Battle of Karboğazı

Karboğazı ambush
Date May 27–28, 1920 Location Karboğazı , near Gülek 37°23′N 34°40′E / 37.383°N 34.667°E / 37.383; 34.667 Result Decisive Turkish victory
Belligerents
Government of the Grand National Assembly	France
Commanders and leaders
Kemal Bey Hasan Bey Ziya Bey (83th regiment commander)	M.Mesnil (POW) Georges Journois (POW)
Units involved
Nationalist Army	French Armed Forces French Army
Strength
44 Kuva-yi Milliye men Hundreds of volunteers	700 Soldiers
Casualties and losses
Unknown	150+ killed 500+ prisoners (including 23 officers) 1,000+ different weapons 2 cannons 8 machine guns 90 mules

French Armed Forces

The Karboğazı ambush (Turkish: Karboğazı Baskını), also known as Battle of Karboğazı (Turkish: Karboğazı Savaşı) was a minor ground engagement fought between the Turkish nationalists and the French battalion on Toros Mountains during the Turkish War of Independence. Karboğazı literally means Snow Pass.

Following the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in the First World War, the Ottoman army was disarmed according to the Armistice of Mudros. Although the Ottoman Empire had to agree to give up vast territories including most of Middle East, the Allies further retained the power of controlling what was left of the Ottoman Empire, namely Turkey. In this context, Allies occupied Mersin on 17 December 1918, just 47 days after the armistice. Soon, France occupied most of south Anatolia. Since the southwest was under Italian control, Turkey lost the gateway to the Mediterranean Sea.

France tried to control the sea coast and the alluvial plains like Çukurova (Cilicia of the antiquity). But the control of the small settlements on Toros Mountains was difficult. Moreover, because of the nationalistic opposition, which would ultimately end up in Turkish Republic, the Gülek Pass, Cilician Gates of the antiquity, which is the main pass from Mediterranean coast to Central Anatolia, was under continuous threat from the Turkish nationalists forces (Turkish: Kuva-yi Milliye). A battalion under Major Mesnil was commissioned for the task of securing French presence around Gülek Pass. The headquarters of the battalion was in the village of Pozantı, now a district center, and a small hospital in the nearby village of Belemedik was established under the supervision of Mesnil’s wife. Mesmil’s assistant was Georges Journois, who would fight against Germany as a brigadier general in the Second World War. Mesnil also had a group of guides, who were actually local Armenians. However, in the spring of 1920, Turkish nationalists began controlling the railroad from Pozantı to the south, and Pozantı was effectively blocked from Çukurova.

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Wikipedia