Refet Bele
Refet Bele (also İbrahim Refet Efendi or Refet Pascha , * 1881 in Istanbul ; † October 2, 1963 there ) was an Ottoman- Turkish soldier and politician. He was one of the five leading soldiers in the Turkish Liberation War . (The others were Mustafa Kemal Ataturk , Ali Fuat Cebesoy , Kâzım Karabekir and Rauf Orbay .) In the first years of the Turkish Republic he was Minister of the Interior and Minister of Defense.
Family and schooling
Refet Bele was born in 1881 to Mehmet Servet Bey and Adviye Hanım in Istanbul's Beşiktaş district . His family comes from Salonika in Macedonia . His surname Bele , which he adopted in 1934 according to the new Turkish naming law , comes from the place Bjala in Rumelia (today Bulgaria ). His grandfather Beleli Mehmet Bey came from Bele. Because of the unrest in the Balkans , the family emigrated to Istanbul, but returned to Saloniki while Refet Bele was still a baby. After attending the school in Saloniki, he went to the military school in Istanbul.
In 1898 he graduated from school with the rank of lieutenant and was assigned to the 3rd Army . In 1903 he was involved in the suppression of the Bulgarian Ilinden-Preobraschenie uprising . In the same year he was promoted to lieutenant and in 1906 to captain . Refet Bey became a member of the Committee on Unity and Progress in 1908 and was a close friend of Talât Pasha . In 1909 he started at the military academy and fought in the Italo-Turkish War and the Balkan Wars . After graduating from the Academy on November 1, 1912, he joined the General Staff. During the First World War he fought on the front in Syria and Palestine under the command of Otto Liman von Sanders against the British and distinguished himself in the second battle for Gaza in April 1917. He received many awards and medals. But in the end the Ottomans could not prevent the British from advancing. Refet Bey's unit was completely wiped out in the Battle of Megiddo on September 18 and 19, 1918. The front collapsed and the British advanced as far as Damascus .
War of liberation
Resistance in Istanbul
After the Mudros Armistice was signed in October 1918 between the Ottoman Empire and the United Kingdom and France , Refet Bey returned to Istanbul and became head of Jandarma . At the time he was in contact with the resistance movement in Anatolia and sent weapons there. Meetings between Refet Bey and Mustafa Kemal, Ali Fuat , Rauf Bey and Kâzım Karabekir took place in Istanbul, where the leadership role of the resistance movement was decided. On January 19, 1919, Refet Bey was removed from his position as Jandarmaleiter.
Arrival in Anatolia and resignation
Mustafa Kemal was commissioned by the government to demobilize the Ottoman army in Anatolia. Mustafa Kemal set off from Istanbul by ship and landed in Samsun on May 16, 1919 . Refet Bey was at Mustafa Kemal's side and became the commander of the 3rd Corps in Sivas . In the Amasya decree of June 21, 1919, which Refet Bey co-signed, basic points of the resistance movements were declared and a congress called for. When the British sent soldiers to Samsun, Refet Bey stopped them at Kavak . The government in Istanbul asked Refet Bey to obey and to turn away from Mustafa Kemal. Refet Bey then announced his resignation as commander of the 3rd Corps on July 12, 1919. A day later it was announced in the Official Gazette that Refet Bey had been removed from office.
The Erzurum and Sivas Congresses
After leaving the army, Refet Bey took part as a delegate at the Erzurum and Sivas congresses. General Kazim Karabekir received an arrest warrant for Refet Bey and Mustafa Kemal Pascha from Istanbul. But in a telegram Karabekir wrote that neither of them would do anything illegal and refused to give the order.
In order to better coordinate the resistance movement, a representative committee (Heyet-i Temsiliye) was formed. At the Sivas Congress, Refet Bey was also elected to the committee. In Sivas he then gave a long speech in which he advocated a Turkey under a US mandate. He was later sent to Konya, where he should change the mind of the Vali (governor), who was loyal to the Sultan. But shortly before his arrival in Konya, the Vali had fled to Istanbul.
