Part2 Said Shamil’s early affiliation with the political immigration of the North Caucasus
Despite Kazim Karabekir’s statements to Najmudin Samurski Efendiev and Sergo Orjonikidze, Said Shamil had the freedom to move freely within the Turkish territory. The newspaper ILERI (Forward) which supported the “nationalist” movement and was financed and encouraged by Mustafa Kemal Pasha reserved a remarkable space for Said Shamil’s activities in the summer and autumn of 1921. The news that was published in the issue dated August 22, 1921, was a very striking one.
The article entitled “Arrival of Prince Said Shamil to Erzourum” revealed not only the protection of Said Shamil by the Ankara Government but also the inconsistent relations with the Soviets;
“The prince came to Erzourum to meet Kazım Karabekir Pasha. It is reported that he will subsequently go to Ankara. According to the information received in our city, Prince Said Shamil, who has been in the Caucasus for a long time, has recently arrived in Erzourum to meet Kazım Karabekir Pasha. Said Shamil is the son of Prince-Sheikh Shamil Zade Kamil Pasha and moved from our city to the Caucasus last year and has been working for the establishment of an Islamic Government in Dagestan for a year. It is understood from the news received so far that the prince succeeded in forming a force of ten to fifteen thousand people in Dagestan. The twenty-two-year-old Prince left [Lycee de] Galatasaray Sultanisi, and went to the Caucasus last year.
[.....] The organization that the prince created from scratch in a year in Dagestan has been also frequently mentioned in the European media. [.....] Just as all this Muslim mass now gathered around Sheikh Shamil's young grandson and prevented their country from an invasion, they do not remain alien to the struggle of the Anatolian Djihad for the sake of Allah, which is now plundered by a treacherous enemy. The prince's arrival in Erzourum to meet Kazım Karabekir Pasha is noteworthy in this respect.
It is also understood from the news received that the prince will go to Ankara from Erzourum.
The news that the prince, who worked to establish an independent and strong Islamic Government in the Caucasus and succeeded in achieving this high goal, came to Erzourum and subsequently will visit Ankara is a result of the influence of the Anatolian jihad.
After understanding the content of stories that Anatolia [Ankara Government] had goals such as bringing soldiers from Bolshevik Russia, and that even a Russian general have already come to Ankara, it was confirmed that Anatolia's test in confronting the enemy with its own forces is perfect. However, the joining of further voluntary Islamic Forces that will naturally come from other places will always be gratefully received.”
Click the link on the footnotes to access relevant editions of Newspaper ILERI in our library. [1]
While the members of the founding cadres of the North Caucasian Republic,i.e. Haydar Bammat, Pshemakho Kotse, and Djemaleddin Mussalaev were not even allowed to roam in the city limits of Trebizond, the privileges given to Said Shamil by the Ankara Government were very conspicuous. Indeed, the Trebizond Police Department had proposed the governmental bodies deport them or hand them over to the Soviets.
Right after his arrival to Asia Minor, Said Shamil went to Samsun, which was home to large North Caucasian immigrant groups and tried to gather volunteers for an uprising to be organized in the Caucasus. The Soviet allegations that claim these activities were allegedly carried out with the approval and financial support of Kazim Karabekir Pasha are not confirmed in Turkish sources or Memoirs of Pasha himself. However, The Soviet spies, who infiltrated the volunteers provided regular information to the Soviet Consulate in Trebizond due to Said Shamil’s imprudent behaviors and ensured that precautions were taken. The Soviet intelligence reports state that Said Shamil had visited Kazim Karabekir Pasha in Kars and stayed there for 6 days in August 1921. The reports also claim that he presented plans for a revolt to be organized in the North Caucasus, but his proposal was found untimely and not accepted by Kazim Karabekir. The Pasha sent his young guest away to Erzourum because he was worried about the deterioration of relations with the Soviets. After being kept idle in Erzourum for two months Said Shamil applied to Karabekir with a letter where he avowedly threatened the Pasha that if he would not get a positive response to his plans, he would go to Istanbul and seek support for his plans from the representatives of the Entente. The following two reports from the Soviets’ Consulate in Trebizond to Embassy in Ankara were clear evidence for Said Shamil’s activities.
