Timeline of the Turkish War of Independence

This chronology of the Turkish War of Independence is a timeline of events during the Turkish War of Independence (1919–1923). The timeline also includes the background events starting with the end of the First World War. The events are classified according to the campaigns and parties involved. Pictures are included for the significant events.

A graphical timeline is available at Turkish War of Independence

Legend

Legend
Groups	Members	Main Article
Turkish National Movement	Turkish Revolutionaries
	Mustafa Kemal
Central Powers	Ottoman Empire	Kuva-yi Inzibatiye
Joint actions by Allies of World War I	Britain	Chanak Crisis
	Greece	Greco-Turkish War
	Armenia	Turkish–Armenian War
	France	Franco-Turkish War
	Italy

1918

Date	Occurrence
30 Oct 1918	Signing of the Armistice of Mudros, i) opening up the Straits, ii) guaranteeing access to the Black Sea, iii) providing for Allied occupation of the fortresses along the Dardanelles and Bosphorus, iv) foreseeing immediate demobilisation of Turkish troops, except where necessary to preserve order, v) placing Allies in control of all the railroads, vi) Article VII: giving the Allies "the right to occupy any strategic points in the event of any situation arising which threatens the security of the Allies".
31 Oct 1918	Mustafa Kemal Pasha takes over the command of the Yildirim Army Group (Syrian front) from Otto Liman von Sanders.
1 Nov 1918	Last congress of the Committee of Union and Progress gathers in Istanbul
2 Nov 1918	Enver Pasha, Talat Pasha, Cemal Pasha and others leading names of the Committee of Union and Progress leave Istanbul.
7 Nov 1918	British troops occupy Musul.[1]
8 Nov 1918	Grand vizier Ahmed Izzet Pasha and his government resign.
9 Nov 1918	British troops occupy İskenderun and the two sides of the Dardanelles.
11 Nov 1918	A new Ottoman government is formed under the Grand vizier Ahmed Tevfik Pasha.
12 Nov 1918	A French brigade enters Istanbul to begin the Allied occupation of the city and its immediate dependencies (the two opposite peninsulas). A fleet consisting of British, French, Italian and Greek ships embarks additional troops the next day.
13 Nov 1918	Mustafa Kemal Pasha arrived at Haydarpasha Station from Adana.
14 Nov 1918	Joint French-Greek troops cross the Meriç River and occupy the town of Uzunköprü in Eastern Thrace as well as the railway axis till the train station of Hadımköy near Çatalca on the outskirts of Istanbul.
14 Nov 1918	First Kars Congress organized by representatives of the Turkish-Muslim majority population in Kars region te define actions to be taken in view of the retreat of Ottoman forces.
15 Nov 1918	Ottoman troops withdraw from Baku, which will be occupied by British troops in the following days, and also evacuate Musul occupied by the British after the armistice.
18 Nov 1918	Ottoman troops withdraw from Tabriz (Tebriz).
28 Nov 1918	Kâzım Karabekir Pasha arrives to Istanbul from Kars.
30 Nov 1918	Second Kars Congress.
1 Dec 1918	The first "Association for Defence of National Rights (Müdafaa-i Hukuk Cemiyeti)" -of Muslim subjects of the Ottoman Empire in view of the peace treaty to come- is founded in İzmir, to be followed by similar associations for Thrace and the Eastern Provinces in the following days.
6 Dec 1918	British troops based in Syria occupy Kilis,
7 Dec 1918	French troops occupy Antakya.
17 Dec 1918	French navy embarks troops in Mersin which will occupy the important port city.
19 Dec 1918	French troops occupy Tarsus and Ceyhan and face the first exchanges of fire in Dörtyol in one of the opening acts of what will later be termed the Franco-Turkish War.
20 Dec 1918	French troops occupy Adana, Çukurova's largest city with central importance for southern Turkey.
21 Dec 1918	Closure of the Ottoman Parliament by the sultan Mehmed VI Vahideddin putting an end to its third term that was dominated by the Committee of Union and Progress under a single party regime.
21 Dec 1918	"Adana Association for Defense of National Rights" is founded.
1918, 23 Dec	French troops occupy Osmaniye and Islahiye in a move that will extend till Pozantı in Gülek Pass (Cilicia Gates) on 27 December, thus acquiring control over Çukurova. In the same days, British troops occupy Batum.
30 Dec 1918	Following a visit to Paris in November to present Greece's territorial claims to the Peace Conference to be opened, Venizelos reasserts these claims in a memorandum addressed to the British Premier, Lloyd George and covering all of Western Anatolia, from opposite Rhodes (or Castellorizo) to the Sea of Marmara.

