Yahya Kemal’s Membership of the Comission to Define Turkey-Syria Border in 1925 and His Reports Sent to Ankara Related to This Duty

Abstract

Yahya Kemal, who came to Istanbul from his hometown of Skopje in 1902 but failed to enroll in any school due to various reasons, went to Paris a year later. In Paris, he studied at the Collége de Meaux (where he studied for a year and developed his French) and Ecole Libre des Sciences Politiques “Foreign Policy”. He was not able to graduate from either of these two schools, and he was more interested in literature, especially in Paris. But it is certain that Yahya Kemal acquired a solid perspective on history, philosophy, culture and civilization through some of the lectures he attended, some great scholars to whom he had conversations and listened to, and above all his deep and careful research. In 1912 he returned to Turkey and lessons, with chat and text has shared this knowledge and experience with the public. During the Armistice period, the articles he published in favor of the National Forces, albeit under the difficult conditions of the occupation of Istanbul, show that Yahya Kemal not only has a solid knowledge of history, but also a strong diplomacy. These articles of Yahya Kemal were read by the Anatolian front, especially Mustafa Kemal Pasha during the National Struggle. Yahya Kemal becomes a deputy of Urfa after the proclamation of the Republic with the influence of these writings. Yahya Kemal, Determination of the Turkey-Syria border in this period before a member of the Commission then appointed as chairman. In this study, the reports - which are unpublished in any study - sent by Yahya Kemal to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on where to draw the border and when it should be drawn will be examined and published.