Occupation and Liberation of Antep

Antep, which had both economic and strategic importance during the War of Independence, was occupied by the British on 17 December 1918 after the Armistice of Mudros. The British also brought the Armenians, who had previously been displaced to Syria, to Antep. During the British occupation that lasted for approximately ten months, there were no armed conflicts despite some unfortunate situations. The British occupation of Antep was replaced by the French occupation on 25 October 1919. The French also took advantage of the Armenians during the occupation of Antep. Therefore, Armenian riots in the city started to increase. On 12 January 1920, due to the incidents caused by the French and Armenians in Araptar Village, the Antep resistance first started outside the city. In these clashes on the Antep-Maras road, the Karayılan and Memik Agha son of Boyno gangs proved to be very useful. Şahin Bey also left the French in a very difficult situation with his activities on the Kilis-Antep road in February and March 1920. After the martyrdom of Şahin Bey, the resistance in Antep moved inside the city as of 1 April 1920. In this period, the resistance in the city was organised by commanders such as Kılıç Ali and Özdemir Bey. The French, who were defeated in Maraş and Urfa, besieged Antep for weeks. The city, which resisted with its own means for about eleven months, fell on 9 February 1921 due to starvation. On 20 October 1921, when the Türkiye-Syria border was drawn with the Ankara Treaty, French soldiers left Antep on 25 December. Thus, the occupation period in Antep, which started with the British in December 1918 and continued with the French, ended on 25 December 1921. In this study, the occupation and resistance movement in Antep after the Armistice of Mudros will be discussed.

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