‘If we take them to the military, where can we deploy them?’ Non-Muslim soldiers during the Turkish War of Independence (1919–1922)

Abstract

The story of the drafting of non-Muslim citizens during the Turkish War of Independence (1919–1922) is one that has yet to receive sufficient research attention, and indeed to date no study of the subject has been published. In fact, the recruitment of non-Muslim soldiers had always been a controversial issue among Ottoman decision makers. The Ottoman Empire was a Muslim state, and its ruling elite had always doubted the loyalty of its non-Muslim citizens. It feared that they would find it difficult to fight for the empire on the battlefield, and accordingly preferred that they pay tax in lieu of military service. This article finds that throughout the Turkish War of Independence, non-Muslim soldiers were posted to labor battalions in a similar manner as during the First World War. The article argues that the Ankara government used the labor battalions as a means of displacement, ensuring that local non-Muslims would leave their regions of origin and not join the enemy forces.