“Members of the Azerbaijani Parliament The White Guard Dr. Sultanov periodically arranges closed meetings for members of the committee and wider ones, where organizational issues are discussed, and information is given on the general state of affairs. The Committee sent his agents to Sov-Russia under the guise of refugees wishing to return to their homeland with directives from Constantinople and Paris to prepare an uprising in the Caucasus.
Recently letters were received addressed to the Committee for Sultanov, Said Bek Shamil, under Topchibashev, Chermoev. The Committee has constant contact with the Dashnaks and Georgians, and Mensheviks in Constantinople.
There is information that in the Turkish mission in the Caucasus there are persons working on the preparations for the uprising, pointing to Colonel Mohar Bey and Pata Bey replacing him. There are official documents confirming the facts of the actions of white refugees of Turkish power. In August, Dr. Sultanov, whom I spoke about above, is the brother or cousin of Sultanov, who is on the Azerbaijani mission to Ankara. Looks like a military attache.
Recently, in Trebizond, Sultanov received a letter from Angora [Government], from which it is clear that both of them are on constant and good terms. If you get letters from the employees of the Azerbaijan Mission to the Caucasus, subject them to control.”
“ I have received the following information from reliable sources: Said Bek Shamil wanted to go from Constantinople to Paris, but the allies did not let him through. Indications of the local me.n.tse.se. the connection between Shamil and the Turkish authorities is confirmed. His stay in Kars with Karabekir Pasha, in Erzerum, the supply of money, and the general care of the Turks about them states that the Turks are doing this in connection with some plans. By the way, one of the refugees received a letter from Constantinople from Kantemir, in which he reports that one of Karabekir's men came to Trebizond and spoke about the impression that the representatives of the Soviet Republic at the Kars Conference made on Karabekir. As if Karabekir spoke of them with ridicule.”
Click the link on the footnotes to access the relevant documents at the Archive of the foreign policy of the Russian Federation. [3]
Kazim Karabekir, on the other hand, assessed Said Shamil’s attempt to leave for Europe not as a threat, but as a great opportunity. To learn about French policies, he suggested that he must visit a leading figure of the North Caucasian émigré profiles in Turkey and at the same time the Foreign Affairs Minister of the Ankara government, Kundukh Bekir Sami Bey in Paris and had contacts with both the Caucasian political emigrants and the French Government. In this way, while Ankara Government collected information about the politics of France and England on the one hand, ensured that Kundukh Bekir Sami Bey did not remain uncontrolled in Europe, thanks to Said Shamil on the other.
“Our vital interest is to have a stronghold in the north, but the strength of this fortress depends on the future Caucasian Confederation's inclusion of the North Caucasus. We do not have a claim on the territory of Georgia… Now, we can't come to help you in your struggle against the Bolsheviks. While the Greeks are attacking us in Anatolia, we cannot participate in that fight... I hope our troubles with Greece will be resolved within two months. Then, like France, England will take care of our problems, including the Caucasian Confederation issue that we are discussing here. When that time comes, we will create a deal that will turn into a treaty of alliance, not a simple treaty of friendship!”
Click the links on the footnotes to access original documents related to the activities of Bekir Sami Kundukh in our Primary Sources Section.[4]
So, the Kemalist regime was determined to close surveillance of Bekir Sami Kundukh and other North Caucasian political profiles, and Said Shamil seemed to be the best candidate for being a trojan horse among North Caucasian political émigré organizations.
Thus Said Shamil made his first steps to become a prominent member of the political emigration of the North Caucasus with the support of the Turkish Secret Services. Due to Said Shamil’s imprudent behaviors, the correspondence traffic of the immigration leaders on the Paris-Trebizond line was also captured by the Soviet Consulate in Trebizond, and the planned actions of the North Caucasian activists were prevented while they were still in the design stage. Besides having the chance to take early measures against the plans of the émigré groups, The Soviet administration also had the chance to increase pressure on the Ankara administration to tighten the pressure over the Caucasian émigré groups.
