The Founding of Beşiktaş Strengthened Atatürk’s Position
“Mustafa Kemal was attending the 3rd class of the Military Academy. Some nights, the ongoing issues of freedom and tyranny kept him awake until the very early hours of the morning. Meanwhile, the Fatherland and Freedom Association he planned to establish after his graduation, was slowly taking shape in his mind. And he was getting his school-mates ready to actively take part in this organization after they graduated from the academy. In those days, he also learned that the Beşiktaş Bereket Gymnastics Club was founded (1903). This new organization established by the officers and individuals close to Palace drew his utmost attention. How was it possible that these young people got together at the Osman Pasha Mansion, located only hundred meters from the Yıldız Place, and engaged in sports activities under the very noses of Palace detectives who kept opposing virtually everything? At that time Mustafa Kemal was more interested in ideas related to opposing the policies of the Palace than in ideas to do with sports events.  However he started to develop a special interest in this club because it was not only founded by military officers he knew but also heavily involved in the branches of wrestling, fencing, shooting, gymnastics, boxing, gallows and weightlifting. Nevertheless, he was more interested in gathering these youngsters together to oppose the autocratic rule of the Sultan, Abdülhamit II. This only increased their commitment to the Beşiktaş Bereket Gymnastics Club.
Mustafa Kemal: “You did not live up to [the standards of] the Beşiktaş Bereket Gymnastics Club . . .”
After having founded the Fatherland and Freedom Association in Damascus, he joined the Committee for Union and Progress in 1907, when he transferred to Thessaloniki. During a meeting of theirs he severely criticised the Committee. He said “You have not reached [the standard of] the Beşiktaş Ottoman Physical Training Club. You do not have a programme, not a leadership”. Those days have been recounted as follows by Mithad Şükrü, one of Mustafa Kemal’s colleagues: “What a great power was youth. In those days when flames instead of blood was flowing through our veins, we friends were all gathered together in Thessaloniki. We were continuously organising meetings. We derived the most pleasure from ranting on about the Palace’s administration. These rants, these waivings of our fists to the Sultan, thank heavens, they did not go beyond the walls of our house. Our meeting place was Yanya’s Tavern, where Mustafa Kemal also a habitual guest. Sometimes he would be angry, and say: “You did not live up to [the standards of] the Beşiktaş Bereket Gymnastics Club”.
The anthem sung by the sportsmen of Beşiktaş affected Mustafa Kemal
The hero of the victory at Çanakkale, Mustafa Kemal, was promoted to the command of the 16th army corps at Edirne. At times when he would visit Istanbul, he would spend the night in room 201 of the Pera Palas Hotel. The next day, he would rush to the house of his mother, Zübeyde Hanımefendi, whom he had not seen for over a year, who was living right next door to the premises of the Beşiktaş Club. Mustafa Kemal would emerge through the backdoor of the house into the field where the members of the Beşiktaş Club would conduct their training sessions. And again, he entered the Beşiktaş Club through the backdoor. Here would offer his gratitude to the administrators of the Club, who took such good care of his mother. Mustafa Kemal was enthusiastic about the new sports grounds of the Beşiktaş Club. At that time, the premises were used for training sword-fighting, fencing, wrestling, and boxing. The administrators of the club, such as Cami Bey, Ahmet Fetgeri Bey, Fuat Bey, were officer friends from the time when the club was first founded in 1903. During the Constitutional Era, Cami Bey retired from the army and entered the Ottoman Parliament (Meclis-i Mebusan) as the representative for Fizan. In the Club, he would wrestle while at the same time also instruct others in this sport. After having talked to the administrators for a long time, while at the same time watching the training sessions, Mustafa Kemal would return home. While he trying to sleep, he suddenly heard an anthem being sung in the Beşiktaş Clubhouse. The anthem was sung by approximately a hundred youngsters and children. Its words were as follows:
Today we have adorned our life with protestations of unity,
Was not uniting a lofty goal for the youth [of today].
