The Central Army (

Modern Turkish Turkish ( , , also known as 'Turkish of Turkey') is the most widely spoken of the Turkic languages, a member of Oghuz branch with around 90 million speakers. It is the national language of Turkey and one of two official languages of Cyprus. Si ...

: ''Merkez Ordusu'') was one of the

field armies A field army (also known as numbered army or simply army) is a military formation in many armed forces, composed of two or more corps. It may be subordinate to an army group. Air armies are the equivalent formations in air forces, and fleets ...

of the Army of the Grand National Assembly during 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 ...

. It was raised in December 1920 and inactivated on 28 February 1922.

History

In 1920, groups of

Pontic Greeks The Pontic Greeks (; or ; , , ), also Pontian Greeks or simply Pontians, are an ethnically Greek group indigenous to the region of Pontus, in northeastern Anatolia (modern-day Turkey). They share a common Pontic Greek culture that is di ...

were attacking Muslim villages and farms along the Turkish

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bound ...

coast. To counter this, the Central Army was established, under the command of General

Nureddin Pasha Nureddin Ibrahim Pasha (; 1873 – 18 February 1932), known as Nureddin İbrahim Konyar Surname Law (Turkey), from 1934, was a Turkish people, Turkish military officer who served in the Ottoman Army (1861–1922), Ottoman Army during World Wa ...

, in December 1920, with its headquarters located 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 ...

. The army initially had a strength of around 10,000 men organized in the following units: * the 5th Caucasian Division * the 15th Division * the 14th Cavalry Division, consisting of: ** the 27th Cavalry Brigade ** the 28th Cavalry Brigade * the 13th Independent Cavalry Brigade * three company-sized militia units The 5th Caucasian and 15th Divisions were formerly part of the

Ottoman Army The Military of the Ottoman Empire () was the armed forces of the Ottoman Empire. It was founded in 1299 and dissolved in 1922. Army The Military of the Ottoman Empire can be divided in five main periods. The foundation era covers the years ...

III Corps III or iii may refer to: Companies * Information International, Inc., a computer technology company * Innovative Interfaces, Inc., a library-software company * 3i, formerly Investors in Industry, a British investment company Other uses * I ...

. Nureddin was given responsibility for the region from

Sinop Sinop can refer to: * Sinop, Turkey, a city on the Black Sea ** Sinop Nuclear Power Plant, was planned in 2013, but cancelled in 2018 ** Battle of Sinop, 1853 naval battle in the Sinop port *** Russian ship ''Sinop'', Russian ships named after the ...

west to

Trabzon Trabzon, historically known as Trebizond, is a city on the Black Sea coast of northeastern Turkey and the capital of Trabzon Province. The city was founded in 756 BC as "Trapezous" by colonists from Miletus. It was added into the Achaemenid E ...

along the

coast, and inland to

Çorum Çorum () is a northern Anatolian city in Turkey. Çorum is located inland in the central Black Sea Region of Turkey and is approximately from Ankara and from Istanbul. It is the seat of Çorum Province and of Çorum District.< ...

and

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

. He was given almost unlimited authority to suppress the uprisings. Already possessing a reputation for harshness, starting in early February 1921 he had his men kill and wound Pontic Greek civilians and burn down their homes. On 12 June, an order was issued to move all Greeks from the coast to the interior, with the Central Army being notified on 16 June. Nureddin also led 3,000 cavalrymen and irregulars to fight the Kurdish

Koçgiri rebellion The Koçgiri rebellion (; ) was a Kurdish uprising, that began in the overwhelmingly militant Koçgiri region in present-day eastern Sivas Province in February 1921. The rebellion was initially Alevi, but it succeeded in gathering support from ...

. The rebellion was crushed by 24 April. In May 1921, all three divisions were transferred to the Western Front Command; in their place, the Central Army received two new divisions, the 10th in

Samsun Samsun is a List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, city on the north coast of Turkey and a major Black Sea port. The urban area recorded a population of 738,692 in 2022. The city is the capital of Samsun Province which has a population of ...

and the 16th in Amasya. As time went on, Nureddin lost more experienced units to the Western Front Command, while receiving new, untested formations in return. Nonetheless, the uprisings were essentially suppressed by the fall of 1921. Nureddin was relieved of command by the Grand National Assembly on 3 or 8 November of that year and recalled to face a trial for his harsh tactics in putting down the Koçgiri rebellion. He was shielded by

Mustafa Kemal Pasha Mustafa () is one of the names of the Prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad, and the name means "chosen, selected, appointed, preferred", used as an Arabic language, Arabic given name and surname. Mustafa is a common name in t ...

from undergoing a trial. Nureddin's replacement as commander of the Central Army was General

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 ...

. The Turkish government inactivated the Central Army on 28 February 1922.

History

Labor battalions

Sources

See also