# Kuvay-i Milliye: Turkey's Irregular Resistance After WWI

*History & War · Eleanor Hartwell · 2026-08-28*

## TL;DR

Kuvay-i Milliye were irregular Turkish militia groups formed spontaneously across Anatolia to resist foreign occupation after World War I. They fought in the Turkish War of Independence before being absorbed into the regular national army under Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, which ultimately secured victory.

## Key facts

- Kuvay-i Milliye emerged in response to the Allied occupation of Ottoman territories following World War I.
- The militia groups operated independently across Anatolia, with each region organizing its own local defense units.
- Mustafa Kemal Atatürk initially relied on Kuvay-i Milliye forces to hold the line, then integrated them into a disciplined regular army.
- These irregular fighters played a critical role in resisting the Greek occupation in western Anatolia in the early stages of the Turkish War of Independence.
- The Kuvay-i Milliye movement is widely seen as the symbolic birthplace of Turkish national resistance, paving the way for the Republic of Turkey.

## Why a 100-Year-Old Resistance Movement Is Suddenly Everywhere

On 17 May 2024, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan compared himself and his party to Hamas, and in doing so, he dragged a century-old name back into the headlines: Kuvay-i Milliye. The term, which translates roughly to "National Forces," suddenly found itself attached to modern political debates, with the source describing it as a "heroism movement" now being associated with militant groups. But what exactly is this movement, and why does it keep resurfacing in Turkish political discourse?

Kuvay-i Milliye is the collective name for the resistance organizations that sprang up across Anatolia after the Ottoman Empire's defeat in World War I. These were not professional soldiers or a centralized army. They were ordinary people, local leaders, and scattered groups who decided, on their own initiative, that they would not simply accept foreign occupation. The movement emerged from a moment of utter vulnerability, when the Armistice of Mudros had led to the disbandment of the Ottoman army and the confiscation of its weapons, leaving the country defenseless against the Allied Powers' encroaching forces.

What makes this history so striking is how organic the resistance was. In different regions, different leaders organized their own defense units. They were irregular, disorganized at first, and driven by desperation rather than strategy. Yet these local efforts would eventually coalesce into something far larger, something that would reshape the entire region. The Kuvay-i Milliye became the foundation upon which the Turkish War of Independence was built, and its legacy continues to echo in political rhetoric today, even when that rhetoric comes from unexpected places.

## A Country Left Defenseless: The Birth of Kuvay-i Milliye

When the Ottoman Empire signed the Armistice of Mudros, the terms were brutal. The Ottoman army was disbanded, its weapons confiscated, and the country left with no real defense. The Allied Powers, seeing this weakness, began occupying parts of Anatolia, and the Ottoman government in Istanbul could do little to stop them. Ordinary people, facing occupation and oppression, realized they had to protect themselves.

That is how Kuvay-i Milliye was born. It is the general name given to the resistance organizations that emerged in various regions of Anatolia after the Ottoman Empire's defeat in World War I. These were not professional soldiers or a coordinated army. Initially, they were irregular and scattered groups, formed on the initiative of local leaders and ordinary citizens who refused to accept foreign rule. Villagers, former soldiers, and local notables organized their own self-defense.

The situation in western Anatolia was especially dire, as Greek forces pushed deeper into Turkish territory. There, Kuvay-i Milliye units became the primary fighting force against the occupation. These were desperate, courageous efforts by people who had been abandoned by their own government, yet chose to fight anyway.

## Atatürk Takes the Helm: From Scattered Groups to a National Struggle

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk stepped onto the docks of Samsun on 19 May 1919, and everything changed. That single landing on the Black Sea coast turned a patchwork of local defense groups into the beginning of a coordinated national movement. The Kuvay-i Milliye, which had been growing in scattered pockets across Anatolia, suddenly had a leader who could give it direction and purpose.

Before Atatürk arrived, the resistance was exactly what you would expect from a people left defenseless. The Armistice of Mudros had forced the Ottoman army to disband and surrender its weapons, so villagers and former soldiers were organizing themselves however they could. These early Kuvay-i Milliye units were brave but fragmented, each one fighting its own local battle without a shared strategy.

Atatürk saw what these groups could become. He reached out to the Kuvay-i Milliye commanders and started pulling their efforts into a single framework. Then came the congresses. At the Erzurum and Sivas Congresses, Atatürk laid out the core principles of the national struggle and gave the resistance movement its political legitimacy. These meetings transformed the Kuvay-i Milliye from a defensive reaction into a cause with clear goals.

The real turning point arrived on 23 April 1920, when the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, the TBMM, opened its doors in Ankara. With Atatürk as its first president, this new parliament did something the Ottoman government in Istanbul would never do: it officially recognized the Kuvay-i Milliye and threw its full support behind the resistance. The Ottoman administration, particularly under Damat Ferit Pasha, had declared these fighters illegitimate and tried to crush them under pressure from the Allied Powers. The TBMM's backing changed the equation entirely.

Now the resistance had both guns and governance. The scattered groups that had once fought alone were part of a national struggle with a parliament behind them, a set of principles to guide them, and a leader who had stepped off a ship in Samsun to light the fire.

## The Ottoman Government's Fight Against Its Own People

Here is the uncomfortable part of the story that often gets glossed over: the Ottoman government in Istanbul did not stand behind the resistance. In fact, it declared Kuvay-i Milliye illegitimate and actively tried to crush it. The men and women risking their lives against foreign occupation found themselves branded as outlaws by their own state.