The correspondence between the command of the French occupation forces in Istanbul and the French Foreign Ministry reveals that the employment of Said Shamil by the French did not end up when he returned to Turkey. So Said Shamil was approaching the Turkish authorities on one hand, while trying to preserve his connections with the French on the other. However, The French stopped the financial support to Said Shamil as of October 1922. Said Shamil’s letter in the attachment of the message from the political division of the French High Commissariat to Raymond Poincare stating the followings ;
“Excellency,
During the struggle we undertook against Bolshevism to defend the independence of the Caucasus, we always counted on the support of France, especially since in defending this independence we believed serve at the same time the higher interests of France. There is no doubt that the dispatches from the representative of France in the Caucasus, with whom we have always had very intimate relations, have made Your Excellency aware of the principles which have guided us in our activity. The course of events stopped this activity halfway. I’d like to believe that you don't blame it on us in the North Caucasus. This country fought to the extent of its power when the other states of the Caucasus as well as the various neighboring nations of Russia, and even the Great Powers gave up acting against Moscow. We were forced to cease our activity by depending on you. On this occasion, I want to assure Your Excellency, in confirmation of the talks I had the honor to have with Your Excellency, that despite all the difficulties and deprivations we North Caucasians maintain our organization, and our ideal while waiting for a favorable occasion.
When last year I arrived here suspending the operations in the Caucasus, the declarations of M. Briand about French policy so encouraging for us, and the affirmations of M. Poincare which followed them, had inspired us very high hopes. We note with regret that international political events are forcing France to observe expectations. Nevertheless, I remain convinced that the formal declarations of these two Minister-Presidents, which we learned through the enterprise of the representatives of the Caucasus in Paris, will sooner or later come true. It was in this expectation that I preferred to prolong my stay in Constantinople.
However, this stay obliges me to address to you, General, a very special prayer which I ask you to accept favorably. I am here with many of my companions and my retinue without any resources or assistance whatsoever. I can't support myself under these conditions. The only means left to me is to have recourse, through your generosity of soul, to the generosity of France, I like to hope that your government will not refuse its support to a former friend who has remained in a very difficult situation. Many examples confirm this hope.
Please accept, Excellency, the assurances of my highest consideration.
Signed, Said Shamil.
Chief of Defense and
North Caucasian Government.”
Click the link on the footnotes to access original documents of French correspondence including the letter of Said Shamil in our Primary Sources Section [5]
Nevertheless, the French have already started questioning the support to Said Shamil and after a short while stopped it as they thought that Said Shamil was attributing himself ostentatious titles such as “The Leader of Defense and National Assembly of the North Caucasus” but performed very little in practice.
Cem KUMUK
Istanbul, 20 August 2023
To be Continued…
Next week; Emergence of Poles in the Anti-Soviet activities and Said Shamil’s relations with them.
[1] İleri, 22 August 1921, p.2
[2] Trebizond correspondences Papers from archives of Prof.Dr. Mesut Çapa and Veysel Usta
[3] Arkhiv Vneshney Politiki Rossiyskoy Federatsii (AVP). F.301, D.16,V.462. L.539. – 09/12/1921 / V.479,L.569 -13/12/1921
[4] National Archives of Georgia (SEA), The First Democratic Republic of Georgia, F.1864, Inscription 2, Cases 548, 550, 551
- SEA, F.1864, Ins.2, Case 548, L.11-13
- SEA, F.1864 Ins.2, Case, 548 L.14-19
- SEA, F.1864, Ins.2, Case 548 L.20-22
- SEA, F.1864, Ins.2, Case 548, L.25-27
- SEA, F.1864, Ins.2, Case 550, L.23-27
- SEA, F.1864, Ins.2, Case 551, L.65-73
- SEA, F.1864, Ins.2, Case 551, L.120-123