Mustafa Kemal's Oath and Vahdettin's Role: Avni Pasha's Memoirs

Mustafa Kemal Pasha, placing his right hand on the Holy Quran swore this oath.

This is how he described those historic moments, Sultan Vahdettin's Minister of the Navy, Avni Pasha.

Before Mustafa Kemal went to Anatolia, the oath he swore before the sultan, placing his hand on the Quran, is the event he meant.

"With His Majesty the Sultan's permission, with pride and in accordance with the authority vested in me, with all my loyalty, I will strive to do everything I can, I swear by God."

The relationship between Mustafa Kemal and Sultan Vahdettin has been much debated.

Some consider the sultan's role in the War of Independence to have been treachery, while others say he was the one who sent Mustafa Kemal to Anatolia to fight the War of Independence.

If May 19, 1919, the beginning of the National Struggle, was a turning point, then without Sultan Vahdettin's decree, that date would not have been a turning point.

Now, everyone should put their hand on their conscience and judge for themselves.

Was he a traitor or not? The final decision was made by Vahdettin.

No one should deny these things. And we don't need to deny them.

We shouldn't hide our history either. We should know it.

Historian and author Osman Öndeş broke new ground in his book, “Vahdettin's Confidant: Avni Pasha Speaks,” which is titled that.

He wrote about those years using the memoirs of Ahmet Avni Pasha, Navy Minister, whom Vahdettin called “my confidant.”

He wrote it based on his memoirs. He wrote these memoirs, but they were never published.

The family was hesitant. The family hid them somewhere.

The memoirs were brought from France, and only then were they published.

For the first time, these memoirs provide important information not recorded in our history as documentary evidence.

Ten pages of those memoirs in the book are about Sultan Vahdettin.

The interesting part is that four pages were written by Vahdettin himself.

The memoirs of Sultan Vahdettin that exist so far, the known memoirs are ten pages long.

According to author Osman Öndeş, Mustafa Kemal’s at the time, departure from Istanbul, then under British occupation, and his journey to Samsun were thanks to the sultan.