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Erdogan: Türkiye's 1922 offensive most successful example of all-out war

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan marks the country’s 100th Victory Day commemorating the resounding defeat of the occupying Greek armies at the hands of Turks in the Battle of Dumlupinar in 1922.

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Erdogan spoke at the centenary celebrations of the August 30 Great Victory in Kutahya province.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has hailed the country’s Great Offensive marking the resounding defeat of the occupying Greek armies at the hands of Turks in the Battle of Dumlupinar in 1922.

“The Great Offensive and the succeeding clashes went down in the military history of the world as the most successful example of all-out war," Erdogan said on Monday at the centenary celebrations of the August 30 Great Victory in Kutahya province.

Erdogan said the Great Offensive, which started from Kocatepe to Dumlupinar and from there to Izmir, was the "first offensive" operation of the Turkish army after a long break.

Earlier on Monday, Erdogan said in a statement that "August 30 has been the clearest proof of what the Turkish nation can achieve and give up when forced to choose between captivity and freedom."

He said with the Great Victory, it has been registered once again that the lands on which people live freely today are the "eternal homeland."

LIVE: President Erdogan speaks at centenary celebrations of the Great Offensive, and mass opening ceremony of multiple facilities in Afyonkarahisar https://t.co/mkqs1YYZP9
— PresserWatch (@PresserWatch) August 29, 2022

'Great and powerful Türkiye'

Türkiye was occupied by allied forces after the defeat of the Ottoman Empire at the end of the First World War (1914-1918).

The foreign occupation prompted Türkiye’s War of Independence in 1919, in which Turkish forces — led by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk — eventually drove the invaders from Anatolia.

From August 26 to August 30 of 1922, Turkish forces fought the Battle of Dumlupinar (considered part of the Greco-Turkish War) in Türkiye’s western Kutahya province, where Greek forces were decisively defeated.

By the end of 1922, all foreign forces had left the territories which would collectively become the new Republic of Türkiye one year later.

"2023, when we will celebrate the 100th anniversary of our Republic, will hopefully be a new milestone in which we herald the building of a great and powerful Türkiye," Erdogan said in his statement on Monday.

SOURCE: AA