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

Throughout history, the powerful have hidden their strength behind the high walls of palaces and the cold iron of dungeons. Yet the geography of Anatolia has borne witness to these walls being washed away by the voices of bards. 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 greetings be sent to 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 Yusuf’s eyes gouged out. This cruel act did not merely blind one man’s body—it ignited one of the greatest fires of rebellion in history. Ruşen Ali, blinded by this injustice, would from that day forward be known as “Köroğlu” (Son of the Blind) and would retreat to the mountains to seek revenge for his father.

As noted in the sources 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 title “outlaw” into that of “people’s hero.”^【1】

Köroğlu’s poems are sharper than his sword. His poem, beginning with the lines, “Let greetings be sent to Bolu Bey / One 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 scorns his enemy. To him, mountains symbolize freedom, while plains and palaces represent enslavement.

The imagery in his poetry—“From the clatter of arrows and the clink of shields / The mountains must echo and cry out”—conveys that even nature itself joins the rebellion, its peaks echoing Köroğlu’s battle cry in support of his cause. Köroğlu draws legitimacy from the land and from his courage.^【2】

Köroğlu is not merely a warrior but also a sociological observer. One of his most famous lines, “The rifle has been invented, valor has been corrupted,” is among the most concise indictments 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 adoption of firearms made killing possible from a distance and without risk, thereby undermining the very concept of “valor.”

As academic studies emphasize, Köroğlu’s rebellion is directed not only against individuals but also 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 heroism 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 the words, “Let greetings be sent,” continues to echo wherever injustice exists and wherever a “Bey” abuses his power. Köroğlu teaches us this: however strong oppression may be, the voice of the righteous will always ring louder.