Menemen event

A drawing from the newspaper Vakit 1930. On the right the insurgents with the impaled head

The Menemen event ( Turkish Kubilay Olayı ) describes a bloody incident in the town of Menemen near Izmir in the Aegean region , which was triggered on December 23, 1930 by religious-Islamic fanatics. The event is commemorated every year by the state and the military .

rebellion

On December 23, 1930, the dervish Mehmed, who had previously declared himself a Mahdi , called for unrest against the still young government by gathering a crowd and calling for the restoration of the caliphate . Soldiers from the local garrison were sent to pacify the revolt. One of the soldiers opened fire on the crowd and a fight broke out. The reserve lieutenant Mustafa Fehmi Kubilay was then beheaded and the severed head placed on a pole with a green flag on it before parading through the city with him.

reaction

The new Republican government declared a state of emergency in the region for a month , arrested numerous people and tried them before a court-martial . 37 death sentences were passed.

literature

• Ahmad, Feroz. Turkey: The Quest for Identity . Oneworld Publications, 2004.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Ayşe Kadıoğlu: The Paradox of Turkish Nationalism and the Construction of Official Identity . In: Middle Eastern Studies . 32, No. 2, April 1996. JSTOR 4283799 .