İnönü Military Quarter and War Museum

İnönü Military Quarter and War Museum
İnönü Karargah Binası ve Savaş Müzesi
	İnönü Military Quarter and War Museum
Established	2001; 24 years ago
Location	İnönü, Eskişehir Province, Turkey
Coordinates	39°48′53″N 30°08′38″E / 39.81472°N 30.14389°E
Type	Museum#Military and war
Owner	Ministry of Culture and Tourism

İnönü Military Quarter and War Museum (Turkish: İnönü Karargah Binası ve Savaş Müzesi) is a military and war museum in Turkey.

It is situated in İnönü ilçe (district) of Eskişehir Province at 39°48′53″N 30°08′38″E / 39.81472°N 30.14389°E / 39.81472; 30.14389. İnönü ilçe is 31 kilometres (19 mi) west of Eskişehir.^[1]

Background

During the Turkish War of Independence, the commander of Western Front was İsmet Pasha. He fought in the First Battle of İnönü (9-11 January 1921) and in the Second Battle of İnönü (26–31 March 1921) against the invading Greek Army around the town of İnönü. In both engagements, he was successful. Thus, after the enactment of the Surname Law in 1934, İsmet Pasha chose the surname İnönü.

The building

The museum building served as the military headquarters of İsmet Pasha during the battles. In 1987, the Ministry of Culture bought the building and converted it into a war museum. It was opened in 2001, on the 80th anniversary of the victories.^[2]

The exhibits

In the museum, there are photographs of the battles, the copies of the correspondence between the commanders, the weapons and other military tools, the uniforms and some ethnographic items.^[3] The most important piece of correspondence is the telegram of Mustafa Kemal Pasha (later Atatürk) after the Second Battle of İnönü . The first paragraph of the telegram is "It is not so often the world history sees a commander as you, who have taken a huge responsibility in the İnönü battlefields. The independence and existence of our nation depended on the courageousness and patriotism of your commanders and fellow soldiers, who have been doing their honorable duties under your genius conduct. You did not only beat the ill fortune of the enemy but also that of the nation".^[2]