dipsheu against the invasion forces during the Turkish War of Independence.[12][13] The group saw themselves as a police force to fight against those who cause disturbance to the greater good of Anatolia.[14][15] It was a branch of the Kuva-yi Milliye. In time, as Ethem's Islamic Socialist views grew larger, it distanced itself from Kemal Atatürk's Turkish National movement and eventually opposed it.[15][16][17]

Death and burial[]

Ethem Bey died on 21 September 1948 near River Jordan in Amman, Jordan.[18] He was buried in the Circassian Cemetery.[19]

Remembrance in literature[]

In her 1928 work The Turkish Ordeal, the leading Ottoman female novelist and nationalist Halide Edip Adıvar mentions the first time she saw Ethem the Circassian and how respected he was by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk in addition to describing Ethem Bey's physical appearance in a very positive way.[20]

Exhumation and reburial plans[]

In 2015, the Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey announced the planned exhumation and reburial of Ethem Bey in Turkey where he was born.[19] This was never carried out.

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b c Çerkes Ethem [attributed] (2014). Hatıralarım (Çerkes trajedisinin 150. yılında) [My Memoirs] (in Turkish). Istanbul: Bizim Kitaplar. ISBN 9786055476465.
  2. ^ "Çerkes Ethem Kendini Savunuyor: Vatan İçin İlk Ben Yola Çıktım" [Ethem the Circassian defends himself: I Took the Initiative for the Homeland]. Radikal (in Turkish). Istanbul. 9 November 2014.
  3. ^ Salihoğlu, M. Latif (21 September 2015). "Çerkes Ethem'e Resmen İade-i İtibar" [Official Restoration of Honour for Ethem the Circassian]. Yeni Asya (in Turkish). Istanbul.
  4. ^ Bozkurt, Mehmet (25 September 2011). "21 Eylül 1948: Ölümünün 63. Yılında Çerkes Ethem Bey" [21 September 1948: Çerkes Ethem Bey on the 63rd Anniversary of his Death]. SoL (in Turkish). Istanbul.
  5. ^ Macfie, A.L. (2014). Atatürk. Routledge. p. 108. ISBN 978 1 138 83 647 1.
  6. ^ Şener, Cemal. Çerkes Ethem Olayı. ISBN 9789752108356.
  7. ^ "Dünyaca ünlü profesör son notayı koydu! Çerkes Ethem hain miydi? | STAR". Star.com.tr. Retrieved 2021-05-27.
  8. ^ Ünal, Muhittin. Kurtuluş Savaşında Çerkeslerin Rolü. ISBN 9789754065824.
  9. ^ "Çerkes Ethem vatan haini miydi?". Independent Türkçe (in Turkish). 2021-02-24. Retrieved 2021-05-27.
  10. ^ Türksoy, Turgut (2014). Çerkes Ethem: Apoletsiz General [Ethem the Circassian: General without Epaulette] (in Turkish). Istanbul: Büyülüdağ. ISBN 9786056217135.
  11. ^ Özgürel, Avni. "Milli Mücadele Yıllarının Öteki Yüzü" [Other Face of National Struggle Years]. Radikal (in Turkish). Istanbul.
  12. ^ "Kuvâ-yı Seyyare - Atatürk Ansiklopedisi". ataturkansiklopedisi.gov.tr. Retrieved 2021-07-15.
  13. ^ Mynet. "Kuvayı Seyyare nedir? AYT'deki Kuvayı Seyyare sorusu". Mynet Haber (in Turkish). Retrieved 2021-07-15.
  14. ^ Uğurlu, Nurer (2007). Çerkez Ethem Kuvvetleri Kuvayı Seyyare. Örgün Yayınları. ISBN 9789757651574.
  15. ^ Jump up to: a b Şener, Cemal (2007). Çerkes Ethem Olayı. Altın Kitaplar. ISBN 9789752108356.
  16. ^ Kurşun, Zekeriya. "Çerkez Ethem". TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi (in Turkish). Retrieved 2021-07-15.
  17. ^ Uğurlu, Nurer (2007). Kuvayı Seyyare. Örgün Yayınevi. p. 357. ISBN 9789757651574.
  18. ^ Akbıyık, Sami (6 May 2016). "Çerkes Ethem'in Yakınları Devletten 'Özür' Bekliyor" [Relatives of Çerkes Ethem Expects Apology from Government]. HaberTürk (in Turkish). Istanbul.
  19. ^ Jump up to: a b "Çerkes Ethem'in Naaşı Türkiye'ye Getiriliyor" [The Corpse of Ethem the Circassian is Being Taken to Turkey]. Güneş (in Turkish). Istanbul. 20 July 2015.
  20. ^ Adıvar, Halide Edib (1928). "Chapter V: Important Phases of the Civil War". The Turkish Ordeal: Being the further memoirs of Halide Edib: With a frontispiece in color by Alexandre Pankoff and many illustrations from photographs (PDF). New York City, NY: The Century Co.
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