local branch of the organization, with instructions to organize Unionist infrastructure in Anatolia. Bayar formed a Unionist militia in Bursa with the intention to join up with Mahmud Şevket Pasha's Action Army during the 31 March Incident. He got as far as Mudanya but by then the revolt was crushed. He then founded the İzmir branch of Union and Progress in 1911. Bayar established an organization and CUP mouthpiece known as Halkın Doğru (True to the People), where he wrote pro-CUP articles under the pseudonym Turgut Alp. He was a participant of the 1913 Ottoman coup d'état, and witnessed the murder of the Minister of War Nazım Pasha. Well connected with financial circles, Bayar played an important role in Unionist Millî İktisat (National Economy) policies. He was a member of the Special Organization and worked alongside Eşref Sencer Kuşçubaşı in killing and robbing Ottoman Greeks in order to coerce them to emigrate in 1914. He initiated the opening of İzmir Girls' High School, the Şimendifer Vocational School in Basmahane, and a library in İzmir. Bayar also played an important role in the creation of the İzmir based sports club Altay S.K. War of Independence Following the Armistice of Mudros, which ended World War I for the Ottomans, he was tried and acquitted as a war criminal at the İzmir Martial Law Court. However when the allied powers continued advancing into Ottoman territory despite the armistice, various nationalist organizations known as Defence of National Rights Associations started to be founded. Bayar created the Association for the Cancellation of İzmir's Annexation (İzmir Redd-i İlhak Cemiyeti) and the Association for the Defence of Ottoman İzmir (İzmir Müdâfaa-i Hukuku Osmaniye Cemiyeti). Bayar fled into the mountains after hearing rumors of an impending allied occupation of İzmir and finding out his name was on an arrest list from the Freedom and Accord government in Constantinople. Once İzmir was occupied, he cooperated with the national resistance fighters in the Söke region. On the side of the resistance, he participated in the Battle of Aydın against the Greeks. With the decision of the Balıkesir Congress, he was appointed to the command of the Akhisar front regiment. Bayar was elected to the Ottoman Parliament as deputy of Saruhan (today Manisa) in the 1919 election, where he gave speeches denouncing the palace's indifference to allied occupation. Following the occupation of Constantinople, he fled to Ankara to join Mustafa Kemal