We made perseverance our blazon for the heightening [of our fortunes]
No work executed with perseverance can be without consequence
Let the minutes be our clear signs
May the stars and waves strike our club anew
This universe always makes us desire violently
We are eleven friends, but we have more to come
Let us be deceived thinking that this world of pleasure is narrow
Let us be quiet, chaste and pure like a dignified right
But let us be as brave and powerful in this state
This anthem deeply affected Mustafa Kemal. He lost his sleep. He started thinking about the wars in which he had participated right until the day before, about the soldiers and officers who had died next to him. The anthem he was listening was based on a poem written by the team captain of the Beşiktaş football team, the poet Kazım who perished at Çanakkale.
“Sirs, I am watching you and your sportsmen closely”
Mustafa Kemal would enjoy his rest in the back garden of the house on Akaretler Avenue nr. 76. His greatest weakness was watching the training sessions of the members of the Beşiktaş team, while sipping the coffee his mother Zübeyde Hanımefendi had made and smoking his cigarette-in-mouthpiece sitting on a straw chair. The backdoor of Beşiktaş clubhouse also opened on to this square. Here Mustafa Kemal would observe such sports as wrestling, football, fencing, weight throwing, one after the other. It was another such day when Ahmet Fetgeri, one of the gymnastics teachers of the Beşiktaş Club, was instructing wrestlers and Captain Fuat fencers. Turning to them, Mustafa Kemal said “Welcome to my home, Sirs”. While the two sports instructors were sipping the tea Mustafa Kemal had offered them, he made this speech:
“Sirs,
I have been watching the serious efforts, agility and skill of your sportsmen for a long time with great delight and attention. Just like youth deprived of engagement in sports will not be effective in the course of defending the fatherland, the creature named man whose intellectual development may be advanced in a strong degree will not be able to carry forth that intellect if his physical development is wanting and incomplete. These youths in our midst whom we today try to teach using scientific methods, will, once their physical and intellectual development is complete, prove the Turks’ undying strength to our European competitors in terms of defending the fatherland, as well as in scientific areas and in all sports. I congratulate you cordially [for your efforts], and will always be prepared to hear of your successes."
He paid his farewells to the Beşiktaş Club, leaving for Samsun
. . . on 16 May 1919 he awoke early in his house in Şişli. After he had finished his lunch, Mustafa Kemal, who was about to set out for Samsun, called his mother, Zübeyde Hanım, and his aide-de-camp, Cevat Abbas, to his side. He came to the house on Akaretler Avenue. While he had been staying in his house in Şişli, which he had rented as a pension, he had also kept on being the tenant of the house in Beşiktaş. The teachers, sportsmen as well as officers associated with the Beşiktaş Club, situated right next door, had all gathered at his front door to wish him farewell.
The Paşa said: “Once more I will entrust you with the safekeeping of my mother. So that I would not be worried about her”.
When Mustafa Kemal was hugging his mother after having kissed her hand for the last time, all the members of the Beşiktaş Club cried out:
“Our hearts go out with, our Paşa. Do not forget us”
In response, Mustafa Kemal waived his hand sitting in his car, saying “absolutely, absolutely”.
Zübeyde Hanım, in turn, added: “The Paşa has put me in the hands of the club”
It was days after Mustafa Kemal’s departure for Samsun.
Two young women called in at the house on Akaretler Avenue where Zübeyde Hanım was living in Beşiktaş. Zübeyde Hanım opened the door herself. Upon seeing them, she cordially invited them in. While offering these two ladies the coffee she herself had prepared, the eldest of the two said these words:
“We came here to kiss your hands, and to inquire whether there was anything you need”.
Thanking her, Zübeyde Hanım gave this reply:
“After the Paşa left for Anatolia, our neighbours, the members of the Beşiktaş Club stop by on a daily basis, asking such things as Mother Lady do you have any charge for us, is there anything we can do for you? They remind me of the Paşa himself. I love them very much. A good thing I came straight here from Thessaloniki. As he’s done whenever he left for the front, the Paşa has left me in the care of his club”.
