The Issue of the Security of the Railways Administration on the Western Front During the National Struggle Period

During World War I, the activities of non-Muslims against the Ottoman railroads reached the highest level. At the end of the war, the Armistice of Mondros, signed after the defeat of the Ottoman Empire, effectively ended the Ottoman Empire by imposing political, military and economic restrictions on the state administration. In particular, Articles 10 and 12 of the Armistice set forth the monitoring of telegraph and radio communications other than government correspondence and the occupation of the Taurus Tunnels by the Entente states. The fact that the control of telegraph and radio communications other than government correspondence was left to the control of the Entente states caused some negativities in the country's intelligence network. The Entente states tried to prevent the Turkish nation from reacting against the occupations by preventing possible resistance movements in different parts of the country. Especially the negative activities of the Armenian and Greek communities were a precursor of the hard conditions that the Turkish nation might face in the future. One of the important problems that the Turkish nation faced during the war was the lack of linguistic and reliable personnel. Due to this shortage, great difficulties were experienced in censorship and intelligence work at strategic points, especially in the railroad network. As a result of these experiences, following the opening of the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye (TBMM) in Ankara on 23 April 1920, the first initiative of the Board of Deputies and the Ministry of Nafia (precursor to Ministry of Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change) was to nationalize the railways and replace non-Muslims with Muslim civil servants. The railroads within the Western Front, which is the basis of this article and considered as "an element of national security" and "a social and economic means", were considered extremely important for national existence and security. From the early stages of the National Struggle, the staff led by Mustafa Kemal Pasha attached great importance to keeping the railroads in the western part of the country under control and directing new routes especially to the east of Anatolia. Behind this reality lies both the reconstruction of the region and the elimination of the insecurity in this area, which dates back nearly a century. During the preparation of this study, the records of the Presidency of the Republic of Türkiye State Archives, the Turkish Grand National Assembly of Türkiye, the Ministry of National Defense and the Turkish Revolution History Institute Archives, periodicals of the period, copyright and research works were used. In addition, the issue of the nationalization of the railway administration was evaluated through the data in The Times newspaper, one of the leading publications in England.

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