1919

Date	Occurrence
3 Jan 1919	British troops based in Syria occupy Jerablus.
9 Jan 1919	End of the successive First and Second Ardahan Congresses (opened January 3).
12 Jan 1919	The first cabinet of the Grand vizier Ahmed Tevfik Pasha demissions, and Ahmed Tevfik Pasha presents a new government the next day.
15 Jan 1919	British troops based in Syria occupy Antep. The British occupation forces will be replaced by French occupation forces towards the end of the year.
18 Jan 1919	End of the Great Kars Congress (131 delegates) and the declaration of the founding of Provisional National Government of the Southwestern Caucasus.
19 Jan 1919	Paris Peace Conference opens.
22 Jan 1919	Ottoman troops start withdrawing from Batum.
2 Feb 1919	British troops based in Syria occupy Maraş. The British occupation forces will be replaced by French occupation forces towards the end of the year.
8 Feb 1919	French general Franchet d'Esperey ("desperate Frankey" as nicknamed among the British), commander-in-chief of allied occupation forces in Turkey arrives to Istanbul.
12 Feb 1919	"Association for Defense of National Rights (Müdafaa-i Hukuk Cemiyeti)" is founded in Trabzon, to be followed a parallel association in Samsun and these two associations come together in a congress organized in Trabzon on 23 February.
21 Feb 1919	Oltu Congress by the Provisional National Government of the Southwestern Caucasus
23 Feb 1919	A number of Pontic Greek notables gather in Trabzon in parallel to the movements among the Turkish populations and take the decision to work towards the establishment of a Pontian Greek Republic in the vilayet of Trabzon. The first issue of the newspaper Pontos, a step in that direction, is published in Trabzon on 4 March. Chrysanthos of Trebizonde, the Metropolitan of the Greek Orthodox populations of the region, goes to Paris on 27 March and presents a report to the Conference on 2 May.

• 
  "The Big Four" during the Paris Peace Conference (from left to right, Lloyd George, Vittorio Emanuele Orlando, Georges Clemenceau, Woodrow Wilson)
• 
  The Agreement of St.-Jean-de-Maurienne was overridden with the Greek occupation of Izmir which cause Italy having left the conference. In the absence of Italy, Greek and French territorial claims were clashed.

Date	Occurrence
27 Feb 1919	British troops based in Syria occupy Birecik. The British occupation forces will be replaced by French occupation forces towards the end of the year.
3 Mar 1919	The Grand vizier Ahmed Tevfik Pasha and his second government resigns.
4 Mar 1919	Damat Ferid Pasha is appointed as grand vizier and forms his first government.
4 Mar 1919	The representatives of Britain, the US, France and Italy open the discussions at the Paris Peace Conference on the envisaged mandates for Syria, Cilicia and Armenia.
13 Mar 1919	Kazım Karabekir Pasha is assigned to the command of the XV Corps based in Erzurum.
18 Mar 1919	Two French gunboats embark respective troops to the Black Sea ports of Zonguldak and Karadeniz Ereğli commanding Turkey's coal mining region.
22 Mar 1919	Known to be inclined to armed resistance to any occupation attempt and in view of the projected landing of Greek troops, Nureddin Pasha is relieved from his posts as interim governor of İzmir and from the command of XVII Corps based in that city.
24 Mar 1919	British troops based in Syria occupy Urfa. The British occupation forces will be replaced by French occupation forces towards the end of the year.

• 
  Mustafa Kemal Pasha, aged 38, on 17 April 1919 in a photograph signed for Rauf Orbay
• 
  Greek troops in İzmir on 15 May 1919.
• 
  Public demonstration in Istanbul on 23 May 1919 in protest of the Occupation of İzmir, with Sultanahmet Mosque in the background.

