Kâzım Karabekir (1882–1948) was a Turkish soldier and politician; he was one of the leading commanders of the National Struggle.
He served as Commander of the Eastern Front and played a role in the signing of the Treaty of Alexandropol (Gümrü). In the Republican period he served as Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. He is also known for the importance he attached to the education of children and the raising of orphans.
Early years and education
He was born in Istanbul on 23 July 1882, the son of the gendarmerie regimental commander Mehmet Pasha. Kâzım Karabekir began primary school in Zeyrek, Istanbul. When his father Mehmet Pasha was posted to Mecca, he continued his education there. Upon Mehmet Pasha's death, Kâzım Karabekir came to Istanbul with his family and attended the Fatih Military Secondary School in 1894. In 1897 he entered the Kuleli Military High School and completed it in 1899. He graduated from the Military Academy (Harbiye) in 1902 and from the Staff College (Mekteb-i Erkân-ı Harbiye) in 1905.
Military career
In 1907, together with Enver Pasha, he founded the Manastır (Bitola) branch of the Committee of Union and Progress. In 1909 he joined the Action Army (Hareket Ordusu), formed to suppress the 31 March Incident. In 1912 he took part in the First Balkan War.
Political career
He arrived in Ankara on 15 October 1922. In his capacity as Deputy for Edirne, he continued his parliamentary work from 30 October onward. On 17 February 1923 he presided over the İzmir Economic Congress, convened for the first time in Turkey. On 29 June 1923, during the period when he was elected Deputy for Istanbul in the Second Term of the Grand National Assembly, he was in fact still continuing his post as Commander of the Eastern Front. On 21 November 1923 he was awarded the Medal of Independence with red and green ribbon, given to those recognized for "political and combat service in our National Struggle." On 21 October 1923 he was appointed to his last military post, the Inspectorate of the First Army. On 26 October 1924 he resigned from this post and thereafter operated only in the political arena.
On 9 November 1924 he resigned from the Republican People's Party (CHP). On 17 November 1924 he was among the founders of the Progressive Republican Party and shortly afterward became its chairman. Following the Sheikh Said Rebellion in the East, the government of İsmet Pasha enacted the Law on the Maintenance of Order (Takrir-i Sükûn), and it was claimed that the Progressive Republican Party had also played a role in this rebellion. Citing this event, the government under İsmet İnönü, by a decision of the Council of Ministers on 5 June 1925, permanently closed the Progressive Republican Party along with all opposition newspapers and parties. Moreover, in June 1926, Kâzım Karabekir was arrested in connection with the İzmir assassination attempt against President Gazi Mustafa Kemal, and although he was tried on a capital charge before the Independence Tribunal, he was acquitted.
When the second term of the Grand National Assembly ended in 1927, his deputyship came to an end. On 5 December 1927, while on the army's inactive list and eligible for the rank of "Müşir" (Field Marshal), he was compulsorily retired. After this period he was kept away from politics for a long time and forced into seclusion, and because of his disagreement with the government he headed the list of 84 "opponents" whom the authorities wished to keep under martial law. For 10 years he was kept under constant surveillance and detention, and his memoir titled "Our War of Independence" (İstiklal Harbimiz) was confiscated by a decision of the government of the day under the Law on the Maintenance of Order (Takrir-i Sükûn). He perhaps spent his most difficult years during this period. After Atatürk's death, he was elected Deputy for Istanbul on 26 January 1939. He was elected deputy again in 1943, and in the parliamentary speaker elections held on 5 August 1946 he was elected Speaker of the Assembly. On 26 January 1948, at the age of 66, he died in Ankara following a heart attack. His body, buried with a ceremony in the Cebeci Military Cemetery, was transferred to the State Cemetery in later years. At the beginning of 2010, the then Chief of the General Staff İlker Başbuğ commemorated the anniversary of Kâzım Karabekir's death for the first time.
Sources
- Turkish Wikipedia: tr.wikipedia.org
- English Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org