TheSeferberlik[a] (fromOttoman Turkish:سفربرلك,lit. 'mobilisation';Arabic:النفير العام,romanized: Alnafeer AlAm[ʔlnfjrʔlʕaːm]) was themobilisation effected by the lateOttoman Empire during theSecond Balkan War of 1913 andWorld War I from 1914 to 1918, which involved the forced conscription of Lebanese, Palestinian, Syrian, and Kurdish men to fight on its behalf[1] as well as the deportation of 'numerous Lebanese & Syrian & Kurdish families' (5,000 according to one contemporary account) to Anatolia underDjemal (Cemal) Pasha's orders.[2] Lebanese Syrians and Kurdish men accused of desertion wereexecuted, and some 300,000 of the Arabs and Kurds who stayed behind died in theLebanon famine, as Lebanon and Syria lost 75 to 90 percent of their crop production.[3] Prostitution and cannibalism were also mentioned in reports or memoirs written after the end of the war.
TheOttoman Turkish wordسفربرلك (seferberlik) is a compound of theArabic nounسفر (safar, "campaign"), thePersian suffix-بر (-bar, "-carrier"), and the Ottoman suffix-لق (-lık, forming abstract nouns), and means 'mobilisation.'"[4][5] TheModern Turkish expressionumumî seferberlik has been translated into Arabic asالنفير العام (an-nafīr al-ʿāmm, 'general call to arms').[6][7]
As explained by Najwa al-Qattan,
Originally an Ottoman Turkish term,seferberlik was part of official state discourse referring to wartime mobilisation either during theSecond Balkan War orWorld War I which followed it. Announcements calling for mobilisation were posted in public areas in Ottoman towns and distributed to local leaders, and the wordseferberlik was prominently printed on top.[5]
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Ahmen Amin Saleh Murshid, a historian of Al-Medina, andZakarya Muhammad al-Kenisi, a historian who specialised in old Ottoman Turkish, disagree over the general meaning of the term 'Seferberlik'.[8][9] Saleh Murshid believes the term means a collective deportation, especially in the context of the inhabitants ofMedina under the leadership ofFakhri Pasha. Saleh Murshid also argues that historians should not rely exclusively on dictionaries and documents to translate Ottoman Turkish terms into Arabic since lived experiences and popular understandings of these terms are crucial in understanding them.[10] Zakarya Muhammad al-Kenisi argues that the word 'Seferberlik' refers to the preparation of armies for war or a military campaign. He argues that Ottoman Turkish translations regarding the history of Medina contain substantial errors that result in different understandings of Medina's history.[11] Although the two scholars disagree over the meaning of the word Seferberlik, they are in agreement about the events that the term Seferberlik describes.
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The Seferberlik was a massmobilization effected by officials of the lateOttoman Empire during theSecond Balkan War of 1913 andWorld War I from 1914 to 1918. It involved the forced conscription of Lebanese, Palestinian, Syrian, and Kurdish men to fight on the Empire's behalf[1] as well as the deportation of 'numerous Lebanese & Syrian & Kurdish families' (5,000 according to one contemporary account) to Anatolia underDjemal (Cemal) Pasha's orders.[2]
The Seferberlik met with resistance since young Lebanese and Syrian men could not relate to the rationale behind the Ottoman wars. When the Seferberlik was announced they sometimes hid; later some of them fled during battles. To counter the resistance to conscription and desertion from war fronts, the government sent bounty hunters to roam city streets and catch young men and deserters. Officials are said to have carried ropes with which to encircle, tie up and carry off boys and men on the run.[12] Many Lebanese, Syrian and Kurdish men accused of desertion were executed,
The Seferberlik resulted in theLebanon famine, as Lebanon & Syria lost 75 to 90 percent of their crop production.[3] Some 300,000 Arabs and Kurds are believed to have died in the famine. In his bookIrafat Shami ‘atiq; sira dhattyya wa suwar dimashqiyya (Confessions of an Old Damascene, Biography and Damascene Pictures) the Syrian journalistAbd al-Ghani al-Utri suggests that Syrians have treated bread as sacred since the famine. The WWI diary of a Palestinian Ottoman soldier, Ihsan Turjman, describes the scarcity of foodstuffs and the overpricing of sugar, rice and grains.