Date	Occurrence
12 Apr 1919	The flagship of the Greek Navy, the cruiser Georgios Averof docks in the port of İzmir in a show of force for Greece.
24 Apr 1919	The Italian delegation, angry about the possibility of the Greek occupation of Western Anatolia, leaves Paris Peace Conference does not return to Paris until 5 May. Although Italy sends a warship to İzmir on 30 April as a show of force to prevent Greek occupation, the absence of the Italian delegation from the Conference ends up by facilitating Lloyd George's efforts to persuade France and the United States in Greece's favour.
29 Apr 1919	A large Italian force occupies Antalya, the region around which will remain comparatively calm throughout the war.
23 Apr 1919	Mustafa Kemal Pasha was appointed the Inspector of the Ninth Army Troops.
6 May 1919	Largely as a result of British diplomacy, Paris Peace Conference authorizes Greek forces to land on Turkish territory.
8 May 1919	Greek troops based in Thessaloniki are ordered to sail toward İzmir in view of occupation.
11 May 1919	Small Italian contingents occupy (rather symbolically, since the Ottoman administration is allowed to function intact) Fethiye, Bodrum and Marmaris and the surrounding regions.
12 May 1919	Admiral Arthur Calthorpe, signatory to the Armistice of Mudros on behalf of Britain, arrives in İzmir, in his title of British High Commissioner, to supervise the imminent Greek occupation of the city.
15 May 1919	Greek forces land in İzmir and Greece launches its occupation of Western Anatolia. For the city's Turkish population, the day is marked by the "first bullet" fired by Hasan Tahsin at the standard bearer at the head of the troops, the murder by bayonet coups of Colonel Fethi Bey for refusing to shout "Zito Venizelos" and the killing and wounding of unarmed Turkish soldiers in the city's principal casern, as well as of 300-400 civilians.
16 May 1919	Mustafa Kemal Pasha departs from Istanbul on board the ship Bandırma heading for Samsun where he was appointed as Inspector of the Ninth Army Troops.
16 May 1919	Greek troops occupy the towns along Karaburun peninsula west of İzmir (Urla, Çeşme, Seferihisar and Karaburun)
18 May 1919	Greek troops occupy Söke, situated a hundred kilometers south of İzmir at a key location that commands the fertile Menderes River valley.
19 May 1919	Mustafa Kemal Pasha sets foot in Samsun.
21 May 1919	Greek troops occupy Menemen and Torbalı, towards the north and the southeast at proximity of İzmir.
23 May 1919	In line with a wave of demonstrations around Turkey to protest against Greece's occupation of İzmir, the largest of these public meetings is held in Sultanahmet Square in Istanbul.
23 May 1919	Greek troops occupy Selçuk to the south, Bayındır to the east and Foça to the north of İzmir.
23 May 1919	Aristidis Stergiadis, the Greek High Commissioner for Ionia, who had arrived in İzmir on 21 May, authorises orders for the occupation of Aydın, Manisa and Turgutlu.
25 May 1919	Greek troops occupy Manisa.
27 May 1919	Greek troops occupy Aydın. Although Menderes (Meander) valley was not, strictly speaking, mandated for an occupation by Greek troops, Italian Navy's movements off the coast of Kuşadası orient the Greek high command towards becoming the first power to establish an influence in this region. A feel-pulse nature prevails during these first Greek advances.
29 May 1919	Greek troops occupy Kasaba (Turgutlu), Tire and Ayvalık where the Turkish side fires the "first bullets" by regular troops. Forces under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel (later minister) Ali Çetinkaya check their enemy before retreating.
1 Jun 1919	Greek troops occupy Ödemiş after a six-hour exchange of fire in the Circassian village of Hacıilyas, ten kilometers west of Ödemiş, which prides itself for being the spot where the "first bullets" by irregular forces, soon to form into militias, were fired. The village, burned in whole by the Greek army after the fighting is named İlkkurşun since ("first bullet" in Turkish).
3 Jun 1919	Greek troops occupy Nazilli, that they evacuate on 19 June following a number of raids on Greek positions by Turkish irregulars and subsequent Greek reprisals.
5 Jun 1919	A small Greek expeditionary force acting beyond orders occupies the inland city of Akhisar, clearly outside the mandated region, leading to public protests and a telegramme from the regional Turkish army command stationed in Balıkesir to the Allied representatives. The commander Yusuf Izzet Pasha also puts his troops in movement against the overspreading Greeks.

