Franco-Turkish War

War lasting from 1918 to 1921 during the Turkish War of Independence

The Franco–Turkish War, known as the Cilicia Campaign in France and as the Southern Front (Güney Cephesi) of the Turkish War of Independence in Turkey, was a series of conflicts fought between France (the French Colonial Forces and the French Armenian Legion) and the Turkish National Forces (led by the Turkish provisional government after 4 September 1920) from December 1918 to October 1921 in the aftermath of World War I. French interest in the region stemmed from the Sykes Picot Agreement and was further fueled by the refugee crisis following the Armenian genocide.

After the Armistice of Mudros, the French Army had moved into Çukurova in accordance with the secret Sykes Picot Agreement of 1916, which gave France control of Ottoman Syria and southern Anatolia, including the key strategic locations of the fertile plain of Çukurova, the ports of Mersin and İskenderun (Alexandretta), and the copper mines in Ergani. On the other hand, the fertile lands of Mesopotamia and the vilayet of Mosul (where oil fields were suspected) were priorities for the British. According to the agreement, the British would look after the cities of Antep, Marash and Urfa until the French arrived in the southern Anatolian regions allocated to them in the agreement. The French Armenian Legion under the command of General Edmund Allenby consisted of Armenian volunteers.

After the armistice of Mudros, the first thing the French military did was to control the strategically important Ottoman coal mines in which French capital held significant stakes. The goal was both to take control of this energy source and to meet French military needs. It also prevented the distribution of coal in Anatolia, which could be used in activities to support insurgency. On 18 March 1919, two French gunboats brought troops to the Black Sea ports of Zonguldak and Karadeniz Ereğli to command the Ottoman coal mining region. Because of the resistance they faced during their one year stay in the region, French troops began to withdraw from Karadeniz Ereğli on 8 June 1920. They continued to pursue their occupation in Zonguldak, where they occupied the whole city on 18 June 1920.

The main operations in Thrace aimed to support the strategic goals of the allies. A French brigade entered Constantinople on 12 November 1918. On 8 February 1919, French general Franchet d'Espèrey—commander in chief of allied occupation forces in the Ottoman Empire—arrived in Constantinople to coordinate the occupation government. The city of Bursa—a former Ottoman capital of central importance in northwest Anatolia—was also held by French forces for a brief period before the great summer offensive of the Greek army in 1920, at which time that city fell to the Greeks.

The Cilicia Peace Treaty between France and the Turkish National Movement was signed on 9 March 1921. It was intended to end the Franco Turkish war, but failed to do so and was replaced in October 1921 with the Treaty of Ankara signed by representatives of the French and the Turks on 20 October 1921, and finalized with Armistice of Mudanya.

The French forces withdrew from the occupation zone in the first days of 1922, about ten months before the Armistice of Mudanya. Beginning on 3 January, French troops evacuated Mersin and Dörtyol. On 5 January they left Adana, Ceyhan and Tarsus. The evacuation was completed on 7 January with the last troops leaving Osmaniye. In the early stages of the Greco Turkish War, French and Greek troops jointly crossed the Meriç River and occupied the town of Uzunköprü in eastern Thrace and the railway route from there to the station of Hadımköy near Çatalca on the outskirts of Constantinople. In September 1922, at the end of that war, during the Greek pull out after the advance of Turkish revolutionaries, French forces withdrew from their positions near the Dardanelles, but the British seemed prepared to hold their ground. The British government issued a request for military support from its colonies. This was refused, and the French leaving the British on the straits signaled that the Allies were unwilling to intervene in aid of Greece. Greek troops and the French withdrew beyond the Meriç River.

France had better relations with the Turkish nationals during the Turkish War of Independence, chiefly on account of breaking Triple Entente solidarity and signing a separate agreement with the Turkish National Movement. The Treaty of Ankara did not resolve the problems in connection with the sanjak of Alexandretta. However, positive Franco Turkish relations were maintained. French policy supporting the Turkish independence movement were set back during the Conference of Lausanne on the abolition of the Capitulations of the Ottoman Empire. French objections during the discussions on abolition were perceived as contravening full Turkish independence and sovereignty. Furthermore, the fact that the sanjak of Alexandretta remained under French control also contributed to the tension between the two countries, as the Turks claimed the land in the Misak ı Millî. The positive attitude developed with the Treaty of Ankara remained friendly, if limited. The Ottoman debts were cleared by the Republic of Turkey in line with the Treaty of Lausanne.