Command of the front in Aydın
Ali Fuat Cebesoy was given command of the western front. This then put Refet Bey as a commander for the Aydın region . Aydın was held by the Kuvayı Milliye groups. Then Refet Pasha went from Konya to Aydın. There he was able to win the militia leader Demirci Mehmet Efe for the resistance. Two corps were stationed in Aydın under the command of Refet. From here he could send secret arms deliveries from Istanbul to Ankara. He also captured weapons and ammunition from the Italian occupiers in Antalya.
MP and Minister
Refet Bey was elected to the Ottoman Parliament as a deputy for Izmir, but did not go to Istanbul because of alleged health problems. When Istanbul was occupied by the Allies and the Ottoman Parliament dissolved, Refet took part in the elections for the parliament of the resistance movement in Ankara on March 19 and won.
Refet Bey was involved in cracking down on some riots. These included the uprisings of the caliphate supporters in Düzce and the Yozgat uprising. He returned to Ankara in August of the same year. Earlier on July 25, the Sultan announced his death sentence.
On September 16, 1920 Refet was elected Minister of the Interior . As Home Secretary, he put down a riot in Konya. But because he was rarely in Ankara, the Ministry of the Interior was headed by his representative Adnan Adıvar . Fearing Mustafa Kemal's dictatorship, some politicians and members of the disbanded Green Army, another resistance organization, founded the left-wing Halk Zümresi party . Mustafa Kemal founded his own left-wing party called Türkiye Komünist Fırkası in October. He also persuaded some members of the Halk Zümresi to join his party. Refet also became a member of the party. So Mustafa Kemal was able to control the left opposition. On March 18, 1921, Refet resigned from his ministerial office.
Southern front and uprisings
On June 22, 1920 the Greek troops began their attack and occupied Balıkesir and Bursa . The Turks then began to disband the Kuvayı Milliye and build a professional army. The front against the Greeks in Western Anatolia was divided into two units. The northern section was commanded by İsmet İnönü and the southern part by Refet.
Refet began to form mounted units from militia groups such as Demirci Mehmet Efe, Sarı Efe and Yörük Ali Efe . When Demirci Mehmet Efe refused to join the army, the Ankara government sent Refet Bey against him. On December 16, Demirci Mehmet Efe and Refet met at İğdecik. Demirci Mehmet Efe surrendered on December 30, 1920.
The suppression of the Yozgat uprising was the beginning of the division and disagreement between Refet and Çerkez Ethem . Çerkez Ethem complained to Mustafa Kemal about Refet and wanted İsmet İnönü to lead the entire Western Front. Mustafa Kemal refused a dismissal and ordered Çerkez Ethem, who had recently expressed his loyalty to the Sultan, to join the army without any ifs or buts. Çerkez Ethem refused. On January 3, 1921, after a joint attack by Refet and İsmet İnönü, a large part of the men Çerkez Ethems surrendered. He himself was able to flee with his brothers and sought refuge with the Greeks. Mustafa Kemal Pascha later criticized in his Nutuk Refet for letting her escape.
The Greeks used the Çerkez Ethem uprising for an offensive on January 6-11, 1921, but were then repulsed by Refet. Because of this, he was promoted to major general. On March 18, 1921, he resigned from the office of Minister of the Interior. Another offensive by the Greeks was repulsed at the second battle of İnönü. Because of some failures of Refet, Mustafa Kemal decided to combine the two front sections and handed over command to İsmet İnönü. Refet was offered the office of Minister of Defense. But he wanted to become chief of staff, which he was denied. Thereupon he retired to a country house in Kastamonu .
