Author(s): Ali SÃNMEZ
After its establishment on July 14, 1839, the Gendarmerie Organization has played an important role in maintaining security, safety and public order in the Ottoman State. Besides, it also joined the other armed forces in defending the homeland in several fronts during the First World War. Two thirds of the organization were incorporated in the army, while the rest of the units were entrusted to keep the coastal regions under surveillance and to secure the railroads. There were also mobile gendarmerie units (Sahra Jandarma Birlikleri) that were formed to maintain public order. After the war, when the public order collapsed and several bandits were rampant in many parts of the country, the Gendarmerie Organization tried to maintain public order with great commitment despite limited means. One of the officers, Major Mehmed Kemal, one of the officers who served during these difficult times, published a memoir in 1919 about his duties titled Jandarma Karakol Kumandan? (the Gendarmerie Station Commander). Describing his station as the first gate of the court of justice, a temple of patriotism, and the real image of the government (hükümetin timsal-i hakikisi), Kemal writes about the difficult conditions of the country, the duties of gendarmerie station, his relations with the public. This precious little memoir deserves a study as it shed lights on the difficult times of the era and the role of the gendarmerie organization during the chaotic period just before the birth of the Turkish Republic
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