Türkiye celebrates 100th anniversary of "Great Offensive” victory

Türkiye today celebrates the 100th anniversary of the "Great Offensive", a decisive military campaign of the Turkish army led by Mustafa Kamal Ataturk to liberate western Anatolia from occupiers and lay the foundation for the establishment of the Republic of Türkiye.

The "Great Offensive" (Büyük Taarruz in the Turkish language) was the largest and final military operation of the Turkish War of Independence (1919-1922), fought between the Turkish Armed Forces and the troops loyal to the Kingdom of Greece as part of the Greco-Turkish War, Caliber.Az reports.

The offensive began on August 26, 1922, with the famous Battle of Dumlupınar, which ended in the victory of the Turkish army on August 30. Following the triumph in Dumlupınar, Ataturk ordered the army to advance until the complete ousting of Greek troops and recapture of the Aegean Sea coastal city of İzmir on September 9.

Around 104,000 Turkish troops, the largest number since the beginning of the war drove the Greek army of over 200,000 men out of western Anatolia following a pursuit operation that pushed back the occupants 250 miles (400 km) back on a wider front. Consequently, the Greek occupation of Smyrna, which had begun in May 1919, ended on September 9, 1922, and was recognized as the “Liberation of İzmir”.

The victory in the "Great Offensive" of the Turkish army was a brilliant example of how the unity of people and army can resist even the biggest powers in the world. Ataturk’s troops lacked all kinds of motorized vehicles, consisting of only infantry and cavalry units and its logistical support was provided by a primitive supply system based on mainly ox-carts when starting the operation. However, within just two weeks, the Turkish Army pushed the Greek Army completely out of Anatolia.

Following the war, on October 29, 1923, the Great National Assembly (parliament) declared Türkiye to be a republic and elected Mustafa Kemal Ataturk as its first president. The Ottoman caliphate, which was in its dying throes, was abolished on March 3, 1924. A full republican constitution was adopted on April 20, 1924; it retained Islam as the state religion, but in April 1928 this clause was removed, and Turkey became a purely secular republic.

The first anniversary of the successful completion of the "Great Offensive" was first celebrated by the Turkish people in 1923 and on August 30, 1926, it was officially declared Victory Day. The day is also marked as the day of the Turkish Armed Forces.