Siege of Marash - Aftermath

Aftermath

Though news of the siege of the French army and the massacre of the Armenians reached Allied and American representatives in Europe, the French High Command did not publicly indicate that anything serious had taken place. Internally, however, they were astonished by this move launched by the Turkish Nationalists. The battle and the massacre were discussed fervently in the European and American press, as well as the British Parliament. Colonel Normand's role in ordering the evacuation, in particular, stirred controversy as members of General Dufieux's staff maintained that no evacuation order had ever been given. Dufieux, however, was inexplicably told by senior commander and General of the Army of the Levant Henri Gouraud that he should let the matter drop. French Colonel Édouard Brémond, the chief administrator of the occupation zone, reflected on the decision in his memoirs:

The decision for the retreat remains a mystery. It was not made in Beirut, nor in Adana, but at Marash. There seems to be no doubt that the order to leave would not have been given if a wireless outfit had been available in Marash permitting unbroken communication with Adana.

A few years later, he stated frankly, "Colonel Normand did not bring an order for the evacuation; he gave it ." In his own analysis of the conflict, the American relief worker Stanley E. Kerr attributes the withdrawal to the untenable position the French military itself had assumed, its failure to provide adequate supplies to its men, its ability to carry out intelligence work, and so on.

In Constantinople, Allied military representatives pushed to threaten the Ottoman government for the affair, while the French simultaneously explored the possibility of reaching a modus vivendi with Kemal. The Allied Supreme Council, which at the time was working out the details to a peace treaty that it would present to the Ottoman government, deliberated on how best to respond. Some of the delegates present, including Prime Minister David Lloyd-George, insisted that strong pressure should be brought to bear against the Ottoman government to prevent new atrocities, but the other diplomats were skeptical of the idea. The officials also agreed that the Ottoman government should dismiss Kemal from office, although they admitted that such a move was impractical, since the Ottoman government held no control over Kemal, who was leading a counter Turkish government in Anatolia. A decision was finally reached on March 10. British, French and Italian leaders agreed to authorize the formal occupation of Constantinople, which was carried out by the forces under General George F. Milne's command on the morning of March 16.

On April 7, 1925, Marash became one of two cities in Turkey to receive a Turkish Medal of Independence (the other city being İnebolu).