[13] In al-Ghazzi’s book Shirwal Barhum (The Pants of Barhum), people fought over lemon and orange rinds while children picked watermelon rinds from the mud during the Seferberlik . Siham Turjman recounts how her mother, who was then 14 years old, told her how everything was expensive during the Seferberlik and how people would line up in front of the bakery at midnight to buy burnt, and overpriced bread. Memoirs and reports published shortly after the end of the Great War describe the horrific scenes of famine that filled Lebanon’s streets. The Seferberlik is said to have been associated with cannibalism during the famine. In Antun Yamin’s two-two-volume history Lubnan fi al-Harb (published in 1919) a chapter entitled 'Stories that Would Shake Rocks' gives a detailed report of people attacking the corpses of dead animals and children and eating them.[14] InFragments of Memory, Hanna Minar recounts the childhood memories of his father:
What are they supposed to do during this famine? Bide your time...people will eat each other when winter comes. They aren't to be blamed. During theSafar Barrlik, mothers ate their children. They became like cats and ate their children... What good will sticks or guns do? They'll only hasten death and bring people relief... Let's be patient... A way out may come from some unknown source.[15]
In his diary entry for April 29, 1915, a soldier in the Ottoman military headquarters inJerusalem, Ihsan Turjman (1893–1917), mentioned his encounter with a prostitute in the streets of the city and how the sight filled him with concern for all the women who ;found that they could not survive without prostituting themselves.'[16]Yusuf Shalhub, the famousZajal poet, lamented the deterioration of living standards during the War, which led many women to sell their bodies in exchange for bread.
In Medina's memory of the war, 'Seferberlik' refers specifically to the collective deportation of the city's inhabitants on the famousHijaz railway. According to current research on the topic in Medina, Seferberlik invokes memories of humiliation and the destruction of social and familial structure for the original inhabitants of the city.[17] Families, women and children were dragged to the train and abandoned in Greater Syria, Iraq, and Turkey. According to the same source, only 140 people remained in the city, and they suffered from food shortages caused by the Ottoman military leaderFakhri Pasha.
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Seferberlik and the memories associated with it constitute an important element in Arabic literature. Poets and authors whose parents endured the hardships associated with the Seferberlik received first-hand accounts of their war experiences and the ways in which the war affected society in Greater Syria. These authors and poets have used the material of the Seferberlik in various contexts. Some authors such asNadia Al-Ghazzi,Hanna Mina...etc used it in novels. Authors of popular histories of the early 20th century mentioned the Seferberlik in the context of the war, treating it as an essential event in the history of this period. Many history books were produced, includingṬarāʼif wa-ṣuwar min tārīkh Dimashq (Anecdotes and Pictures from the History of Damascus) by Hānī Khayyir andYa Mal el-Sham (The Daughter of Damascus) by Siham Turjman. Novelists, journalists, and playwrights used the oral accounts of those who experienced WWI, and the miseries of the Seferberlik to produce an impressive body of literary and dramatic production. Scenes of the Seferberlik depict the miserable conditions people lived through.
In the 20th century Arab literary and historical accounts of the Seferberlik period became synonymous with thefamine that overran the Levant and especially Mount Lebanon in 1916. The term Seferberlik was also used to refer to the specific event that took place during the war. InSiham Turjma’ s bookDaughters of Damascus the chapter on the Seferberlik recounts the memories of her father who was conscripted "to go to the Seferberlik" (i.e. the war) and who worked as a telegrapher and communication officer on the front lines. InAbdul Fattah Qal'aji'sUrs Ḥalabī wa-hikāyāt min Safar Barlik (Aleppo Wedding and Stories from the Seferberlik) the Seferberlik is a synonym for the war and its events.
The Seferberlik has also emerged as a theme in Arab films and television programming. TheLebanese Rahbani brothers produced the war filmSafar Barlik in the 1960s. The Syrian drama seriesIkhwat al-Turab (Brothers in Soil), directed byNajdat Anzour in the 1990s, shows soldiers being separated from their families and loved ones because of the Seferberlik. In 2023 a soap opera called Safar Barlik aired on Saudi-headquartered television channel MBC during Ramadan.[18]