During the Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922), the vast majority of North Caucasian and Northwest Caucasian people living in the Ottoman Empire, mostly Circassians, but also Abkhazians and others, militarily cooperated with Greece, the Greek Army or Greek irregular forces.

Background After the Young Turk revolution and during the era in which the Young Turks ruled the Ottoman Empire (1908–1918), North Caucasians occasionally faced oppressive policies. For example, the Cerkez Ittihad ve Teavun Cemiyeti (Circassian Unity and Mutual Assistance Association), was sanctioned due to its name. Turkish officials also sought to assimilate Circassians into becoming "Turks", through settlement policies aimed at preventing ethnic clustering.

North and South Caucasian cooperation with Greeks was predicted and seen already by the end World War I. For example, Kâzım Karabekir wrote in 1918 how Georgian and other Caucasian corps were expected to ally with Armenian and Greek bands, and noticed that "the Greek and Ossetian forces were also trying to get organized in divisions" in the Russian Army to fight against the Ottoman Empire.Karabekir, K. (2011). I. Dünya Savaşı Anıları (Z. Öktem, Haz.; Y. Demirel, Ed.). Yapı Kredi Yayınları. p. 535.

In 1917, a CUP official proposed deporting all Circassians and Georgians from Karesi and Hüdavendigar provinces, though this plan was overruled. Nevertheless, many Circassians were still deported. Donald Bloxham and A. Dirk Moses write:Bloxham, D., & Moses, A. D. (2011). Genocide and ethnic cleansing. Political violence in twentieth-century Europe, 1. Cambridge University Press. p. 99.

Circassian volunteers in the Greek Army

Circassians who directly cooperated with or joined the Greek Army numbered in the thousands, but they were not counted officially; estimates vary, but they might have numbered up to 20,000 in total. 1,400 was the number specifically identified in a military report as being attached to the II and III Infantry Divisions. A Greek 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. A document of the British War Office from 13 May 1922 estimated that "between 6,000 and 10,000 Circassians and approximately 2,000 Turks [were] fighting with the Greek army".“Evacuation of Christian and Other Refugees from Asia Minor,” 13 May 1922, British War Office, WO 106/1430, The National Archives (Kew). They were lauded for their bravery, mobility, and fierce anti-Kemalist zeal. According to the 1921 Inter-Allied Commission of Enquiry, 30,000 Circassians went to eastern Izmit in order to assist the Greek Army.

These Circassians notably fought with the Greek Army in the Battle of Kütahya–Eskişehir and in the Battle of Sakarya, among others. They also deployed behind the front to eliminate Kemalist irregulars (Çetes), as well as to disarm hostile Turkish villagers, while mounted Circassian units secured supply routes and ammo convoys for the Greek Army across Anatolia.

Beyond Greek lines at the Turkish village of Cumalıkızık, Circassian volunteers pretended to be Turks, convinced local armed villagers that the Greek army had retreated, led the armed locals straight into Greek lines, and turned them in as prisoners. Individual Circassians also served as terrain guides, including for Nikolaos Plastiras's 5/42nd Evzone Regiment during operations in Susurluk. Meanwhile, Circassian chiefs and riders participated in Greek divisional military sports (e.g. V Division), frequently winning horseback competitions due to their skilled horsemanship.

Circassians fought in the Great Offensive and followed the Greek retreat in August 1922, with Circassian units helping protect retreating Greek soldiers and panicked officers. After the retreat, some of those Circassians began engaging in harsh reprisals against Turkish civilians. A Greek volunteer prisoner, Dimitrios Kirmizas, explicitly noted that Circassians in the army burned and destroyed local Turkish villages due to "open scores"; Circassian communities suffered severely under Mustafa Kemal's forces, who pillaged and burned Circassian villages, executed their people, and drove thousands of refugees into the Greek occupation zone.

Notable figures

Maanzâde Mustafa Bey was a commander of a Circassian volunteer cavalry unit. He declared to journalist Konstantinos Missailidis in 1921 that the Circassians sought to escape Kemalist "barbarism" and that religion was their only bond with the Turks.

Ibrahim Bey, the Circassian governor (mutasarrif) of Nicomedia (Izmit), stated to Greek war correspondent that his people suffered martyrdom at the hands of Kemalist forces, who burned Circassian villages and drove refugees into the Greek occupation zone.

Osman Bey was an ex-captain in the Ottoman army from Çanakkale and nephew of Ahmet Anzavur. Having lost his uncle, alongside all his property and possessions during the conflict, Osman Bey faced extreme hardship and applied at Uşak to join the Greek army. However, the Greek High Commission in Smyrna rejected his application on July 14, 1921, because Greek military law barred foreign officers.

Ali Sami was a Circassian leader who wrote a letter to Eleftherios Venizelos in October 1922, stating that he personally represented 30,000 anti-Kemalist Muslim refugees who had fled Anatolia and taken refuge in Greece alongside him. He wrote that there were another 300,000 anti-Kemalist Muslims in the mountains of Anatolia and 300,000 in Istanbul, estimating that the total anti-Kemalist Muslim population comprised nearly one million people. Rejecting the legitimacy of Mustafa Kemal's forces, he described them as a "band of brigands" that massacred unarmed women and children, noting that this position was officially supported by decrees from the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed VI and the Şeyhülislam Mustafa Sabri. He urged Venizelos to inform the Great Powers that anti-Kemalist Muslims would never voluntarily submit to Kemalist rule, and he requested urgent humanitarian measures to protect his people.

