13. Textual Intervention during the Spanish Civil War: Voices of Solidarity from Turkey

Esra Akkaya

Shortly before the Golpe de Estado en España in 1936, Turkey established itself as a republic in the 1930s. Its new government not only signed the non-intervention agreement but also actively tried to stop people from Turkey from becoming volunteers in the International Brigades.[1] The Turkish government adhered to a non-intervention policy until the end of the Civil War. The question of whether to become involved in the Spanish Civil War or adhere to a non-intervention stance was not only a matter of discussion within the Turkish government but also a topic among many intellectuals and writers in Turkey. While the government mainly acted out of national interest in a recently founded republic, several writers chose a mode of textual intervention in the Republican cause to counteract the non-intervention approach. The following chapter addresses this paradox by arguing that these texts also contain untold stories of the Spanish Civil War.

When the Spanish Civil War broke out, the Turkish government demonstrated support to the elected government and backed the decision of the League of Nations. Turkey never questioned the legitimacy of the Spanish popular front government. Thus, the acting Spanish ambassador remained in his post in Ankara as the ofcial representative of Spain until the end of the Civil War. The Turkish government adopted the principle of non-intervention in Spain and declared:

[I]t would prohibit the direct or indirect export or re-export of all arms, munitions and war material, as well as all aircraft, assembled or dismantled, and all warships from its territory to Spanish territory; the prohibitions would apply to ongoing contracts; it would inform the other governments involved in the understanding of the measures taken to implement the prohibitions.[2]

The Turkish government adhered to its non-intervention policy: even when the Valencian government made substantial ofers to purchase all of Turkey’s obsolescent munitions, Ankara denied that request. However, this stance was not entirely motivated by ethical views. Turkey’s military power at that time was, compared to other European militaries, relatively weak, and it therefore could not risk any tensions, especially on its surrounding seas. When more and more conficts began erupting on the Mediterranean Sea and commercial ships were under threat, the Turkish government was both alarmed and felt exposed. In September 1937, a conference was held in the city of Nyon in Switzerland to address the rising attacks on international shipping in the Mediterranean Sea during the Spanish Civil War. The conference was convened in part because Italy had been carrying out unrestricted submarine warfare, although the fnal conference agreement did not accuse Italy directly; instead, the attacks were referred to as “piracy” by an unidentifed body. Italy was not ofcially at war but supported the putschists in several ways, as did Nazi Germany. The conference was designed to strengthen the non-intervention policy during the Spanish Civil War. The United Kingdom and France led the conference, which was also attended by Bulgaria, Egypt, Greece, Romania, Turkey, the Soviet Union, and Yugoslavia. Turkey signed the Nyon Agreement, which also stated that any submarine that attacked a ship in a manner contrary to the rules of international law should be counter-attacked, or even destroyed.[3] Turkey’s decision to sign and abide by this treaty was not appreciated by everyone in the country. While Turkish President Atatürk was in favor of improving relations with Britain, the then Prime Minister İsmet İnönü considered the Nyon Agreement confrontational and an alignment with the wrong side in the Spanish confict.

While there is awareness of the many Western intellectuals who took up the Republican cause, there is little research on the engagement of Turkish writers in this matter. When neither speaking nor acting is permitted, only writing is left as a way to take a stand. And many Turkish authors did exactly that: they ofered in-depth representations of the suppressed events, and they shed light on historical memories. Using the written word, they tried to amend what they saw as failures in realpolitik, because writing allowed them to experience aesthetically what could not be accomplished in practice.

The magazine Yeni Adam[4] (The new man), whose founder and editor-inchief was İsmail Baltacıoğlu, a well-known intellectual, academic scholar, and politician, included an article on the Spanish Civil War in most of its issues—until it was censored by the Turkish government in 1938 after the magazine had repeatedly criticized and condemned Nazi Germany. After its reissue in 1939, Yeni Adam no longer included international political events and only focused on domestic politics. It is no coincidence that Baltacıoğlu was the editor of this critical magazine: while a supporter of the Republican cause, the scholar was also vocally critical of the government and opposed its path of laicism.