The eldest of the two visitors to Zübeyde Hanım was the teacher Şekibe Hanım. Her husband, the colonel Galatalı Şevket Bey was imprisoned. The second visitor was Şekibe Hanım’s little sister, the teacher Adile Hanım. Şekibe Hanım was biology teacher at the Kandilli Girls High School, her sister Adile Hanım, on the other hand, was the director of the Kumkapı Primary School. Adile Hanım’s husband was the Captain Necati Bey, whom Zübeyde Hanım loved very much. At that time, Necati Bey had fled to Anatolia so as to participate in the struggle for independence. Her flight from Thessaloniki materialized in front of Zübeyde Hanım’s eyes. The Captain Necati Bey hid Zübeyde Hanım behind the coals of the locomotive in the cold of winter.
The Captain Necati Bey himself was a fan of Fenerbahçe, and he kept on recounting all throughout his life that Atatürk was a supporter of Beşiktaş
In 1911, Captain Necati Bey had fought against the Italians in the company of Major Mustafa Kemal in Tripoli. Necati would recount with pride for the rest of his life that he had helped Mustafa Kemal’s mother Zübeyde Hanım escape from Thessaloniki to the house on Akaretler Avenue right next to the premises of the Beşiktaş Club.
Captain Necati Bey, who was a fan of Fenerbahçe first learned that his commander was a supporter of Beşiktaş, founded in 1903, when he was a staff captain in 1904-05. The Captain would tell everyone that Mustafa Kemal was a supporter of Beşiktaş because its founders were his colleagues and friends and engaged in the sports of fencing/sword-fighting, weight throwing, and wrestling.
The President of Fenerbahçe, Dr. İsmet Uluğ made the following decision during a meeting of club presidents: “ATATÜRK WAS A SUPPORTER OF BEŞİKTAŞ”
In 1964, every Monday the presidents of the various Istanbul clubs that were in the Turkey League would meet in the Mısır Han, belonging to Istanbulspor.
Beşiktaş -- Hakkı Yeten
Fenerbahçe – Dr. İsmet Uluğ
Galatasaray – Alvi Yenal
İstanbulspor – Ali Sohtorik
Vefa – Hayrullah Güvenir
Beykoz – Ziya Sönmez
Feriköy – Dr. Necati Karakaya
Kasımpaşa – Mehmet Gür
Karagümrük – İbrahim Sevin
Beyoğluspor – Napolyon
After Dr. İsmet Uluğ recounted his anecdote of how he had smuggled weapons to Atatürk, the various club presidents would discuss which club had been Atatürk’s favourite. The best announcement was made by the deputy chairman of İstanbulspor, Enis Pankoğlu: “My father had been at the front with Atatürk, his commissioned officer was Captain Necati. The one who brought Atatürk’s mother Zübeyde Hanım over from Thessaloniki was Captain Necati. Mustafa Kemal told my father while they were stationed at the frontline at Derne and Thessaloniki that he was a fan of Beşiktaş. My father was a fanatic Fenerbahçe fan. He had even been a member of the board of trustees. He would not miss a single game played by Fenerbahçe. He told us – when I am at a game, kids and one of you were to die – do not call me, let the imam take care of that business. In spite of being an ardent Fenerbahçe fan, he would announce everywhere that Atatürk was a true follower of Beşiktaş. My mother Adile Hanım and my aunt Şekibe Hanım went to visit Atatürk’s mother Zübeyde Hanım, after he had left for Anatolia. They had inquired whether she needed anything, but she only gave this reply: “Thank you very much, my dears, but the administrators of the Paşa’s` club Beşiktaş stop by every day in case I need anything. I love them all like my own children. What a good thing the Paşa has done in bringing me here”. After having heard that speech, all the club presidents agreed:
“ATATÜRK WAS A SUPPORTER OF BEŞİKTAŞ”
Source: ATATÜRK WAS A SUPPORTER OF BEŞİKTAŞ / Dr. Necati Karakaya