A Manifesto of Rebellion: "Greetings from Me to the Bey of Bolu"

Throughout history, the powerful have hidden their authority behind the high walls of palaces and the cold iron of dungeons. Yet the geography of Anadolu has borne witness to poets whose voices shattered those walls. The loudest and most furious of these voices is undoubtedly Köroğlu. He is not merely a son seeking vengeance for his father but a symbol of the people’s quest for justice against feudal tyranny. His famous line, “Let my greetings reach Bolu Bey,” is not a simple salutation but a manifesto of defiance against the established order.

The legend begins with a tragic act of oppression. Bolu Bey, on the pretext that his servant Yusuf failed to bring him a suitable horse, had his eyes gouged out. This cruel act did not merely blind a body—it ignited one of the fiercest flames of rebellion in history. From that day forward, Rusen Ali, blinded by his father’s tormentor, would be known as Köroğlu—the Son of the Blind—and would take to the mountains to avenge his father.

As noted in the archives of Bolu Municipality, Köroğlu’s struggle evolved from a personal blood feud into the voice of the people against oppressive rulers. Settling in Çamlıbel, Köroğlu took from passing caravans and distributed their wealth to the poor, transforming the label of “eşkıya” into that of a folk hero.^【1】

Köroğlu’s poems are sharper than his sword. His verse, beginning with “Let my greetings reach Bolu Bey / He must lean upon these mountains,” is not passive resistance but a call to active war. In these works, preserved in the archives of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Köroğlu mocks his enemy. To him, mountains symbolize freedom while valleys and palaces represent enslavement.

The imagery in his poetry—“From the creak of the bowstring, from the shield’s clang / The mountains must echo and cry out”—suggests that even nature joins his rebellion, its peaks echoing his battle cry in support. Köroğlu draws legitimacy from the land and from his courage, aligning himself with the natural world.^【2】

Köroğlu is not merely a warrior but a sociological observer. One of his most famous lines, “The rifle was invented, valor was corrupted,” offers the most concise diagnosis of the collapse of martial ethics. Combat with sword and shield was a test of courage and physical strength—a true man’s arena. But the widespread use of firearms made killing possible from a distance and without risk, thereby eroding the very concept of “valor.”

As academic studies emphasize, Köroğlu’s rebellion is directed not only against individuals but against the moral decay brought by a changing age. As one of the last representatives of the traditional alp-eren archetype, he defended human warmth and bravery against the cold face of modernity.^【3】

Today, although Köroğlu lives on as a legend in the mountains of Bolu, the values he represents are universal. The manifesto he began with “Let my greetings reach” continues to echo wherever injustice exists and wherever a “Bey” abuses his power. Köroğlu teaches us this: No matter how powerful oppression may be, the voice of the right always rings louder.