In August 1936, the magazine printed an article with the title “İspanya’da Yurddaş Savaşı” (Civil war in Spain) and reported on what was happening in the country. Here the author N. Gürgen[5] expresses full support for the socialists and especially the youth of Spain. This chapter includes an illustration of Largo Caballero, the leader of the Partido Socialista Obrero Español.[6] In another article from 1936, the author Hüsamettin Bozok, a journalist and writer who played a key role in public debates, deals with economic and social issues in Spain. In “Ökonomik ve Sosyal Bakımdan İspanya” (Spain from an economic and social perspective), the author emphasizes that the Spanish Civil War is essentially about class struggle.[7] In particular, he distinguishes between the “bourgeoisie in the cities” and the “peasantry in the countryside.” He also points critically to the role of the church, which benefts the most economically and claims capital for itself, while the people in the countryside and the working class are left with nothing.

The following year, Bozok dedicated an article to the Spanish woman in the Civil War. In “İspanyol kadını” (“The Spanish woman”), the author criticizes the misogynistic reception of women in Spain, especially abroad, and states vehemently that all genders are now equal in Spain and that Spanish women are not subordinate. They are in fact quite the opposite: women in Spain are essential in the fght against fascism. He writes the following:

İspanya şehvetli rakkaselerin Spain is not the Spain of sensual değil, Dolores Passionaria’ların, dancers, but the Spain of Dolores Margarita Nelken’lenn, Frederica Passionarias, Margarita Nelkens, Montseny’lerin İspanya’sı—kısaca Frederica Montsenys—in short, the Jeanne Dark’ların İspanya’sıdır ![8] Spain of Jeanne d’Arcs!

All articles dedicated to the Spanish Civil War in Yeni Adam support the Republican cause and the rights of workers. The magazine takes a clear stand against the non-intervention policy of Turkey and intervenes through forcefully worded articles advocating for the Republicans. In doing so, the issues also refect on the reception of the Spanish Civil War in Turkey. For example, in a 1937 article, writer and historian Hüseyin Avni refects on the coverage in other Turkish newspapers and magazines and denounces each author and paper that has not condemned Franco and Spanish fascism. The magazine thus clearly positions itself against anyone not in support of socialism, anarchism, and the rights of the people of Spain. Yeni Adam includes texts not only by Turkish authors but also by authors such as André Gide and Ilja Ehrenburg, who both reported on the Spanish Civil War and advocated for the socialist fght.

While the magazine Yeni Adam ofered journalistic intervention in the context of the non-intervention stance of the Turkish government, other authors chose poetic intervention. A prominent example is the poet Nâzım Hikmet, who published several key texts for this case study. In 1937, he published the poem “Karanlıkta kar yağıyor” (It’s snowing in the dark), in which the lyrical speaker reminisces over the fate of the young soldier who is guarding the gates of Madrid. While expressing empathy for the young soldier, whose youth and innocence are emphasized repeatedly, the lyrical speaker refers to actual historical events. The poem is a powerful expression of despair in the face of the non-intervention policy, the impossible passiveness, and helplessness that it caused. While treaties and agreements refect interests of power and politics, the poem embodies an impulse toward humanism, solidarity, and empathy.

Hikmet’s “Karanlıkta kar yağıyor” begins with the following verses:

Ne maveradan ses duymak, Neither to hear a voice from far away, ne satırların nescine koymak o nor put in the prose of the lines that “anlaşılmayan şeyi,” “unintelligible thing,” ne bir kuyumcu merakıyla işlemek nor with the curiosity of a jeweler kafyeyi, crafting the rhyme, ne güzel laf, ne derin kelam . . . nor beautiful words, nor profound thoughts . . .

The lyrical speaker opens the poem by referring to a cause that seems impossible to explain. The subject of this poem is something that has not occurred before, and the lyrical speaker is searching for a diferent way of expressing this extraordinary situation. They are therefore consciously choosing poetic discourse as a mode of expression. It continues with:

Bu akşam This evening bir sokak şarkıcısıyım hünersiz bir I’m a street singer with an unskilled sesim var; voice; sana, for you, senin işitemeyeceğin bir şarkıyı a voice singing a song you can’t söyleyen bir ses. hear.

Rather than speaking at a distance or using traditional rhymes and phrases, the lyrical speaker chooses the voice of a street singer as a mode of expressing their empathy for the addressee. By choosing the image of the street singer, the lyrical speaker uses the perspective of an “ordinary” person, someone of the people, who is not following a political cause as such but might be characterized as an “unskilled” laborer. However, the lyrical speaker is also pointing out that even though they are speaking like a street singer with an untrained voice, their song will not be accessible to the addressee. This last verse of the stanza is a reference to the uncrossable route between Istanbul and Madrid. Despite this obstacle, the lyrical speaker wishes to express their solidarity.

