Süleyman Askerî Bey

Süleyman Askerî Bey[1]
Born 1884
Prizren, Kosovo Vilayet, Ottoman Empire
Died 14 April 1915 (aged 30–31)
Berjisiya, Basra Vilayet, Ottoman Empire
Allegiance Ottoman Empire
Years of service 1902–1915
Rank Kaymakam
Commands held Chief of staff of the Bingazi Area Command (Aziz Ali), Staff officer of the X Corps, Chief of Staff of Trabzon Redif Division, Chief of the Special Organization, Commander of the Iraq Area Command (Governor of Basra Vilayet)
Battles/wars Italo-Turkish War
Balkan Wars
First World War
Other work Chief of the General Staff of the Provisional Government of Western Thrace

Süleyman Askerî Bey, also known as Suleyman Askeri, Sulayman Askari, Sulaiman al-Askari (Modern Turkish: Süleyman el-Askerî ) and unofficially known as Suleyman Askeri Pasha[2] (1884 in Prizren, Kosovo Vilayet – April 14, 1915 in Berjasiya) was a military officer who served for the Ottoman Army.

Süleyman Askerî was born to General Vehbi Pasha, who served as military staff at Edirne in 1898 and then in Anatolia,[3] in 1884 in Prizren. He gradıated from the Ottoman Military Academy in 1902 and graduated from the Ottoman Military College on November 5, 1905 as Distinguished Captain (Mümtaz Yüzbaşı ).

He was assigned to Monastir (present-day Bitola) under the command of the Third Army stationed at Salonica (present-day Thessaloniki). During the days he stayed in Monastir, he joined the Committee of Union and Progress and he married Fadime Hanım, who was an aristocrat of Filibe (present-day Plovdiv). They had two daughters, Fatma and Dilek. He sheltered Mülâzim Atif Efendi (Atıf Kamçıl), who assassinated Shemsi Pasha in July 7, 1912, and participated in the Young Turk Revolution. He was closest friend of Kuşçubaşzade Eşref (Sencer). According to Philip Hendrick Stoddard, he was a brother-in-law of Mehmed Nuri (Conker),[4] who was the oldest friend of Mustafa Kemal (Atatürk).[5]

In 1909, he was promoted to the rank of Kolağası and appointed to the gendarmerie regiment in Baghdad. In 1911, after the Kingdom of Italy invaded the vilayet of Tripoli (present-day Libya), he went there and participated in operations in Benghazi. In 1912, he took part in the Balkan Wars as the chief of staff of Trabzon Redif Division[6] and then became the Chief of the General Staff of the provisional government (August 31, 1913 - October 25, 1913) established in Western Thrace.[7] On November 13, 1913, he was appointed to the chief of the Ottoman Special Organisation when it was officially formed.[8]

See also

Battle of Shaiba

Sources

  1. ↑ T.C. Genelkurmay Harp Tarihi Başkanlığı Yayınları, Türk İstiklâl Harbine Katılan Tümen ve Daha Üst Kademlerdeki Komutanların Biyografileri, Genkurmay Başkanlığı Basımevi, Ankara, 1972, p. 18. (Turkish)
  2. ↑ Şevket Süreyya Aydemir, Makedonyaʾdan Orta Asyaʾya Enver Paşa: cilt III: 1914-1922, Remzi kitabevi, p. 192. (Turkish)
  3. ↑ Celâl Bayar, Ben de Yazdım: Millî Mücadeleʼye Gidiş, Baha Matbaası, 1965, p. 1289. (Turkish)
  4. ↑ The Ottoman Government and the Arabs, 1911 to 1918: A Preliminary Study of the Teskilât-ı Mahsusa, Princeton University, 1963, p. 175.
  5. ↑ Erik Jan Zürcher, The Unionist Factor: The Role of the Committee of Union and Progress in the Turkish National Movement, 1905-1926, BRILL, 1984, ISBN 978-90-04-07262-6, p. 48.
  6. ↑ Fuat Balkan, Turgut Gürer (ed.), Komitacı: BJK'nin kurucusu Fuat Balkan'ın anıları, Gürer Yayınları, 2008, ISBN 978-9944-0-8102-3, p. 42. (Turkish)
  7. ↑ Стайко Трифонов, Тракия. «Административна уредба, политически и стопански живот, 1912-1915», Глава II. Административна уредба и управление на Западна Тракия. (Bulgarian)
  8. ↑ Erdal İlter, Kuruluşunun 75. Yılı Anısına Millî İstihbarat Tarihçesi, Millî Emniyet Hizmetleri Riyâseti (M.E.H)/(MAH), (1927/1965), Millî İstihbarat Teşkilât Müsteşarlığı, Ankara, 2002, ISBN 975-19-2712-9, Enver Paşa ve Teşkilâtı Mahsûsa (1913-1918). (Turkish)
Military offices
Preceded by
-		 Chief of the Special Organization
November 27, 1913–April 14, 1915 		Succeeded by
Ali Başhampa
Preceded by
-		 Commander of the Iraq Area Command
December 20, 1914–April 14, 1915 		Succeeded by
Nureddin Bey