• 
  Kuvayi Milliye: Militias of Turkish Revolutionaries in Çukurova region

Date	Occurrence
9 Jun 1919	Called back by the High Commissioner Stergiadis, Greek troops evacuate Akhisar, and the commanding officer will be imprisoned for twenty days for undisciplinary action.
12 Jun 1919	Greek troops occupy Bergama.
14 Jun 1919	Ambushed in Bergama by Yusuf Izzet Pasha's troops and the locally organized Turkish Revolutionaries, Greek forces retreat in disorder to Menemen.
17 Jun 1919	Menemen massacre following the killing of the prefect Kemal Bey and the six Turkish gendarmes accompanying him the day before. Different sources cite 200 to 1000 Turkish deaths in this single day, with the exact figure re-confirmed as being closer to the latter estimate, with no wounded among either the Greek troops or the Greek minority of Menemen.
19 Jun 1919	Greek troops evacuate Nazilli in the south, while they take back Bergama in the north.
21 Jun 1919	Amasya Circular issued after a meeting in Amasya by the commanders Mustafa Kemal, Rauf Orbay, Ali Fuat Cebesoy and Refet Bele calling for a national movement to against the occupying powers.
27 Jun 1919	The fight around Aydın. The Greek troops carrying out reconnaissance patrols around Aydın and burning villages, are repulsed by irregular forces under Yörük Ali, in an ambush at Malgaç train station and the efe pursue the Greek troops till the outskirts of the city.
28 Jun 1919	In Balıkesir, the first of five congresses to be held in that city unites in a large forum the representatives of the Turkish revolutionaries of western Turkey to define the actions to be taken against the occupation. A larger meeting is decided to be organized in Alaşehir.
29 Jun 1919	Battle of Aydın. Fires break out in one of the Turkish quarters of the city (Cuma quarter) and a massacre of civilians ensues, machine-gunned for no reason by the Greek troops. The Greek troops evacuate the city which will be controlled for four days by the efe under the leadership of Yörük Ali. The Greek quarter is burned in its turn and some among the Aydın Greek minority were killed or robbed during these four days while others survived thanks to the protection of Colonel Şefik Bey. Efe retreat back to the mountains after reportedly several thousands of casualties for each side.
4 Jul 1919	Reinforced Greek forces take back control of Aydın, burning another Turkish quarter in reprisal.
15 Jul 1919	Grand vizier ad interim and Sheikh ul-Islam Ürgüplü Mustafa Sabri Efendi sends a telegram to Paris Peace Conference formally accusing the Greeks to have committed atrocities in İzmir and its surroundings and requesting the Conference to send a commission of inquiry to the region, since "The Council was not without responsibility, seeing that it had sent the Greeks to İzmir."
21 Jul 1919	Erzurum Congress uniting representatives from Turkey's Eastern Anatolia provinces in Erzurum under the chairmanship of Mustafa Kemal and Kazım Karabekir. The Congress lasts till 7 August 1919.
16 Aug 1919	A large-scale eight-day congress of Turkish revolutionaries of western Turkey is held in Alaşehir which defines further actions to be taken against the occupation and elects the representatives to be sent to Sivas for the national congress in preparation.
4 Sep 1919	Sivas Congress unites representatives from all over Turkey in Sivas. The congress lasts 8 days and calls for national unity. Concurrent to the congress, Ali Galip Incident in Malatya poses a momentary threat for the national cause and the danger will be avoided thanks to prompt arrival of forces from Diyarbakır.
30 Sep 1919	Damat Ferid Pasha is removed from office by the sultan Mehmed VI Vahideddin, putting an end to his first period of vizierate.
6 Sep 1919	A new Ottoman government is formed under the new grand vizier Ali Rıza Pasha.
22 Oct 1919	Amasya Protocol between the Delegation of Representatives (Heyet-i Temsiliye) assigned by Sivas Congress and headed by Mustafa Kemal Pasha and the Minister of Marine (later grand vizier himself) Hulusi Salih Pasha, representing the short-lived Ottoman government of Ali Rıza Pasha, in an effort to seek ways for preserving independence through joint efforts.
29 Oct 1919	French troops occupy Maraş and replace the British troops stationed in the city, despite manifest opposition to the replacement by the city's inhabitants.
30 Oct 1919	French troops occupy Urfa and replace the British troops stationed in the city triggering almost immediate resistance and starting the Battle of Urfa.
31 Oct 1919	Sütçü İmam incident in Marash. An alleged incident with conflicting accounts involving French forces before the Battle of Marash.
5 Nov 1919	French troops occupy Antep and replace the British troops stationed in the city.
7 Nov 1919	Crossing Nestos River, Greek troops start taking over the city and the region of Xanthi (İskeçe) from Bulgaria, in the framework of the Treaty of Neuilly-sur-Seine.
21 Nov 1919	French troops tentatively occupy Mardin for one day and retreat from the city towards the evening of the same day, faced with prospects of a potentially bitter resistance by the population to a full occupation attempt.
27 Dec 1919	Mustafa Kemal Pasha arrives to Ankara.

