Nafiz Gurman

General Nafiz Gurman

Abdurrahman Nafiz Gürman (* 1883 in Bodrum , Muğla Province ; † February 6, 1966 in Ankara ) was a general of the Turkish armed forces (Türk Silahlı Kuvvetleri) and between 1949 and 1950 was chief of the general staff .

Life

Training as an officer and general staff officer

After attending school, Gürman completed an officer training course at the Army School ( Harp Okulu ) , which he completed in 1903. After graduating from the Army Academy ( Harp Akademisi ) , he first became an officer in the staff of the 77th Regiment and then first teaching assistant at the Army School in Baghdad and then teaching assistant at the Army School in Edirne , before he was employed as an officer in the staff of the 44th Regiment. In the run-up to the First World War , he took part in the Balkan Wars and the Italo-Turkish War in 1912. After serving as an officer in the staff of the 44th Battalion, he became commander of the İşkodra fortress and only then commander of the 10th Rifle Battalion and then commander of the NCO training battalion. In addition to the Iron Crescent, he was also awarded the Iron Cross for his services in the First World War .

Gürman was then Chief of Staff of the 26th Division and was captured as an officer in the Africa Group of the Armed Forces on March 8, 1919, where he was held until October 8, 1919. During the Turkish War of Liberation , he was taken prisoner again during a front mission in Akhisar and, on his return on February 8, 1921, took over the position of Chief of Staff of the 1st Corps in Anatolia . He then became commander of the 1st Division in Thrace .

Promotion to general

In 1926 Gürman was promoted to major general (Tümgeneral) and took over the function of commanding general of the 3rd Corps. After his promotion to lieutenant general (co- general ) in 1930 he was first commanding general of the 9th Corps and then Undersecretary of State in the Ministry of National Defense (Millî Savunma Bakanlığı) and subsequently commanding general of the 4th Corps, before becoming his successor on December 20, 1939 General İzzettin Çalışlar was acting commander in chief of the 2nd Army.

After his promotion to general (Orgeneral) he officially became commander in chief of the 2nd Army and held this position until he was replaced by General İshak Avni Akdağ on December 19, 1943. In 1943 he moved to the General Staff and at the same time became a member of the Supreme Military Council.

On June 10, 1949 General Gürman succeeded Salih Omurtak as Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces (Genelkurmay Başkanı) . He stayed in this post until June 6, 1950, when he was replaced by General Nuri Yamut . He formally remained a member of the Supreme Military Council before being officially retired on July 6, 1950.

Gürman was married to Sabiha Gürman and was buried after his death in the Turkish State Cemetery (Devlet Mezarlığı) in Ankara.

Web links

• Biography on the homepage of the armed forces (page accessed on October 16, 2015)