Kâzım Özalp

Kâzım Özalp

Kâzım Özalp (1st row, 1st from left) with classmates from the War School of the Ottoman Empire (1901), including Mustafa Kemal Ataturk (1st row, 2nd from left), Ali Fuat Cebesoy (1st row, 3rd from left ) and Sedat Doğruer (1st row, 4th from the left)

Kâzım Özalp (* 1880 in Köprülü , Ottoman Empire , today Macedonia ; † June 6, 1968 in Ankara ) was a leading figure in the Turkish War of Liberation and later a politician in the Republic of Turkey .

Özalp was born in 1880 in the town of Köprülü (now Veles ), which was then part of the Ottoman Empire . He graduated from the military school in 1902 and the military academy in 1905. His first place of employment was the 36th Regiment in Selanik (now Thessaloniki ). There he joined the Committee on Unity and Progress . Özalp was involved in the suppression of the uprising on March 31, 1909 . He served in the Balkan War in 1912 . In World War I he fought against the Russian Empire on the Caucasus Front . In 1914 Özalp was promoted to major ( binbaşı ), in 1915 to lieutenant colonel ( yarbay ) and in 1917 to colonel ( albay ). During the Turkish Liberation War, Özalp was appointed commander of the Northern Front in 1919. In 1920 Özalp was responsible for suppressing the Anzavur uprising.

Kâzım Özalp was elected in the first eight legislative terms as a member of the Karesi Province (now Balıkesir Province ) in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey . In the ninth legislative period, Özalp was a member of the Van Province . In 1921 he was appointed commander of the Kocaeli region . Özalp succeeded in liberating İzmit and Adapazarı from the occupation forces. In the battle of the Sakarya , Özalp commanded a corps . Because of his success in this battle, Özalp was promoted to major general in 1921.

In January 1922, Özalp became defense minister , in the same year he was promoted to lieutenant general and in 1926 to general . From November 26, 1924 to March 1, 1935, Özalp was President of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey . Between 1935 and 1939, Özalp was again Minister of Defense.

Özalp wrote a book published in 1971 entitled Milli Mücadele (National Struggle).

According to the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of Turkey , Özalp was a Freemason .

Web links

Commons : Kâzım Özalp  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ last: 2. baskı, Ankara 1985, ( Türk Tarih Kurumu Yayınları 16. dizi)
2. ↑ Grand Lodge of the Free and Accepted Masons of Turkey: Information on Özalp's membership in the Grand Lodge ( Memento of April 27, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) (Turkish)