Karanlıkta kar yağıyor, It’s snowing in the dark, sen Madrid kapısındasın. you’re at the gates of Madrid. Karşında en güzel şeylerimizi Against our most beautiful things ümidi, hasreti, hürriyeti hope, longing, freedom ve çocukları öldüren bir ordu. and children being killed by an army.

While the actual route from Istanbul to Madrid is not crossable, the poetic voice can bridge the Mediterranean. The beginning of the poem ofers the scene of a snowy night, maybe in Istanbul, and the third stanza begins at the gates of Madrid on a snowy night. Here the lyrical speaker is able to see everything; they are “above all of them.” Addressing the person standing at the gates of Madrid, the lyrical speaker points to the most beautiful things they have: “hope, longing, freedom,” and, in stark contrast, “an army that kills children.” The last verse is the frst mention of violence and direct reference to the Spanish Civil War, which opens the transition to the next stanza.

The lyrical speaker continues imagining a young man at the gates of Madrid in the dark night in the snow. As the speaker thinks of him, they wonder what if the young man, with ice cold feet in the snow, gets shot by a bullet “right here.” And if this happens, then the young man will see neither snow, nor wind, nor the night again. The poem continues with:

Kar yağıyor It’s snowing ve sen böyle “No pasaran” and you’re like “No pasarán” deyip saying it Madrid kapısına dikilmeden while, before you stood at the gates önce of Madrid herhalde vardın. you probably existed. Kimdin, nerden geldin, ne Who were you, where did you yapardın? come from, what did you do?

No pasarán: “No passage,” “they will not pass.” This was the closing phrase of an address by the legendary Spanish anarchist leader Durruti. It later became the slogan of the anti-fascist struggle. Hikmet’s poem uses the phrase as a concrete historical reference while wondering what people’s lives were like before the Spanish Civil War. Here the lyrical speaker shows deep empathy with everyone involved in this violent confict rather than reducing everyone to “a side,” wondering about each person’s individual history. Unsettling political decisions and categories, the lyrical speaker addresses the human aspects of this historical event, which political leaders failed to do. It is striking how the lyrical speaker stresses that the working class and particularly laborers are most afected by this war. After toiling on farms, coal mines, or anywhere else, these individuals are now the ones sufering violence.

Belki “Plasa da Sol” da küçük bir Maybe you had a little shop in dükkanın vardı, Plaza del Sol, renkli İspanyol yemişleri satardın. selling colorful Spanish snacks. Belki hiçbir hünerin yoktu, belki Maybe you had no talent, maybe gayet güzeldi sesin. you had a beautiful voice. Belki felsefe talebesi, belki hukuk Maybe you were a philosophy fakültesindensin student, maybe a law student ve parçalandı üniversite mahallesinde and in the university neighborhood bir İtalyan tankının tekerlekleri had your books smashed under the altında kitapların. wheels of an Italian tank. Belki dinsizsin, Maybe you’re atheist, belki boynunda bir sicim, bir küçük maybe there’s a thread around your haç. neck, a little cross.

The lyrical speaker suggests other destinies: Maybe the soldier was just a salesman with a little shop in Madrid, maybe he had no talents at all, maybe he was a good singer? Or maybe he was a student of philosophy or law, and now his books were thrown under Italian tanks? Maybe he is religious, maybe he is not? The lyrical speaker draws a picture of a young man who could be any of us or even someone we know. By later comparing him to a soldier in Dulumpınar (the battle of Dulumpınar was the last battle in the Greco-Turkish War during the Turkish War of Independence) or to Robespierre (a prominent fgure of the French Revolution), the lyrical speaker draws historical references and demonstrates that the fate of this young soldier at the gates of Madrid is not a fctional fate but one that will be in history books.

Yüzünü hiç görmedim ve I’ve never seen your face and I never görmeyeceğim, will, adımı duymadın ve hiç you haven’t heard my name and you duymayacaksın. never will. Aramızda denizler, dağlar, Between us, the seas, the mountains, benim kahrolası aczim my damned helplessness ve “Ademi Müdahale Komitesi” and there’s the “Non-Intervention var. Committee.” . . . . . . Ve ben ne yarın, ne dün, ne bu And tomorrow, or yesterday, or this akşam evening onu sevmekten başka bir şey I can do nothing but love him. yapamam.