1920

Date	Occurrence
12 Jan 1920	The newly elected members of the Ottoman Parliament, composed in their sweeping majority of candidates of "Association for Defense of National Rights for Anatolia and Roumelia (Anadolu ve Rumeli Müdafaa-i Hukuk Cemiyeti)", headed by Mustafa Kemal Pasha, who himself remained in Ankara, open the fourth (and last) term of the Parliament.
20 Jan 1920	Mehmet Kamil Incident shakes the city of Antep and the Battle of Antep starts with ambushes on French forces along the roads Antep-Maraş and Antep-Kilis hindering French troop movements. The battle will last a year and take place simultaneously between opposite forces holding different quarters in the city or those stationed along the roads, where additional French troops will try to force their way into the city.
21 Jan 1920	Start of wholescale urban warfare in Maraş (Battle of Maraş) with the Turkish Revolutionaries facing French troops, French Colonial Forces units and the French Armenian Legion auxiliaries. The battle will earn Maraş the title of "Kahraman" - heroic (Kahramanmaraş meaning "Maraş the Heroic")
28 Jan 1920	The Ottoman Parliament, gathered in a secret session, ratifies the decisions adopted in Erzurum Congress and Sivas Congress and the publishes the Misak-ı Millî (National Oath) document constituting the basis of principle of Turkey's frontiers.
12 Feb 1920	French occupation troops are forced to evacuate Maraş faced to the resistance and assaults of the Turkish Revolutionaries.
3 Mar 1920	Grand vizier Ali Rıza Pasha demissions.
8 Mar 1920	The new Ottoman government is formed under grand vizier Hulusi Salih Pasha.
16 Mar 1920	Officialization of the Occupation of Constantinople. The premises of the Ottoman Parliament is raided by the Allied forces, as well as other key locations across Istanbul in a large-scale military operation. A number of deputies and other key personalities are arrested the same day or in the following days, and sent to exile in Malta (Malta exiles).
18 Mar 1920	Last session of the last Ottoman Parliament, with the arrested deputies missing, a black cloth covering the pulpit in a gesture to remind of their forced absence. Many of the remaining members soon leave for Ankara to constitute the core of the new assembly.
19 Mar 1920	Declaration by Mustafa Kemal Pasha in view of convening a national assembly with extraordinary powers in Ankara, stressing the need to undertake elections at the latest within fifteen days to constitute the members of the new assembly, with members of the dispersed Ottoman Parliament free to join.
2 Apr 1920	Grand vizier Hulusi Salih Pasha demissions.
5 Apr 1920	The sultan Mehmed VI Vahideddin, under pressure from the Allies, closes the Ottoman Parliament officially, and Damat Ferid Pasha, deeply hostile to the Turkish revolutionaries, is appointed once again grand vizier.
10 Apr 1920	Sheikh ul-Islam Dürrizade Abdullah edicts a fatwa which qualifies the Turkish Revolutionaries as infidels, calling for the death of its leaders.
10 Apr 1920	A counter fatwa prepared by the mufti of Ankara, Rifat Börekçi, and signed by hundreds of clergy members across Anatolia declares the sheik ul-Islam's edict as null and void.
11 Apr 1920	French occupation troops are forced to evacuate Urfa faced to the resistance and assaults of the Turkish Revolutionaries.
13 Apr 1920	An uprising against Turkish Revolutionaries is sparked in Düzce on 13 April, as a direct consequence of the sheik ul-Islam's fatwa.
18 Apr 1920	The revolt in Düzce, in opposition to the constitution of a new government in Ankara, extends to Bolu, and on 20 April, to Gerede. The movement englobed an important part of northwestern Anatolia for about a month and is generally termed the Caliphate Army (Hilafet Ordusu or Kuva-yi İnzibatiye) revolt (for Ankara) or movement (for the Ottoman government). The Ottoman government had accorded semi-official status to the Caliphate Army for a brief period and Ahmet Anzavur held an important role in the uprising.
23 Apr 1920	The Turkish Grand National Assembly, established on the basis of national sovereignty, holds the opening session of its first term and elects Mustafa Kemal Pasha as president of the assembly. Some 100 members of the dissolved Ottoman Parliament, including its president Celalettin Arif, had been able to escape the Allied roundup and joined the 190 deputies elected around the country.
