Kahramanmaraş Province (Turkey)

Last modified: 2025-05-31 by ian macdonald
Keywords: kahramanmaraş |
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image by Tomislav Šipek, 24 September 2019

• Flag of Kahramanmaraş Province
• Kahramanmaraş (Metropolitan municipality)
• District municipalities
  • Afşin
  • Andırın
  • Çağlayancerit
  • Dulkadiroğlu
  • Ekinözü
  • Elbistan
  • Göksun
  • Nurhak
  • Onikişubat
  • Pazarcık
  • Türkoğlu

See also:

• Turkey

Flag of Kahramanmaraş Province

The flag of Kahramanmaraş Province (photo) is white with the provincial emblem. "T.C." stands for "Türkiye Cumhuriyeti", "Republic of Turkey"; "Valiliği" means "Governorate".
The emblem features the Medal of Independence of the Turkish Republic (Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Istiklal Madalyası), awarded on 7 April 1925 to Maraş Province, subsequently renamed to Kahramanmaraş (Heroic Maraş). The medal commemorates the first major battle of the Turkish War of Independence, fought in Maraş from 21 January to 13 February 1920. The French troops stationed in Maraş eventually retreated from the town, abandoning 10,000 Armenian refugees who were massacred by the Turkish troops.

Oval gilt bronze medal with loop for ribbon suspension; the face with a panorama of Ankara, a radiant rising sun beyond, a globe surrounded by working implements and an ox cart and drover in the foreground, dated ‘١٣٣٦’ (AH 1336 = AD 1918); the reverse with a relief map of Turkey, a five-pointed radiant star at Ankara with lines radiating to the major Turkish cities, a plaque below dated ‘١٣٣٨’ (AH 1338 = AD 1920), all within a crescent with a five-pointed star above, a decorative scroll below; on trifocals red ribbon for military recipients.
The new Turkish Assembly at Ankara approved the medal on 29 November 1920 and Law 66 was published on 4 April 1921, instituting the medal and suppressing all Ottoman decorations. The defeat of the Central Powers in World War I, of which the Ottoman Empire was one, hastened its final disintegration. A nationalist uprising led by Mustafa Kemal Pasha (Atatürk) fought against the terms of the Treaty of Sèvres which included the Greek occupation of İzmir, resulting in the Turkish War of Independence. On 23 April 1920 the new National Assembly met at Ankara for the first time and, following victory in two years of war with Greek and Allied forces and the remnants of Ottoman power, the Assembly abolished the Sultanate on 11 November 1922 and declared the Turkish Republic (Türkiye Cumhuriyeti), subsequently recognized by the Treaty of Lausanne, 24 July 1923.
[Medal-medaille online shop]