Minister of the Interior and Defense
After a period of rest, Refet (now Pasha) became Minister of the Interior for the second time on June 30, 1921. During this time he dealt with the Koçgiri uprising and unrest in Dersim , where the people wanted to have their own administration. On August 5, 1921, he was also Minister of Defense . With his ideas like the tailoring of soldiers' hats from carpets or the production of swords from scrap, he contributed a lot to the success of the army. For health reasons, he resigned as Minister of Defense on January 10, 1922. After resigning as minister, he became chairman of the Turkish Red Crescent . Refet also participated in the negotiations on the Mudanya ceasefire .
Representative in Istanbul
Refet Pasha was entrusted with the surrender of Thrace to Turkey according to the Treaty of Mudanya. He arrived in Istanbul on October 19. At the same time, he replaced Hamit Hasancan as the representative of Ankara in Istanbul. Although it wasn't in the Treaty of Mudanya, Refet managed to get the Allies to hand over the Gallipoli peninsula to Turkish administration.
When the sultanate was abolished by law on November 2, 1922, Refet had the task of giving this news to Sultan Mehmet VI. to teach. In agreement with Ankara, the disempowered sultan was exiled on a British warship. But since the sultan was caliph at the same time, this office went to Abdülmecit II . He had to explain to Ankara that he had no interest in the sultan's title. On November 4, 1922, the last Ottoman government under Grand Vizier Ahmed Tevfik Pasha resigned and a day later all ministries in Istanbul were dissolved. With the surrender of Eastern Thrace on November 29, 1922, Refet's task in Istanbul was over. He was replaced by Adnan Adıvar .
On November 30, 1922, negotiations between the Allies and Turkey began in Lausanne. When the talks threatened to break down, the Turks made preparations for another war. Refet was tasked with building an army. But in a renewed attempt, the Lausanne treaty came about. After the proclamation of the Republic of Turkey on April 23, 1923, elections were held for the new parliament. Refet was elected MP from Istanbul. After Refet's career in the army ended on October 8, 1923, he continued as a member of parliament.
After the founding of the republic
Terakkiperver Cumhuriyet Fırkası
In the first years of the republic, the government implemented many profound reforms. Refet Bele resigned from the CHP on November 9, 1924, worried by the rapid pace of reform . Together with others he founded the Terakkiperver Cumhuriyet Fırkası party on November 17 . Together with Kâzım Karabekir, Ali Fuat Cebesoy and Rauf Orbay by Ataturk, he was criticized several times in his Nutuk speech . The new party was banned in 1925. When plans for an assassination attempt on Ataturk were discovered in 1926, Refet Bele, among others, was arrested. However, he was acquitted in the Independence Court.
On November 1, 1926, he resigned his parliamentary mandate and was retired by the military on December 8, 1926 at his own request. Until 1935 he stayed away from politics.
Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi
After Ataturk's death, İsmet İnönü came closer to the old opposition members. They were pardoned and were able to return to the CHP. So it came about that in the parliamentary elections in 1939, Refet Bele was elected to parliament along with Kâzım Karabekir, Hüseyin Cahit Yalçın and Ali Fuat Cebesoy . Refet Bele was MP for Istanbul in the 5th legislative period. He was re-elected for the next three terms and remained in parliament until 1950.
Then he was appointed on April 8, 1950 as the Turkish delegate of the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees in Beirut. He held this post until February 22, 1961.
Refet married Bele Perihan Hanım in 1949 and had a daughter named Zeynep Asuman Begüm in 1953. Refet Bele was a member of the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of Turkey .
death
Refet Bele died on October 2, 1963 of complications from a stroke . He was buried in the Zincirlikuyu Cemetery in Istanbul.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Halit Kaya, Refet Bele'nin Askeri ve Siyasi Hayatı , Ankara Üniversitesi İnkılap Tarihi Enstitüsü Yüksek Lisans Tezi, Ankara, 2008 ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Bele, Refet |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Bele, İbrahim Refet (full name); Refet Efendi; Refet Pasha |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Ottoman soldier and Turkish minister |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1881 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Istanbul |
| DATE OF DEATH | 2nd October 1963 |
| Place of death | Istanbul |