26 Apr 1920	Starting 19 April, San Remo conference determines the allocation of mandates for administration to be imposed on the former Ottoman-ruled lands of the Middle East by the victorious powers.
26 Apr 1920	Mustafa Kemal Pasha writes a letter to Lenin, seeking Soviet aid. The letter will be answered officially and favorably by Chicherin on 3 June.
26 Apr 1920	A Turkish delegation which had already departed for Moscow on 11 May approaches the destination.
30 April 1920	The Caliphate Army revolt/movement, after having taken control of Safranbolu on 25 April, reaches the limit of its extension by the adhesion of the town of Çerkeş to the movement, directly to the north of Ankara. For a time, the new-born Ankara government's fortunes seem in their thinnest.
11 May 1920	Mustafa Kemal Pasha and five other prominent names of the national movement are condemned in absentia to death sentence by a military tribunal in Istanbul. The other five condemned are Ali Fuat Pasha, Kara Vasıf -head of intelligence-, Ahmed Rüstem Bilinski -former Ottoman ambassador in the U.S.; name due to Polish father-, Dr. Adnan Adıvar and his wife Halide Edip.
27 May 1920	Greek troops start taking over the city and the region of Komotini (Gümülcine) from Bulgaria, in the framework of the Treaty of Neuilly-sur-Seine.
27 May 1920	A victory of consequence by the Turkish Revolutionaries in Karboğazı Pass between Tarsus and Pozantı, where 530 soldiers of the occupation troops are made prisoner.
2 Jun 1920	French occupation troops are forced to evacuate Kozan faced to the resistance and assaults of the Turkish Revolutionaries.
4 Jun 1920	French occupation troops are forced to evacuate the entire region of Urfa, east of Euphrates.
8 Jun 1920	The French retire their troops from Karadeniz Ereğli where they were embarked since a year depart, but pursue their occupation on Zonguldak, where they concentrate by occupying the city as a whole and officially on 18 June.
22 Jun 1920	Greek troops occupy Akhisar.
23 Jun 1920	Greek army launches a wide offensive across western Anatolia, from the southern shores of the Sea of Marmara to the Menderes River valley, plausibly timed in order to apply pressure on the Ottoman government for the signature of the treaty drafted by the Allies.
24 Jun 1920	Greek troops occupy Salihli and the lignite mining region of Soma-Kırkağaç.
25 Jun 1920	Abolition of the Caliphate Army by the Ottoman government after the successive defeats this movement suffered faced to regular troops loyal to Ankara government.
25 Jun 1920	Greek troops occupy Alaşehir.
28 Jun 1920	Greek troops occupy Kula.
30 Jun 1920	Greek troops occupy Balıkesir.
1 Jul 1920	Greek troops occupy Edremit, last Aegean port held by the Turkish Revolutionaries.
2 Jul 1920	Greek troops occupy the Sea of Marmara ports of Bandırma and Biga.
5 Jul 1920	Immediately after his arrival in Ankara, Colonel Behiç Erkin, who had already distinguished himself as a railroads manager during World War I, takes over with full powers the management of Anatolian Railways ("Anadolu Şimendiferleri"), section under Ankara's control of the Ottoman railways consisting of a single line along Ankara-Polatlı-Eskişehir-Bilecik-Kütahya-Çay-Akşehir. (see History of rail transport in Turkey)
8 Jul 1920	Greek troops occupy Bursa, a former Ottoman capital of central importance for the region along the southern shores of the Sea of Marmara.
10 Jul 1920	Kaç Kaç incident in Çukurova.
11 Jul 1920	Greek troops occupy İznik.
11 Jul 1920	In the south, French occupation troops are forced to evacuate Birecik faced to the resistance and assaults of the Turkish Revolutionaries.
20 Jul 1920	Greek troops skip to the northern shores of the Sea of Marmara and occupy Tekirdağ, Marmara Ereğli and Çorlu in Eastern Thrace.
4 Aug 1920	Greek troops occupy Gelibolu, on the Dardanelles.
10 Aug 1920	In Sèvres, the grand vizier Damat Ferid Pasha and three other Ottoman personalities (see photo) sign the stillborn Treaty of Sèvres. In the absence of the Ottoman Parliament forced to close down in April, the sultan Mehmed VI Vahideddin will not ratify the text.

