Kuva-yi Seyyare

Common card · No. 437486

Kuvâ-yi Seyyâre (Ottoman Turkish: قواى سياره, lit. 'The Traveling Forces' or 'The Mobilized Forces'), also known as the Green Army Society (Turkish: Yeşil Ordu Cemiyeti) or the People's Branch (Turkish: Halk Zümresi) was a force of Circassian and Abkhazian volunteers led by Çerkes Ethem during the Turkish War of Independence. Initially siding with the Ankara Government, it put down multiple large-scale rebellions and gained several victories in the Turkish War of Independence. However, as the group's Islamic socialist views and its desire to retain its independent military structure clashed with the Turkish nationalism and increasing centralization of the Turkish National Movement, it cut ties with them to act independently, and was later attacked and defeated by İsmet İnönü. By December 1920, its leadershad entered into negotiations with the Greeks, sending envoys to Uşak in an attempt to reach an agreement. On 27 December, Ethem was declared a "rebel" by the Ankara Government, and by...

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