Petros Apostolidis, a Greek reserve doctor who was captured by Kemalist forces in August 1922, mentions in his memoirs that "Many of these Circassians were fighting alongside us, and the Circassian mounted detachments that went ahead of our units as scouts were well known". He also notes that Turks did not trust them, "because they had shown sympathy for the Greek army and quite a few had already cooperated with us". Apostolidis reports a particular incident of a young Circassian soldier, captured alongside him, who fought with Greeks but was taken a prisoner by the Turks:

Apostolidis also described Circassian women:

Many captured Circassian volunteers were sent to the so-called "labour battalions" by the Turks.

Circassian Volunteer Corps of Mytilene and Chios Corps

In 1923, Greek authorities formed the Circassian Volunteer Corps of Mytilene, a military unit organized in Mytilene, Lesbos comprising 1,400 Circassians and 50 Armenians, which sought 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] It was led by , with the men receiving 3 drachmas per day plus food from the Greek government, while the leaders received the regular pay of Greek officers.F. W. Hadkinson, report from Mytilene concerning the organization and training of Circassian volunteers, 12 April 1923, British Foreign Office records, FO 371/9102.Bentinck to Curzon, 20 April 1923, Foreign Office FO 424/257, enclosure, reporting on the Greek government's organization of Circassian, Armenian and Greek volunteers. Some pro-Greek Albanians also went to Mytilene to assist the unit.

The Chios Corps was also formed in 1923 in Chios, as a 513-man volunteer unit of Circassians, Armenians, and Greeks under ex-Ottoman Circassian commander Kütahyi Bekir.

These units were deployed in clandestine amphibious raid operations (coups de main) along the Anatolian coastline to raid Turkish posts, rescue stranded Greek refugees or POWs, gather intelligence, and tie down Kemalist troops.In April 1923, nine Circassian volunteers from Emin Bey's group landed at Urla, overran a Turkish outpost, and captured a Turkish soldier of the 57th Division, who was brought back to Mytilene and interrogated by Greek captain Kleanthis Boulalas on May 7, 1923.

On June 25, 1923, ahead of the Treaty of Lausanne, the Greek Minister of War issued a circular ordering the complete disbandment of all irregular volunteer corps, including the abovementioned corps. They were provided with civilian clothing, 15 days of post-discharge pay, food rations for their journey, and travel tickets to their destinations. Some of them chose to re-emigrate to France, the United States, or Cyprus, while others chose to remain in Greece, where they settled in shantytowns alongside Greek refugees.

Circassian assistance to Greek guerrillas

Pontus The Circassians also had good relations with the Pontic Greek guerrillas fighting against the Turks in Pontus, supplying them with food and ammunition, as well as valuable information. Solidarity groups were formed between Greek and Circassian guerrillas; at least one Pontic Greek band is documented to have included Circassians and Armenians. In the Samsun area, the guerrilla groups included 200 Armenians and 100 Circassians, while in the wider area of Erbaa, they included 170 Circassians, Armenians, and people from other Ottoman nationalities. Circassians also protected Greek civilians from Turkish attackes in these areas.

In the Seventh Battle of Dazli, Circassians preemptively informed the Pontic Greek guerrillas of the incoming Turkish attack and also supplied them with weapons, ammunition, clothing and food, ultimately producing a Greek victory.Aslanidis, Savvas K. (1950). "Η έβδομη μάχη εις το Δαζλή". Ποντιακή Εστία (12).

In a 24 June 1920 letter to Eleftherios Venizelos, during the Greek Summer Offensive, two Pontic Greek notables (Christos Kalandides and Konstantinos Kansiz) wrote that Circassians in Pontus were sympathetic to the Greeks and ready to take up arms against the Turks.

Western Anatolia Self-defense units were also organized by the Greeks, Armenians and a group of Circassians in two villages of Adapazarı in Western Anatolia (Sarı-Soğan and Çiftlik). A certain Avedis (probably Armenian) and a certain Stavri (probably Greek) were the leaders of these two self-defense units, with both leading a force of around 100 volunteers each.

In the village of , civilian refugee Angelis Mavridis stated that forces under Anzavur were welcoming to him and his father, offering them food. He noted that the Circassians were sympathetic toward Greeks.

Ahmet Anzavur

Ahmet Anzavur was an Ottoman soldier, pasha, gendarme officer and militia leader of Circassian descent. He began fighting the Turkish National Movement in October 1919 and, although he briefly professed willingness to join the nationalist war effort in November 1919, believing he had been misled, his soon resumed his anti-Kemalist activities and, since then, his stance remained unwavering.

From 1920 onwards, Anzavur instigated several revolts and attacks against the Turkish National Movement which served Greek interests and was "entirely aimed at assisting the Greeks".Dinçel, Y. (2026). The Turkish-Greek war (1919–1922) in light of archival documents. Nuova rivista storica: CX, 1, 2026, 113-140. For his efforts, he was granted the pasha title by Sultan Mehmed VI.