The man at the center of this crackdown was Damat Ferit Pasha, the grand vizier. His government, squeezed hard by the Allied Powers occupying Istanbul, cooperated with them to suppress the resistance. Arrests followed. So did prosecutions. Local leaders of the movement were hunted down, and official propaganda painted them as nothing more than troublemakers and rebels.

But here is what the Ottoman government miscalculated: the people had already seen the occupation with their own eyes. They had watched their army demobilized after the Armistice of Mudros, their weapons confiscated, their towns taken over by foreign troops. When Damat Ferit Pasha's government came after the resistance, it did not frighten people into submission. It enraged them. Every harsh measure, every arrest, every condemnation pushed more ordinary Anatolians into the arms of the movement. The crackdown backfired spectacularly.

The contrast could not have been sharper. While Istanbul fought the resistance, the Grand National Assembly (TBMM), opened in Ankara on 23 April 1920 under Mustafa Kemal Atatürk's leadership, did the opposite. The TBMM formally recognized Kuvay-i Milliye and gave it official backing. That support mattered enormously. It turned scattered local defense groups into a legitimate national struggle with political direction and a clear goal.

So the Ottoman government's campaign against its own people achieved the exact opposite of what it intended. Every attempt to strangle the resistance only fed it. By the time the TBMM threw its weight behind Kuvay-i Milliye, the movement had become something far bigger than the government in Istanbul could contain. The fight for the country's future had moved to Anatolia, and the old government in the capital was left watching from the sidelines.

## Victory in Western Anatolia and the Movement's Lasting Legacy

When Greek forces pushed deep into western Anatolia, they expected a quick sweep through a defenseless countryside. Instead, they met the stubborn fire of local fighters who refused to accept occupation as their fate. These irregular units, known collectively as Kuvay-i Milliye, became the frontline of resistance.

The Greek occupation of western Anatolia happened right around the same time Mustafa Kemal was stepping ashore at Samsun on the Black Sea coast. While the Ottoman army had been disbanded and its weapons confiscated under the Armistice of Mudros, ordinary people in western Anatolia were not willing to simply hand over their homes. They organized themselves into local defense bands. These were not professional soldiers. They were ordinary people who took up positions to defend their land.

What Kuvay-i Milliye lacked in training, they made up for in knowledge of the land and sheer determination. They knew the terrain well and used it to their advantage. In skirmish after skirmish, they fought against the advancing forces. The resistance in western Anatolia kept the occupation from becoming a settled fact on the ground.

The fighters operated with almost no support from Istanbul. In fact, the Ottoman government under Damat Ferit Pasha had declared them outlaws and tried to suppress them, acting under pressure from the Allied Powers. So these volunteers faced both foreign occupation and a government that called them rebels. They persisted anyway, and their defiance helped pave the way for the Grand National Assembly to open in Ankara on 23 April 1920 under Mustafa Kemal's leadership and formally embrace the resistance.

Once the regular army was established and took over the main fighting, the irregular units were gradually folded into it. But by then, their job was done. They had held the line during the darkest months, when no organized force existed to defend the country. The real legacy of Kuvay-i Milliye is not in any single battle, but in what it proved: that ordinary people would sacrifice everything rather than live under occupation. That demonstration of collective will formed the foundation upon which the Republic of Turkey was built, and it remains a powerful symbol of independence in the nation's memory today.


## Frequently asked questions

**What was Kuvay-i Milliye?**

Kuvay-i Milliye was the collective name for the resistance organizations that sprang up across Anatolia after the Ottoman Empire's defeat in World War I. These were local, grassroots defense groups formed by ordinary people who refused to accept foreign occupation of their homeland.

**Why did Kuvay-i Milliye emerge?**

The Armistice of Mudros forced the Ottoman army to disband and surrender its weapons, leaving the country essentially defenseless. Allied forces quickly moved to occupy different parts of Anatolia, and with the Ottoman government unable or unwilling to respond, communities had no choice but to organize their own self-defense.

**How did Atatürk organize Kuvay-i Milliye?**

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk landed in Samsun on 19 May 1919 and began coordinating with the scattered local resistance groups. He laid out the movement's core principles at the Erzurum and Sivas Congresses, transforming fragmented local efforts into a unified national struggle.

**Was Kuvay-i Milliye recognized by the Ottoman government?**

Initially, no. The Ottoman government in Istanbul declared the resistance illegitimate and tried to suppress it, particularly under Grand Vizier Damat Ferit Pasha, who cooperated with Allied forces against the movement. That changed when the Grand National Assembly opened in Ankara on 23 April 1920 and formally recognized and supported Kuvay-i Milliye as the legitimate voice of the nation.

**How did Kuvay-i Milliye contrast with the regular army?**

Kuvay-i Milliye units were irregular and locally organized, made up of volunteers. They fought bravely against occupying forces, especially the Greek army in western Anatolia, but they operated without formal military structure. Once the regular Turkish army was established, these units were gradually absorbed into it.

**Did Erdoğan compare himself to Hamas and mention Kuvay-i Milliye?**

Yes. In May 2024, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan compared himself and his supporters to Hamas, which brought the term Kuvay-i Milliye back into public conversation. The comparison drew widespread attention because Kuvay-i Milliye is widely regarded in Turkey as a heroic liberation movement, not a terrorist organization. Editorial note: Any facts which remain unconfirmed are presented as such, with hedged language where the historical record is incomplete or debated.

Canonical: https://curio.madeda.com/kuvay-i-milliye-turkey-s-irregular-resistance-after-wwi/