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İzmir plot
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İzmir plot
In 1926, the Turkish police arrested dozens of people, including ex-ministers, lawmakers and governors, accused of plotting to assassinate Mustafa Kemal, the first president of Turkey, on 14 June 1926 in İzmir. The assassination was planned to take place in the Kemeraltı district of İzmir. As Mustafa Kemal Pasha's car would have slowed down at the crossroads, Ziya Hurşit Bey would have opened fire on him from Gaffarzâde Hotel with Gürcü (Georgian) Yusuf and Laz İsmail throwing bombs and explosives at him from the barber shop under the hotel. Meanwhile, they had planned to escape from the scene with Çopur Hilmi and Giritli (Cretan) Şevki, who would wait in a car on the side street, and then send them to Chios with a motor. However, through the telegram sent to Mustafa Kemal Pasha by İzmir Governor Kâzım Bey on 14 June, the plan was uncovered and the president postponed his trip to İzmir. In the letter written by Giritli Şevki to the Governor of İzmir on 15 June 1926, information on the people who would have carried on the assassination was included. After a while, the four main suspects were arrested and they confessed their crimes.
At the hearings held by the Independence Tribunal who came to İzmir after this incident, it was determined that there were wider opposition groups behind the incident. Of the forty people who were tried in İzmir between 26 June and 13 July, fifteen were sentenced to death with two of them in absentia, and one was exiled. A few weeks later, four of the fifty-seven people on trial in Ankara between 2 and 26 August were sentenced to death, six were exiled and two were sent to prison. A total of one hundred and thirty defendants were questioned, thirty-four of which were released without the need for trial.
Historians Erik-Jan Zürcher and Raymond Kévorkian have stated that there was no plot to assassinate Kemal and the prosecution was a show trial intended to eliminate his political opponents, especially former members of the Committee of Union and Progress.
After the Ottoman Empire left World War I with defeat, members of the Committee of Union and Progress, which was dissolved with the congress organized in November 1918, were divided into several groups. A group started to cooperate with the Ottoman sultan, a group of leaders from committee fled abroad, and a third group joined the War of Independence. The last group, in itself, was divided into two as those who were entirely enthusiastic to establish a national state and those who wanted to rebuild the old system after the victory of the national movement. In January 1922, a series of activities began in Istanbul under Kara Kemal Bey's leadership to reestablish the Committee of Union and Progress. On 29 November 1922, a secret meeting was held in Istanbul under the chairmanship of Kara Kemal with the participation of members of the former community. These secret activities were not terminated after the negotiations with Kılıç Ali Bey and Ali İhsan Bey, who were sent to Istanbul by Mustafa Kemal Pasha in order to prevent re-establishment of the committee. Hüseyin Cahit Bey, a journalist from the Committee of Union and Progress and former Istanbul representative, wrote an article before the general elections of 1923, announcing that the committee would not participate in these elections. Hüseyin Cahit Bey, who published articles on behalf of a dissolved party, was sentenced to life imprisonment in Çorum on 7 May 1925, and his newspaper Tanin was closed on 16 April 1925.
Following the Sheikh Said rebellion against the central government, which was initiated in February 1925 and suppressed in the spring of 1925, the opposition press was silenced based on the Law on the Maintenance of Order (Turkish: Takrir-i Sükûn Kanunu) issued on 4 March 1925, and some former members of the Committee of Union and Progress established the Progressive Republican Party on 17 November 1924. Chaired by Kâzım Karabekir Pasha, the party was closed on 3 June 1925 on the grounds that it "supported the revolt by referring to religious feelings." However, party members, independently continued to maintain their presence in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. Some members of the former Committee of Union and Progress who did not join the Republican People's Party after their party was closed, remained in Istanbul as a secret opposition movement.
On the other hand, Mustafa Kemal Pasha left Ankara on 7 May 1926 and started organizing train visits to various parts of the country, arriving in Akhisar on 8 May, and later passing through Eskişehir and Afyonkarahisar and then to Konya. He visited Tarsus on 9 May, Mersin on 10 May, Adana on 16 May, Konya on 18 May, Bursa on 20 May, and Balıkesir on 13 June and had planned to visit İzmir on 14 June.
