Siege of Aintab

The siege of Aintab (Les Quatres Sièges d'Aïntab; عین تاب قوشاتماسى; Antep Kuşatması) was a military engagement between the Turkish National Forces and the French Army of the Levant occupying the city of Aintab (present-day Gaziantep) during the Turkish War of Independence (specifically its southern front, known as the Franco-Turkish War).

Fighting began in April 1920, when French forces opened fire on the city. It ended with the Kemalist defeat and the city's surrender to the French military forces on 9 February 1921. However, despite a victory, the French ultimately decided to retreat from the city leaving it to Kemalist forces on 20 October 1921 in accordance with the Treaty of Ankara. According to Ümit Kurt, born in modern-day Gaziantep and an academic at Harvard’s Center for Middle East Studies, the resistance movement not just sought to regain the control of the city but also aimed at keeping the loots from the local Armenians and eradicating the Armenian community of the city.

1920

 * 1 - 16 April: 1st Turkish siege
 * 30 April - 23 May: 2nd Turkish siege
 * 30 May - 18 June: 1920 armistice
 * 29 July - 10 August: 3rd Turkish siege
 * 11 August: beginning of French siege
 * 21 November - 18 December: Goubeau column participation

1921

 * 7 February: last exit attempt
 * 8 February: sending of a city parliamentary mission - cease fire
 * 9 February: capitulation