Amasya Circular () was a joint circular issued on 22 June 1919 in

Amasya Amasya () is a city in northern Turkey, in the Black Sea Region. It was called Amaseia or Amasia in antiquity."Amasya" in ''Encyclopædia Britannica, The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th edn., 1992, Vol ...

, Sivas Vilayet by Fahri Yaver-i Hazret-i Şehriyari ("Honorary Aide-de-camp to His Majesty Sultan")

Mirliva ''Mirliva'' or ''Mîr-i livâ'' was a military rank of the Ottoman Army and Navy. It corresponds to brigadier general ( modern Turkish: ''Tuğgeneral'') and division general ( modern Turkish: ''Tümgeneral'') in the modern Turkish Army. ''M ...

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk Mustafa Kemal Atatürk ( 1881 – 10 November 1938) was a Turkish field marshal and revolutionary statesman who was the founding father of the Republic of Turkey, serving as its first President of Turkey, president from 1923 until Death an ...

(Inspector of the Ninth Army Inspectorate), Rauf Orbay (former Naval Minister), Miralay

Refet Bele Refet Bele (1881 – 3 October 1963), also known as Refet Bey or Refet Pasha was a Turkish military commander. He served in the Ottoman Army and the Turkish Army, where he retired as a general. Life He was born to a Turkish family in Selanik, ...

(Commander of the III Corps stationed at

Sivas Sivas is a city in central Turkey. It is the seat of Sivas Province and Sivas District.İl Beledi ...

) and Mirliva Ali Fuat Cebesoy (Commander of the XX Corps stationed at

Ankara Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...

). And during the whole meeting, Ferik Cemal Mersinli (Inspector of the Second Army Inspectorate) and Mirliva

Kâzım Karabekir Musa Kâzım Karabekir (also Kazim or Kiazim in English; 1882 – 26 January 1948) was a Turkish people, Turkish general and politician. He was the commander of the Eastern Front (Turkey), Eastern Army of the Ottoman Empire during the Turkish Wa ...

(Commander of the XV Corps stationed at

Erzurum Erzurum (; ) is a List of cities in Turkey, city in eastern Anatolia, Turkey. It is the largest city and capital of Erzurum Province and is 1,900 meters (6,233 feet) above sea level. Erzurum had a population of 367,250 in 2010. It is the site of an ...

) were consulted with telegraphs.Sina Akşin, ''Ana Çizgileriyle Türkiye'nin Yakın Tarihi'', İmaj Yayıncılık, 1996, , p. 110. This circular is considered as the first written document putting the

Turkish War of Independence , strength1 = May 1919: 35,000November 1920: 86,000Turkish General Staff, ''Türk İstiklal Harbinde Batı Cephesi'', Edition II, Part 2, Ankara 1999, p. 225August 1922: 271,000Celâl Erikan, Rıdvan Akın: ''Kurtuluş Savaşı tarih ...

in motion. The circular, distributed across

Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

, declared

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

's independence and integrity to be in danger and called for a national conference to be held in

Sivas Sivas is a city in central Turkey. It is the seat of Sivas Province and Sivas District.İl Beledi ...

( Sivas Congress) and before that, for a preparatory congress comprising representatives from the eastern provinces of Anatolia to be held in

in July ( Erzurum Congress).

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# The unity of the homeland and the independence of the Turkish nation is at great risk. # The government in Istanbul (the Istanbul Government) cannot fulfill the responsibilities it undertakes. Because of this situation, the Turkish nation appears as if it does not exist despite having a name. # The independence of the Turkish nation will be saved by the determination and decision of the nation. # To take into consideration the situation of the nation and its conduct, the presence of a national committee free of restraint and inspection is needed to express and announce the rights of the nation to the whole world. # It is decided that a Congress must promptly be held in the safest place of Anatolia at this time, Sivas. # For this purpose, three delegates who have won the trust of the public, as quickly as possible, need to immediately depart from their provinces' Sanjaks # Acknowledging that they may be faced with an unfavorable situation in this mission, delegates must hide their purposes like a national secret and hide their identities when they travel to places where it is necessary to do so. # A congress will be held in Erzurum in 10 July for the eastern provinces. Until that date if the other provincial delegates could also travel to Sivas, the members of the Erzurum Congress will also head to the general conference which will be held at Sivas.

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{{Amasya District 1919 documents 1919 in the Ottoman Empire 1919 in military history 1919 in politics June 1919 Politics of the Turkish War of Independence History of Amasya Sivas vilayet Mustafa Kemal Atatürk

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