During his stay in Balıkesir, Mustafa Kemal Pasha received a telegram sent by the Governor of İzmir, Kâzım (Dirik) Bey, containing the information that he would be assassinated in İzmir. The letter that revealed the assassination plan mentioned in this telegram was written by a biker named Giritli Şevki, one of the individuals who was to play a role in the plan. After spending the night of 15 June in Balıkesir, Mustafa Kemal Pasha came to İzmir on 16 June to continue his unfinished trip and get more detailed information about what happened. On the other hand, on 14 June, Prime Minister İsmet Pasha had learned about the planned assassination through telegrams he received from İzmir. After İsmet Pasha showed the telegrams he received to the prosecutors and judges of the Independence Tribunal, it was decided to arrest all the deputies of the Progressive Republic Party, search their homes and send the found documents to İzmir. The Independence Tribunal delegation arrived in İzmir on 17 June.
The İzmir police soon took action to find the individuals whose names had appeared on the telegraph in connection with the assassination plot, and first caught Ziya Hurşit Bey in the Gaffarzâde Hotel where he was staying, with the weapons and bombs he had hidden under his bed. Laz İsmail, Gürcü Yusuf and Çopur Hilmi were arrested in Ragıp Pasha Hotel and Sarı Efe Edip Bey was caught in Istanbul at Bristol Hotel. On the other hand, before leaving Ankara, the Independence Tribunal delegation had given orders for some members of the former Committee of Union and Progress and all members of the Progressive Republic Party who had stopped appearing at the parliament to be arrested, with the exception of Kastamonu representative Halit Bey. Among the arrested were War of Independence figures such as Kâzım Karabekir Pasha, Ali Fuat Pasha, Cafer Tayyar Pasha, Bekir Sami Bey, Rüştü Pasha, Refet Pasha and former minister of finance Mehmet Cavit Bey. However, Prime Minister İsmet Pasha released Kâzım Karabekir Pasha, who was arrested in Ankara, as he did not believe that he was guilty and that parliamentary immunity prevented such an arrest. During the talks with the Independence Tribunal, İsmet Pasha was told that immunity would not work in these cases, and that he could even be arrested if necessary. İsmet Pasha, who went to İzmir after Mustafa Kemal Pasha, made a statement that he would wait for the outcome of the court. The assassination attempt and the information on the perpetrators who were arrested were announced to the public on 18 June with a statement published in the Hakimiyet-i Milliye newspaper. According to the list given by the Independence Tribunal to the Anadolu Agency, a total of forty-nine people were arrested in Ankara, İzmir and Istanbul in the first wave of arrests. After the initiative was learned by the public, various demonstrations were organized in different parts of the country, especially in İzmir.
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İzmir plot
In 1926, the Turkish police arrested dozens of people, including ex-ministers, lawmakers and governors, accused of plotting to assassinate Mustafa Kemal, the first president of Turkey, on 14 June 1926 in İzmir. The assassination was planned to take place in the Kemeraltı district of İzmir. As Mustafa Kemal Pasha's car would have slowed down at the crossroads, Ziya Hurşit Bey would have opened fire on him from Gaffarzâde Hotel with Gürcü (Georgian) Yusuf and Laz İsmail throwing bombs and explosives at him from the barber shop under the hotel. Meanwhile, they had planned to escape from the scene with Çopur Hilmi and Giritli (Cretan) Şevki, who would wait in a car on the side street, and then send them to Chios with a motor. However, through the telegram sent to Mustafa Kemal Pasha by İzmir Governor Kâzım Bey on 14 June, the plan was uncovered and the president postponed his trip to İzmir. In the letter written by Giritli Şevki to the Governor of İzmir on 15 June 1926, information on the people who would have carried on the assassination was included. After a while, the four main suspects were arrested and they confessed their crimes.
At the hearings held by the Independence Tribunal who came to İzmir after this incident, it was determined that there were wider opposition groups behind the incident. Of the forty people who were tried in İzmir between 26 June and 13 July, fifteen were sentenced to death with two of them in absentia, and one was exiled. A few weeks later, four of the fifty-seven people on trial in Ankara between 2 and 26 August were sentenced to death, six were exiled and two were sent to prison. A total of one hundred and thirty defendants were questioned, thirty-four of which were released without the need for trial.
Historians Erik-Jan Zürcher and Raymond Kévorkian have stated that there was no plot to assassinate Kemal and the prosecution was a show trial intended to eliminate his political opponents, especially former members of the Committee of Union and Progress.
