Banner image: Evren Altinkas

Watch the recording.

Donations will be collected at this event for the Canadian Red Cross Earthquake in Turkiye and Syria appeal.

At the end of the First World War, as a result of the Mudros Armistice, the Ottoman State was occupied by Allies. British, French, Italian and Greek forces occupied some strategic locations and cities within Turkey.  By May 1919, the Turkish War of Independence started under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk in Anatolia.

British forces were composed of soldiers and military officers from the Dominions, including Canada. During the Turkish War of Independence, a few Canadian military personnel served for Britain in Turkey. This talk will focus on some of those Canadian military personnel and their roles in the Turkish War of Independence.

“Canadians and the Turkish War of Independence, 1919-1922” is presented by Evren Altinkas.  The lecture premieres both in-person at the Civic Museum, and online via our Facebook livestream. The recorded conversation will be available on Facebook, YouTube, and our Museum Everywhere Portal after the event.

To attend the conversation in-person, registration is required through Eventbrite.

Guelph Museums Military Lecture series is presented in partnership with the Laurier Centre for the Study of Canada.

Robert Frew, one of the Canadians active in Turkey during the Turkish War of Independence

About Evren Altinkas:

Evren Altinkas received postgraduate degrees from King’s College London in 2000 and from Dokuz Eylul University in 2003. He obtained his doctoral degree from Dokuz Eylul University in 2011 based on his dissertation comparing the development of the concept of intellectuals in Europe and in Ottoman State/Turkey. Since July 2018, Altinkas is affiliated with the Department of History, University of Guelph. His research areas are the History of the Middle East, Turkish History, Intellectual History and the Transformation from Ottoman Empire to Modern Middle East and Turkey. He received the Chevening Scholarship for the academic year of 1999-2000, and was a MESA Global Academy Fellow for the academic years 2020-2021 and 2021-2022. Altinkas is an editor of H-TURK. Dr. Altinkas has several academic articles and book chapters published and has 3 articles about the Turkish War of Independence and the Unionist connection in publication progress as of January 2023.