The raid on Erikli was performed by members of the

Kuva-yi Milliye The Kuva-yi Milliye ( ota, قواى مليه; 'National Forces' or 'Nationalist Forces') were irregular Turkish militia forces active in the early period of the Turkish War of Independence. These irregular forces emerged after the occupation of ...

in the Greco-Turkish War. The Malgaç attack had shocked the

Greeks The Greeks or Hellenes (; el, Έλληνες, ''Éllines'' ) are an ethnic group and nation indigenous to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea regions, namely Greece, Cyprus, Albania, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, and, to a lesser extent, oth ...

, so the members of the

planned to perform another assault.

Prelude

Erikli was located about west of Aydın. In Erikli the Greeks had stationed two

companies A company, abbreviated as co., is a legal entity representing an association of people, whether natural, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common purpose and unite to achieve specific, declared go ...

of an

Evzones The Evzones or Evzonoi ( el, Εύζωνες, Εύζωνοι, ) were several historical elite light infantry and mountain units of the Greek Army. Today, they are the members of the Presidential Guard ( el, Προεδρική Φρουρά , transli ...

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of 300 to 1,200 soldiers commanded by a lieutenant colonel, and subdivided into a number of companies (usually each commanded by a major or a captain). In some countries, battalions a ...

. The

planned to lower the morale of the Greek troops by attacking them in Erikli and at the same time boost the resistance feelings of the Turkish population. Another aim was to force Greek troops to pull out of the vicinity of Aydın.

Raid

The Turkish forces started their attack on the night of 21–22 June 1919. Supported by

machine gun A machine gun is a fully automatic, rifled autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as automatic shotguns and automatic rifles (including assault rifles and battle rifles) ar ...

fire and the use of their own made hand bombs, they attacked under the cover of darkness. After a two-hour clash and inflicting high casualties on their enemy, the Turkish irregulars retreated back to their positions.

Aftermath

The Greek units had suffered 30 killed and 40 wounded, while the Turks had seven killed and 10 wounded.Oğuz Gülcan, 2007, sayfa 254. Facing more high casualties, the rest of the Greek troops beat a hasty retreat out of Erikli.Kemal Zeki Gençosman, Niyazi Ahmet Banoğlu: ''Atatürk Ansiklopedisi: Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Siyasi Tarihi Band 5'', May Yayınları
page 218
The raid was protested by the British intelligence officer in Aydın.İsmail Aka, Vehbi Günay, Cahit Telci: ''Türk İstiklâl Harbi başında Millî Mücadele'', Akademi Kitabevi, 1993,
page 75

References

Sources

* Oğuz Gülcan
''BATI ANADOLU’DA KUVAYI MİLLİYENİN OLUŞUMU (1919–1920)''
Ankara Üniversitesi Türk İnkılap Tarihi Enstitüsü, 2007, page 254 (Ankara University Open Archive System). {{Turkish War of Independence Erikli History of Aydın Province 1919 in the Ottoman Empire 1919 in Greece Conflicts in 1919 Erikli June 1919 events Battles in 1919