Çakırcalı Mehmet Efe

Çakırcalı Mehmet Efe (1872–1911) was a Zeybek, who was active as an outlaw in the region enclosing İzmir, Aydın, Denizli, Muğla and Antalya in modern western Turkey, from 1893 to 1910. Born in Ödemiş in 1871, he went out to the Aegean mountains at the age of 22 seeking revenge for his father, Çakırcalı Koca Ahmet Efe, who was murdered by an Ottoman sergeant.

While the political standing of Çakırcalı is controversial, he is generally recognized as a legendary efe, who was protective of common people, fought against authority, and established justice in regions of his control. In 1911, he was killed by Ottoman security forces during a fight and decapitated by his own men in order to prevent the identification of the body.

Until the year 1948 his body was on the mountain where he got killed; his younger daughter Hatice Akkas brought his body to the graveside Ödemis Kayaköy where her family has a glebe.

There are stories about him that he killed more than 1000 people; but he by himself killed no body.

The most famous folk song about him is Izmir'in Kavaklari. It used to be sang as Ödemis'in Kavaklari. In 2010 the Ankara State Ballet played for the first time his life on the stage.

References

• Views of the "outlaw concept" in comparative perspective: "The American West" and the "Zeybeks" in the Turk lands, Çakırcalı Mehmet Efe example : Lectures on Central Asia, H.B. Paksoy