Abdülkerim Pascha

Abdülkerim Pascha in the First World War

Abdülkerim Pasha († 1923 in Istanbul ) was an Ottoman general and commander of the Caucasus Front in the First World War .

Abdülkerim Pascha was the first to command the II Army Corps. After his defeat in the Battle of Sarıkamış he was given command of the Ottoman 3rd Army . With this he defeated the Russians in July 1915 at the Battle of Malazgirt . The Russian General Oganowski launched an offensive into the hills west of Malazgirt. Abdülkerim Pascha ordered a counterattack, so the Ottomans could conquer the city of Malazgirt .

After General Oganowski was replaced by General Nikolai Nikolajewitsch Yudenich , the latter ordered a counterattack and was able to recapture Malazgirt. Yudenitsch ordered the withdrawal, however, as he was outnumbered by Abdülkerim Pasha's troops. At the same time the pasha had the Russian troops pursued. Yudenich managed to defeat him in the battle of Kara Kilise . The Ottoman troops had to withdraw to Malazgirt. In the battle of Erzurum in early 1916, Abdülkerim Pascha suffered great losses and was replaced as commander. Later he briefly ran the XX. Army corps on the Salonika front , which was soon withdrawn.

After the war, Abdülkerim Pasha was the Turkish representative in the newly established Georgian government. After the Mudros armistice , he returned to İstanbul. For some time he was a member of the court martial, after the death of the President of the Council of the Court Hursid Pasha, he took over his post.