In this last part of the poem, the lyrical speaker points at the distance and diference between them and the young soldier: “I have never seen your face and I will never see it and you have never heard of my name and you never will.” Between the two are the Mediterranean, the mountains, and, last but not least, the non-intervention agreement. And even though the lyrical speaker knows that the young man’s feet must be freezing in this weather, he cannot send him socks. And he cannot send him arms to defend himself. The lyrical speaker expresses utter despair because of their helplessness and fnishes the poem by saying that the only thing they can do tomorrow, yesterday, or this evening is to love this young man at the gates of Madrid.

Nâzım Hikmet’s poem is a direct response and resistance to the political agenda of Turkey. His poem presents strong expressions of empathy and solidarity, something that many governments had failed to show.

Turkish authors not only produced texts during the war but also wrote to prevent the memory of the victims of Franco’s dictatorship from being suppressed and falling into obscurity. The next example represents a group of texts that still await scholarly examination.

Turkish-Jewish author Beki L. Bahar’s poem Rapido’dan bir anı (a memory from the Rapido) was published in 1965; Bahar wrote the poem while traveling through Spain during that year with her husband and children. This poem, written many years after Hikmet’s, exemplifes a diferent approach to addressing the Spanish Civil War. In Bahar’s poem, the lyrical speaker describes a train journey from Barcelona to Madrid and contemplates how everyone around them seems to be delighted by their travels in Spain. However, the lyrical speaker is skeptical of this delight and addresses the ignorance of the complex historical memories of Spain while making references to the Spanish Inquisition. In the last stanza, the lyrical speaker asks a young soldier about Lorca, which again makes the young soldier feel ashamed as he bows his head down.

Bir kompartımanda In a compartment En azından on kişi karşı karşıya At least ten people facing each other Barselona Madrid yolunda. On the road from Barcelona to Madrid. Köylü kentli asker subay bir Peasants and townspeople, soldiers, and arada. ofcers. En küçük istasyonda dura kalka Stopping at the smallest station “Rapido” dedikleri posta The fast track they call “Rapido” Bizlere bir uzun oyun oynamakta Playing a long game with us Gazeteler dergiler, sigaralar Newspapers, magazines, cigarettes, çörekler buns Elden ele dolaştıkça, Passed from hand to hand, Zaman azalmakta kişiler Time is passing and people are kaynaşmakta. mingling.

The lyrical speaker watches the environment around them on this train from Barcelona to Madrid. People from all over the world are meeting in this compartment, getting to know each other, and sharing their “newspapers, magazines, cigarettes, and buns.”

Bir kıta! A continent! Bir kıta hediye etmenin gururu The pride of gifting a continent is yüzlerde, on their faces, Geçmiş imparatorluk çakılı kalmış The past empire is stuck in their gözlerde eyes Her biri gezilecek bir yer Each one recommends a place to öğütlüyor visit Tarihten süzülmüş bir de öykü Adding a story fltered from ekliyor. history. Bütün bir gün yetmiyebilirdi El A whole day might not be enough Prado’ya for El Prado Uzanıp gitmeliydik Elhambra’ya, Should’ve gone to Allhambra, Toledo’ya Toledo Resimleri boy boy önümüze çıkan In front of us in full-length pictures Gelip geçmiş en büyük matadoru Spain’s greatest matador of İspanya’nın all time El Cordobes’i Arenada Should’ve seen El Cordobés in the görmeliydik, arena, Lope de Vega’yı, Cervantes’i Lope de Vega, Cervantes, we kuskusuz bilirdik. certainly knew.