The four signatories of the Treaty of Sèvres. (From left to right, Rıza Tevfik, the grand vizier Damat Ferid Pasha, ambassador Hadi Pasha, the Minister of Education Reşad Halis.)

Date	Occurrence
19 Aug 1920	Turkish Grand National Assembly proclaims not recognizing the treaty signed in Sèvres and declares having stripped the signatories of their citizenship. Indeed, all four will be included among the 150 personae non gratae of Turkey after the war.
28 Aug 1920	Greek troops occupy Uşak and Afyonkarahisar, the key cities of the western Anatolian inland.
22 Oct 1920	In the south, French occupation troops are forced to evacuate Saimbeyli faced to the resistance and assaults of the Turkish Revolutionaries.
25 Oct 1920	In Athens, Alexander of Greece dies, after having been bitten by a pet monkey.
18 Nov 1920	In Athens, Prime Minister Venizelos, architect of Greece's advance into Anatolia, loses the elections, to be replaced by a series of cabinets of lesser stature, and also paving the way for more royal involvement into politics.
2 Dec 1920	Signature of the Treaty of Alexandropol (Gyumri), between Turkey, as represented by the Turkish Grand National Assembly, and Armenia.

1921

Date	Occurrence
9 Jan 1921	First Battle of İnönü between Turkish and Greek forces. The battle lasts three days and ends with a victory for the Turkish troops under İsmet Pasha's command (later İsmet İnönü in reference to the two battles).
25 Jan 1921	Allies gather in Paris and decide to convene Greek and Turkish (both Ottoman and Ankara governments) representatives to a conference in London to discuss possible modifications of clauses of the Treaty of Sèvres.
9 Feb 1921	Antep's Turkish forces surrender to French forces after 384 days of fighting. The same day, the Turkish Grand National Assembly will rename the city Gaziantep.
21 Feb 1921	The conference on a revisal of the Treaty of Sèvres opens in London. It will last until 12 March. The Ottoman grand vizier Ahmed Tevfik Pasha leaves the right to speak to the representatives from Ankara. The proposals of the conference will not be accepted by the Turkish Grand National Assembly.
2 Mar 1921	Agreement between France and the nationalists after the Alemdar (ship) event. Although a minor agreement first between the nationalists and an important Allied power.
7 Mar 1921	French occupation troops are forced to evacuate Kadirli faced to the resistance and assaults of the Turkish Revolutionaries.
16 Mar 1921	Signature of the Treaty of Moscow, a friendship agreement between Soviet Union and Turkey, as represented by the Turkish Grand National Assembly.
7 Mar 1921	In the south, French occupation troops are forced to evacuate Feke faced to the resistance and assaults of the Turkish Revolutionaries.
26 Mar 1921	Second Battle of İnönü between Turkish and Greek forces. The battle lasts five days and ends with a victory for the Turkish troops under İsmet Pasha's command (later İsmet İnönü in reference to the two battles).
7 Mar 1921	In the south, French occupation troops are forced to evacuate Düziçi and Bahçe faced to the resistance and assaults of the Turkish revolutionaries.
9 Mar 1921	Signature of the Cilicia Peace Treaty in London between the Turkish (Ankara government) foreign minister Bekir Sami Kunduh and the French Prime Minister Aristide Briand. The French agree to evacuate Cilicia and announce their decision in the region, starting a mass movement of the Armenian minority, this time outwards. The treaty will be replaced by the Accord of Ankara, adopting the same principles but differing on technicalities.
1 Apr 1921	French occupation troops are forced to evacuate Karaisalı faced to the resistance and assaults of the Turkish Revolutionaries.
9 Jun 1921	Former minister of France, Henry Franklin-Bouillon, arrives in Ankara, in quality of unofficial but direct representative of the French Prime Minister Aristide Briand, to discuss on possible issues from the stalemate of the Franco-Turkish War.
21 Jun 1921	In İnebolu, battleship Kilkis and destroyer Panthir of the Hellenic Navy bomb the port and the warehouses. Shelling will be repeated, less intensely, on 30 August. Mustafa Kemal Pasha's words, "My eyes are on the Sakarya and my ears in İnebolu!", summarize İnebolu's importance for the Turkish war effort, as center for the forwarding of arms and supplies into inner Anatolia. İnebolu will become one of the two cities in Turkey to receive the Turkish Medal of Independence after the war (the other city is Kahramanmaraş).
21 Jun 1921	the French troops depart from Zonguldak for good, and the foreign occupation or control of the coal mining region of the western Black Sea coasts of Turkey comes to an end, to the relief of Ankara.
10 July 1921	Battle of Kütahya–Eskişehir between Turkish and Greek forces. The battle lasts till 24 July and ends with a Greek victory.
4 Aug 1921	Mustafa Kemal Pasha is made Commander-in-Chief by vote of the Turkish Grand National Assembly.
23 Aug 1921	Battle of Sakarya between Turkish and Greek forces. The battle lasts till 13 September and ends with a Turkish victory.
13 Oct 1921	Signature of the Treaty of Kars, between the three republics of the Caucasus (Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia) and Turkey, as represented by the Turkish Grand National Assembly.
20 Oct 1921	Signature of Accord of Ankara between France and Turkey, as represented by the Turkish Grand National Assembly, putting an end to the Franco-Turkish War and preparing the ground for the evacuation of French troops from the southern front.
15 Nov 1921	French troops evacuate Islahiye.
7 Dec 1921	The British troops evacuate Kilis that had been under British administration since three years.
25 Dec 1921	French troops evacuate Gaziantep.