After the Ottoman Empire left World War I with defeat, members of the Committee of Union and Progress, which was dissolved with the congress organized in November 1918, were divided into several groups. A group started to cooperate with the Ottoman sultan, a group of leaders from committee fled abroad, and a third group joined the War of Independence. The last group, in itself, was divided into two as those who were entirely enthusiastic to establish a national state and those who wanted to rebuild the old system after the victory of the national movement. In January 1922, a series of activities began in Istanbul under Kara Kemal Bey's leadership to reestablish the Committee of Union and Progress. On 29 November 1922, a secret meeting was held in Istanbul under the chairmanship of Kara Kemal with the participation of members of the former community. These secret activities were not terminated after the negotiations with Kılıç Ali Bey and Ali İhsan Bey, who were sent to Istanbul by Mustafa Kemal Pasha in order to prevent re-establishment of the committee. Hüseyin Cahit Bey, a journalist from the Committee of Union and Progress and former Istanbul representative, wrote an article before the general elections of 1923, announcing that the committee would not participate in these elections. Hüseyin Cahit Bey, who published articles on behalf of a dissolved party, was sentenced to life imprisonment in Çorum on 7 May 1925, and his newspaper Tanin was closed on 16 April 1925.
Following the Sheikh Said rebellion against the central government, which was initiated in February 1925 and suppressed in the spring of 1925, the opposition press was silenced based on the Law on the Maintenance of Order (Turkish: Takrir-i Sükûn Kanunu) issued on 4 March 1925, and some former members of the Committee of Union and Progress established the Progressive Republican Party on 17 November 1924. Chaired by Kâzım Karabekir Pasha, the party was closed on 3 June 1925 on the grounds that it "supported the revolt by referring to religious feelings." However, party members, independently continued to maintain their presence in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. Some members of the former Committee of Union and Progress who did not join the Republican People's Party after their party was closed, remained in Istanbul as a secret opposition movement.
On the other hand, Mustafa Kemal Pasha left Ankara on 7 May 1926 and started organizing train visits to various parts of the country, arriving in Akhisar on 8 May, and later passing through Eskişehir and Afyonkarahisar and then to Konya. He visited Tarsus on 9 May, Mersin on 10 May, Adana on 16 May, Konya on 18 May, Bursa on 20 May, and Balıkesir on 13 June and had planned to visit İzmir on 14 June.
During his stay in Balıkesir, Mustafa Kemal Pasha received a telegram sent by the Governor of İzmir, Kâzım (Dirik) Bey, containing the information that he would be assassinated in İzmir. The letter that revealed the assassination plan mentioned in this telegram was written by a biker named Giritli Şevki, one of the individuals who was to play a role in the plan. After spending the night of 15 June in Balıkesir, Mustafa Kemal Pasha came to İzmir on 16 June to continue his unfinished trip and get more detailed information about what happened. On the other hand, on 14 June, Prime Minister İsmet Pasha had learned about the planned assassination through telegrams he received from İzmir. After İsmet Pasha showed the telegrams he received to the prosecutors and judges of the Independence Tribunal, it was decided to arrest all the deputies of the Progressive Republic Party, search their homes and send the found documents to İzmir. The Independence Tribunal delegation arrived in İzmir on 17 June.
The İzmir police soon took action to find the individuals whose names had appeared on the telegraph in connection with the assassination plot, and first caught Ziya Hurşit Bey in the Gaffarzâde Hotel where he was staying, with the weapons and bombs he had hidden under his bed. Laz İsmail, Gürcü Yusuf and Çopur Hilmi were arrested in Ragıp Pasha Hotel and Sarı Efe Edip Bey was caught in Istanbul at Bristol Hotel. On the other hand, before leaving Ankara, the Independence Tribunal delegation had given orders for some members of the former Committee of Union and Progress and all members of the Progressive Republic Party who had stopped appearing at the parliament to be arrested, with the exception of Kastamonu representative Halit Bey. Among the arrested were War of Independence figures such as Kâzım Karabekir Pasha, Ali Fuat Pasha, Cafer Tayyar Pasha, Bekir Sami Bey, Rüştü Pasha, Refet Pasha and former minister of finance Mehmet Cavit Bey. However, Prime Minister İsmet Pasha released Kâzım Karabekir Pasha, who was arrested in Ankara, as he did not believe that he was guilty and that parliamentary immunity prevented such an arrest. During the talks with the Independence Tribunal, İsmet Pasha was told that immunity would not work in these cases, and that he could even be arrested if necessary. İsmet Pasha, who went to İzmir after Mustafa Kemal Pasha, made a statement that he would wait for the outcome of the court. The assassination attempt and the information on the perpetrators who were arrested were announced to the public on 18 June with a statement published in the Hakimiyet-i Milliye newspaper. According to the list given by the Independence Tribunal to the Anadolu Agency, a total of forty-nine people were arrested in Ankara, İzmir and Istanbul in the first wave of arrests. After the initiative was learned by the public, various demonstrations were organized in different parts of the country, especially in İzmir.
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