The meaning of national liberation

August is presented as a month of victories in Turkish history, centered on the Sakarya Battle and the Great Offensive. The article describes the fighting as the point at which centuries of territorial retreat ended and the path toward the modern Turkish state opened.

It identifies the Sakarya Battle, fought from Aug. 23 to Sept. 13, 1921, as a turning point. Mustafa Kemal is credited with replacing a linear defensive strategy with defense across a wider area, while the Greek army’s withdrawal west of the Sakarya River is described as confirming the victory. The Turkish parliament later granted him the titles of veteran and field marshal on Sept. 19.

The article also highlights Aug. 26, 1071, as the date associated with the Turks’ final arrival in Anatolia, and Aug. 26, 1922, as the start of the Great Offensive. It says Atatürk’s army struck the Greek forces at their strongest point, divided them across three fronts and paved the way for the liberation of İzmir on Sept. 9.

National liberation is framed as more than a Turkish victory. Citing Maurice Duverger and Hasan İzzettin Dinamo, the article presents the struggle as a model for oppressed nations resisting imperialism, from Gandhi in India to Fidel Castro in Cuba. It defines the Kemalist revolution as having two stages: the national liberation war, followed by the establishment and consolidation of a secular republic. The article connects that struggle to the post-World War I breakup of the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian empires, the Sykes-Picot agreement, the San Remo Conference and the Treaty of Sèvres.