The crowd on the train addresses the travelers and mentions places and people to visit. The lyrical speaker distances themselves from these remarks for tourists and draws more attention to the suppressed memories in Spain. References to “a continent” and Alhambra remind the reader of Spanish Colonialism. The speaker addresses another layer of memory when mentioning Toledo, a city in Spain, which was not only a crucial place during the Spanish Civil War but also home to one of Europe’s largest Jewish communities before the Spanish Inquisition. While acknowledging the travelers’ pride “in their eyes,” the lyrical speaker contests this satisfaction by reminding us of the diferent histories of Spain, histories one cannot feel too proud of. The stanza fnishes with a reference to Cervantes, the author of Don Quixote who is regarded as the greatest writer of the Spanish language. However, this notion is challenged with the next stanza:

Daha başkalarını da tanırdık bizler, We also knew many others, Örneğin; For example; Federico Lorca’can ne haber? What about Federico Lorca? Subay bunalmış gibi çıktı dışarı The ofcer went out as if he was overwhelmed. Başı önüne eğik daldı genç asker. The young soldier with his head bowed down. Ya ötekiler? Renk vermeyenler? And the others? Those who gave no response? Belki de duymamışlardı bile adını! Maybe they hadn’t even heard of him! Belki de, bu sessizliğin vardı bir Maybe there was a reason for this nedeni . . . silence . . .

From the great pride for Cervantes, the lyrical speaker then directs the focus to Federico García Lorca, a Spanish poet, playwright, and theater director who was murdered by Nationalist forces at the beginning of the Spanish Civil War. His remains have never been recovered to this day. The lyrical speaker confronts the ofcers and soldiers, who look ashamed and try to avoid this confrontation; the other travelers show no response—maybe out of ignorance, maybe out of guilt, or maybe lack of knowledge? This is left open in the poem.

The lyrical speaker is able to establish strong contrasts between the perceived reality of a nation, which is full of pride, and its actual, suppressed history, which is full of violence, injustice, and ignorance.

Both poems were written during diferent times and therefore address different aspects of the public discourse on the Spanish Civil War in Turkey. However, both express responsibility for the Spanish cause. While the nonintervention policy forbade engagement in the Spanish Civil War, literary writers chose to intervene artistically. Their texts articulate the need for the justice and intervention that the government did not allow. While Hikmet wrote in the historical moment and created poetic counter-discourse to the political realities, Bahar wrote years later to address the suppressed violent histories of the country. These approaches also difer from the texts found in Yeni Adam, which are clearly political and aim to report on the situation and educate a Turkish audience.

Of course, this resistance not only represents the history of Spain but also refects the history of Turkey. Yeni Adam was censored by the Turkish government, even though the republic had just been founded and had promised freedom and equality. Nâzım Hikmet was a Turkish poet, playwright, novelist, and essayist, often described as a romantic communist. He spent much of his adult life imprisoned for his political beliefs and died in exile. His writings can therefore be understood as counter-discourse in every sense of the word. Born in Istanbul to a Sephardi family in 1926, Beki L. Bahar was a successful writer and thinker in Turkey who created a large body of work, including essays, travel writings, plays, and poems. Her works often engaged with suppressed historical memory in Europe and Turkey.

The Spanish Civil War had repercussions beyond the continent and is signifcant for Turkish history. The authors of Yeni Adam could foresee that the rise of fascism in Europe would be a threat to the fragile republic in Turkey and therefore took a clear stand against it. None of the articles in this magazine chose appeasement—quite the contrary: the publication named the dangers of nationalism, capitalism, and fascism, for which it was censored later on. Both Hikmet and Bahar were part of communities and groups that could not live safely in Turkey and were marked as “marginalized” by others. In their writings, they imagined a transnational community of solidarity and of resistance, both in Spain and in Turkey. The solidarity was demonstrated by the Jewish community, the Alevite community and, of course, the Kurdish community. The century of the Turkish republic has been marked by violence and discrimination, carried out by the state, against a pluralistic community. Writers, thinkers, performers, artists, politicians, and civilians have lived a vulnerable life, not protected by law and justice. Both Nâzım Hikmet’s and Beki L. Bahar’s poems work as a prism: through the body of the poetic text, the crystallization of a particular viewpoint, diferent historical experiences shine through, and we as readers can then clarify or better grasp the distortion of diferent layers of histories, memories, pasts, presents, and futures through the prism of the poem.

Bibliography

Bahar, Beki L. “Rapido’dan bir anı.” In Sevdim Onu, 67. Istanbul: Pan Yayincilik, 2007.

Güçlü, Yücel. “The Nyon Arrangement of 1937 and Turkey.” Middle Eastern Studies 38, no. 1 (2002): 53–70.

Hikmet, Nâzım. “Karanlıkta kar yağıyor.” In Bütün Şiirler 4, 772–74. Istanbul: YKY, 2019.