Fevzi Cakmak

Fevzi Çakmak was a Turkish field marshal and politician who played a leading role in the establishment of the Turkish Republic. He served as the Chief of General Staff from 1918 and 1919 and later the Minister of War of the Ottoman Empire in 1920. He later joined the provisional Government of the Grand National Assembly and became the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of National Defense and later as the Prime Minister of Turkey from 1921 to 1922. He was the second Chief of the General Staff of the provisional Ankara Government and the first Chief of the General Staff of the Republic of Turkey. He graduated from the War College as a Staff Captain and assigned to the 4th Department of the General Staff. He participated in numerous battles during the prolonged downfall of the Ottoman Empire, such as the First Balkan War and the Battle of Monastir. He was engaged as the Commander of the V Corps throughout the defence of Gallipoli, during which his younger brother was killed in the Battle of Chunuk Bair. He became a Pasha and the Chief of General Staff of the Ottoman Empire after the First World War and was appointed as the commander of the First Army Troops Inspectorate in 1919 by Grand Vizier Ahmet Tevfik Pasha. He resigned from his post after the Ottoman government signed the Treaty of Sèvres, which he considered a betrayal of the nation. He then joined the Turkish National Movement led by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and fought against the occupying forces in the Turkish War of Independence. He was instrumental in the victory of the Battle of Sakarya and the Great Offensive, which secured the independence and sovereignty of Turkey. He was promoted to the rank of Marshal in 1922, becoming the second and last person to hold this rank in Turkish history. He also served as the Prime Minister of the Government of the Grand National Assembly from 1921 to 1922, and later as the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defense until 1924. He was a close ally and friend of Atatürk, and supported his reforms and policies. He remained as the Chief of the General Staff until 1944, when he retired due to his old age and health problems. He was then elected as a member of parliament from the Democrat Party in 1946, and became the leader of the opposition against the ruling Republican People's Party. He was a vocal critic of the government's foreign policy, especially regarding the relations with the Soviet Union and the United States. He advocated for a more nationalist and independent stance, and opposed the participation of Turkey in the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan. He also supported the rights and demands of the Kurdish people, and proposed a federal system for Turkey. He died of a heart attack in 1950, and was buried with a state funeral at the Eyüp Cemetery in Istanbul. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest military leaders and statesmen in Turkish history, and a national hero of the Turkish War of Independence.