THE POLICEMEN AWARDED WITH TURKISH MEDAL OF INDEPENDENCE AND “YÜZELLİLİK” POLICEMEN
Ali Dikici
Keywords: Mustafa Kemal, National Struggle, Nationalist Movement, Occupation, "Yüzellilikler", Turkish Medal of Independence
Abstract
Mudros Armistice Pact signed by the Ottoman State on October the 30th of 1918 initiated the events that brought the occupation of Anatolia. The Turkish Nationalist Forces under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal launched a struggle to rescue their homeland which is the last territory to survive for them. M. Kemal took the support of the overwhelming majority of the people to fight against the occupiers. Similar to Turkish People, Turkish police displayed their full support for the national movement apart from their basic duty which is to provide the public peace and order. There are numerous police officers who lost their lives or won war medal for their contributions to the war. However, there were 13 police officers in the "Yüzellilikler" (literally, Hundredandfiftyers) list, which is the list of exiled 150 persona non grata decided upon by the newly established Republic of Turkey on the ground that they collaborated with occupants. So, this article aims to examine the autobiographies of Turkish police officers who were awarded with Turkish Medal of Independence as well as the police officers within the list of "Yüzellilikler", by the use of data retrieved from the archive of Turkish National Police Organization.