Kuvâ-yi Seyyâre (), also known as the Green Army Society (Turkish: Yeşil Ordu Cemiyeti) or the People's Branch (Turkish: Halk Zümresi) was a force of Circassian and Abkhazian volunteers led by Çerkes Ethem during the Turkish War of Independence.
Initially siding with the Ankara Government, it put down multiple large-scale rebellions and gained several victories in the Turkish War of Independence. However, as the group's Islamic socialist views and its desire to retain its independent military structure clashed with the Turkish nationalism and increasing centralization of the Turkish National Movement, it cut ties with them to act independently, and was later attacked and defeated by İsmet İnönü. On 27 December 1920, Ethem was declared a "rebel" by the Ankara Government, and by late January 1921 the Kuva-yi Seyyare had been dispersed. Ethem and a number of the the Kuva-yi Seyyare's remnants crossed over to the Greek Army and proceeded to cooperate with it. After the Treaty of Lausanne, its leaders moved to Greece and later travelled throughout the Middle East, seeking support to overthrow Mustafa Kemal.
History Kuvâ-yi Seyyâre, founded by Ethem Dipsheu, was the only semi-organized military force in Anatolia during 1919–1920 period between the Armistice of Mudros and the Treaty of Sèvres. It initially sided with the Kemalist insurgents.
However, according to Mustafa Kemal, Çerkes Ethem and the Kuvâ-yi Seyyâre had entered into a feud with Ankara since August 1920.Bilmez, B. (2010). A nationalist discourse of heroism and treason: The construction of an ‘official’image of Çerkes Ethem (1886–1948) in Turkish historiography, and recent challenges. In Untold Histories of the Middle East (pp. 118-135). Routledge. By November 1920, the dispute had escalated a lot. The Turks and Ethem's Circassians entered an open conflict in December 1920, when they refused to join Ismet İnönü's regular army forces. On 27 December 1920, the Kuvâ-yi Seyyâre were declared rebels. On 8 January 1920, Mustafa Kemal accused Ethem and his brothers, Tevfik and Reşit, of rebellious actions and of providing secrets to the Greek Army. On 22 January, Refet Bele Pasha dispersed the movement, while on 26 January, Ethem and some of the Kuva-yi Seyyare remnants surrendered to the Greeks and proceeded to cooperate with them.
Ethem's defection was considered so egregious amongst Turkish nationalists of the time, that all Circassians were blamed. The head of the local gendarmerie in Manyas said that: was already arguing by 1920 that Circassians desired to "crush the Turks" after Ahmet Anzavur's rebellion. After Ethem's defection he, too, blamed all Circassians for Ethem's departure, going even further by stating that:According to historian Ryan Gingeras, "statements such as these suggest that many within the Nationalist camp, particularly in the south Marmara, linked Circassians, crime, treason, and apostasy".
After the defection, Gingeras summarizes:Historian Сem Kumuk summarizes how many Circassians, as well as Abkhazians, were forced to flee the region after Ethem's defection, in fear of Turkish reprisals. He writes: "A large number of North Caucasian immigrants living in the Southern and Eastern Marmara regions began to worry about their future and sought refuge in Greece towards the end of 1921. These refugee groups, numbering around 4,000 people, were accommodated in Athens and Thessaloniki". Ethem and his brothers took part in a meeting of the "Association for the Strengthening of Near Eastern Circassian Rights", as representatives (amongst many others), producing a statement which read, partly, as follows:
This debacle resulted in Ethem's citizenship getting revoked on the grounds of treason and he was declared persona non grata by the TBMM, amongst many others.
During the Greek retreat in August–September 1922, Turkish sources allege that Ethem and his Kuvâ-yi Seyyâre participated in brutalities against Turks, stating that they took part in burnings, destruction, looting, killings and other atrocities in Manisa, Salihli and Turgutlu.
After the war, Ethem and the remnants of the Kuvâ-yi Seyyâre fled to the Greek islands near the Anatolian shore. Circassians supporting Greece were thousands, but they were not counted officially; estimates vary, but they might have numbered up to 20,000 in total.Figures vary: 1,400 was the number specifically identified in a military report as being attached to the II and III Greek Divisions. An officer of the III Army Corps stated that there were approximately 4,000 Circassians under Greek orders. Circassian chiefs estimated the total strength of their voluntary forces to have been 6,000. A report by the Smyrniote newspaper Amalthia wrote of 20,000 Circassians (Zografos, 2013). In February 1923, they also created the "Circassian Volunteer Corps of Mytilene", in order to support Greece if an attack on Thrace by Turkey happened.Zografos, A. (2013). Le volontaire dans l'armée grecque durant la guerre gréco-turque en Asie mineure (1919–1923) [Doctoral dissertation, Université Paul-Valéry Montpellier] A 1923 correspondence report from Turkish military services suggested that Circassian dissidents, including Ethem and Eşref Sencer Kuşçubaşı, were expected to organize an attack with 20,000 Circassians and 8,000 Greek volunteers, though the report was likely exaggerated, as the Turkish government slowly started becoming extremely paranoid.
Circassians proceeded to live under an assimiliationist and oppressive regime in the newly established Republic of Turkey.
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