Vilâyât-ı Şarkıyye Valilerinin Erzurum Kongresi Karşısındaki Tavırları
The Attitudes of the Governors of the Eastern Provinces Before the Erzurum Congress

Summary/Abstract: Following the Armistice of Mudros, thoughts about the future of the eastern provinces led the people and intellectuals of the region to organize and struggle. For this purpose, efforts were started to convene a congress in Erzurum. Militarily and administratively, the eastern provinces were under the responsibility of the 3rd Army Inspector Mustafa Kemal Pasha, who landed in Samsun on May 19, 1919. During this period, the military and civil administrators, who were obliged to obey the orders of Mustafa Kemal Pasha, went through a difficult period during the period leading up to Mustafa Kemal Pasha's disagreements with the Istanbul Government and his eventual resignation from military service. Except for the hesitation of the commander of the 13th Corps in Diyarbekir, all of the military administrators (Corps commanders) sided with Mustafa Kemal Pasha during the Congress and followed his instructions. Among the governors of the eastern provinces, Ali Galip, the Governor of Elazığ, who was appointed by the Istanbul Government and took office, opposed the Congress initiative as well as the National Struggle in general. The Governor of Diyarbekir, on the other hand, followed the instructions of the Istanbul Government against the Erzurum Congress but changed his attitude in the face of the Sivas Congress and supported the Sivas Congress. As a result of the attitudes of the governors of Elazığ and Diyarbekir against the convening of the Erzurum Congress, the congress representatives elected from these provinces were prevented from traveling to Erzurum by the governors themselves. In this situation, the representatives of Elazığ and Diyarbekir provinces could not take part in the delegation formed after the Congress. Apart from these two provinces, the governors of Erzurum, Sivas, Van, and Bitlis generally supported the National Struggle as well as the Erzurum Congress. The governors of these provinces did not follow the instructions of the Istanbul Government, and even when they were dismissed, they continued their duties by following the instructions of Mustafa Kemal Pasha.

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