My mother thought I had been executed and suffered a stroke

My mother thought I had been executed and suffered a stroke. The poor woman, who had become an ideal for the entire nation, has now laid her body to rest in the sacred soil of İzmir. Friends, death is the most natural law of creation. However, despite this, it sometimes presents such tragic manifestations. My mother, who lies here, became a victim of a despotic and arbitrary regime that dragged the entire nation to the edge of disaster. Allow me to briefly share a few notable points of her painful life. It was during the reign of Abdülhamid. In 1905, I had just graduated from the military academy as a staff captain. I was taking my first steps into life. But instead of stepping into life, I stepped into prison. One day they took me and put me in the dungeons of the tyrannical regime. I stayed there for months. My mother only learned about this after I was released from prison. She immediately rushed to see me. She came to Istanbul. But we were only able to see each other for a few days. Because again, the spies, agents, and executioners of the despotic regime surrounded our residence and took me away. My mother followed me in tears. When I was being put on the ship that would take me to my place of exile, she was not allowed to see me. Left in sorrow and despair on the Sirkeci pier, she wept. The struggles I endured in exile turned her life into one of suffering and tears. Another point: during the Armistice period, when I moved to Anatolia, I had to leave her in Istanbul in great distress. A man she had appointed to accompany me was sent back to Istanbul from Erzurum. When she saw he had returned alone, she thought the execution order issued against me by the Sultan and Caliph had been carried out, and this belief caused her to suffer a stroke. From then on, all the years of struggle passed in sorrow and pain for her. She was constantly harassed and oppressed by the government of the Sultan and its allies. Her house was raided and searched countless times under false pretexts. She was tormented. For three and a half years, my mother spent every night and day in tears. These tears took her sight. Eventually, I was able to bring her out of Istanbul. When I finally reached her, she was already physically gone — only her spirit remained. I am deeply saddened by her loss. Yet what consoles me is the fact that the regime which devastated our motherland has now been forever buried. My mother rests beneath this soil, but national sovereignty shall live forever. This is my greatest source of comfort. Yes, national sovereignty shall endure eternally. I repeat, in front of my mother’s grave and in the presence of God, the oath I have taken in my conscience. I swear by my mother's grave and before God, that if necessary, I will never hesitate to join her in death to protect and defend the sovereignty gained and fortified by so much bloodshed. To give my life for national sovereignty shall be my sacred duty of conscience and honor.

Hôkimiyeti Milliye, 29 Ocak 1923, No: 725, s.1-2