1922

Date	Occurrence
3 Jan 1922	French troops evacuate Mersin.
5 Jan 1922	French troops evacuate Adana, Ceyhan and Tarsus.
7 Jan 1922	French troops evacuate Osmaniye.
3 Jan 1922	French troops evacuate Dörtyol which will be the frontier with the Republic of Hatay for 17 years, until its addition to Turkey in 1939 to form the present-day Hatay Province.
26 Aug 1922	Battle of Dumlupınar between Turkish and Greek forces. The next day, Turkish troops re-capture Afyonkarahisar while in the north, İznik is captured for the second time and definitely. The battle lasts till 30 August ends with a Turkish victory. A rapid retreat and evacuation by the Greek army across the Western Anatolian inland begins, while the Turkish armies spring forward in a blitz.
30 Aug 1922	Turkish troops re-capture Kütahya.
1 Sep 1922	Turkish troops re-capture Uşak.
2 Sep 1922	Turkish troops re-capture Eskişehir.
3 Sep 1922	Turkish troops re-capture Eşme and Ödemiş accessing Aegean Sea basin.
4 Sep 1922	Turkish troops re-capture Bilecik, the Ottoman cradles of Söğüt and Bozüyük, the towns along the Gediz River valley such as Simav, Kula and Tire.
5 Sep 1922	Turkish troops re-capture towns along the Menderes River valley such as Nazilli, Sultanhisar and Kuyucak, as well as Alaşehir.
6 Sep 1922	Turkish troops re-capture Balıkesir, İnegöl, Akhisar and Söke corresponding to four separate sallies.
7 Sep 1922	Turkish troops re-capture Aydın, its surrounding towns, Kuşadası on the shore, and Kasaba (Turgutlu) and Torbalı towards İzmir. In Athens, Petros Protopapadakis government demissions.
8 Sep 1922	Turkish troops re-capture Manisa, Nif (Kemalpaşa), within view of İzmir, and the Gulf of Edremit towns of Edremit, Burhaniye and Havran.
9 Sep 1922	Turkish troops re-capture İzmir after nearly three and a half years.
11 Sep 1922	Turkish troops re-capture Bursa and Gemlik in the north, as well as Foça and Seferihisar around İzmir.
13 Sep 1922	Great Fire of Smyrna that lasts till 17 September.
22 Sep 1922	Turkish troops re-assume control of the city of Çanakkale and its depending towns after almost four years, and following several days of tension of international scale, known as Chanak Crisis.
11 Oct 1922	Signing of the Armistice of Mudanya putting an end to the war in the field.
1 Nov 1922	Abolition of the Ottoman sultanate.
17 Nov 1922	Departure of the last Ottoman sultan Mehmed VI Vahideddin from Istanbul.

1923

Date	Occurrence
30 Jan 1923	In the Lausanne Conference assembled since 20 November 1922, signature between Greek and Turkish delegations of the agreement for a Population exchange between Greece and Turkey. The Conference will then be adjourned until 23 April 1923 due to disagreements on other points.
17 Feb 1923	Opening of İzmir Economic Congress, which will last till 4 March, as a forum to determine the principles of economic policy to be conducted by the new state.
24 Jul 1923	Signing of the Treaty of Lausanne.
23 Aug 1923	Allied forces start evacuating Istanbul in the frame of the Treaty of Lausanne.
9 Sep 1923	Founding of the Republican People's Party (CHP).
23 Sep 1923	Last Allied troops depart from Istanbul.
6 Oct 1923	First Turkish troops enter Istanbul.
29 Oct 1923	Proclamation of the Republic of Turkey.

2000s

Date	Occurrence
13 Jan 2006	Turkish veteran of the war, Pvt. Ömer Küyük, dies at age 106.
25 Mar 2007	Turkish veteran of the war, Pvt. Veysel Turan, dies at age 108.
2 Apr 2008	Turkish veteran of the war and last Turkish veteran of World War I, Sgt. Yakup Satar, dies at age 110.
11 Nov 2008	Last Turkish veteran of the war, Lt. Mustafa Şekip Birgöl, dies at age 105.

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk as President, in front of the National Assembly the on 7th anniversary (1930) of the foundation of the Turkish Republic (with, to his right, the PM İsmet İnönü, and behind him, Field Marshal Fevzi Çakmak)

Sources and references

• A chronology of Atatürk's life and the Turkish War of Independence by the Turkish Ministry of Culture (in English)
• Turkish Ministry of Interior Affairs monthly based calendar of capture and re-capture of cities during the war (in Turkish)
• Compendium of documents and bibliography relating to Provisional National Government of the Southwestern Caucasus by the Turkish Grand National Assembly (in Turkish)
• Report of the Inter-Allied Commission of Inquiry (May-September 1919) by the Members of the Commission; Adm. Bristol, the US Delegate - Gen. Hare, the British Delegate - Gen. Bunoust, the French Delegate - Gen. Dall'Olio, the Italian Delegate. The statements in defense of the Greek government presented by Col. Mazarakis. (in English)

Footnotes

1. "The Encyclopedia of World History". Bartleby. 1918. Archived from the original on 5 February 2007. Retrieved 1 May 2007.

See also

• Timeline of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk