Fahrettin Altay (12 January 1880 – 25 October 1974) was a Turkish military officer. The Turkish tank Altay is named in honor of him.

Biography

Fahrettin Altay was born to Lieutenant Colonel İsmail Bey, son of Hacı Ahmet Efendi from

İzmir İzmir ( , ; ), also spelled Izmir, is a metropolitan city in the western extremity of Anatolia, capital of the province of the same name. It is the third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara and the second largest urban agglo ...

and Hayriye Hanım, the daughter of Lieutenant Colonel İbrahim Bey in

Shkodër Shkodër ( , ; sq-definite, Shkodra) is the fifth-most-populous city of the Republic of Albania and the seat of Shkodër County and Shkodër Municipality. The city sprawls across the Plain of Mbishkodra between the southern part of Lake Shkod ...

in Scutari Vilayet (now

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

). His father rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel from being a captain at his arrival, by gaining fame in the wars he fought against Malësors and

Montenegrins Montenegrins ( cnr, Црногорци, Crnogorci, or ; lit. "Black Mountain People") are a South Slavic ethnic group that share a common Montenegrin culture, history, and language, identified with the country of Montenegro. Genetics Accordin ...

in the Shkodër region. He traces his roots to İzmir and states that his great-grandfather was Ömer Ağa the son of the " Urlalı" and states that his parents were married in Monastir. He married with Münime Hanım, the daughter of Tahir Paşa from the Bibezik family of

Podgorica Podgorica (Cyrillic script, Cyrillic: Подгорица, ; Literal translation, lit. 'under the hill') is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Montenegro, largest city of Montenegro. The city was formerly known as Titograd ...

in 1912 in İstanbul. They were married for 62 years and had two children and two grandchildren. When World War I started, he was the 3rd Corps Chief of Staff. He met future President of Turkey

Mustafa Kemal Mustafa ( ar, مصطفى , Muṣṭafā) is one of the names of Prophet Muhammad, and the name means "chosen, selected, appointed, preferred", used as an Arabic given name and surname. Mustafa is a common name in the Muslim world. Given name ...

while serving on the Dardanelles Front. In 1915, he was appointed Deputy Undersecretary of the Ministry of War and was promoted to the rank of Miralay in the same year. Shortly after serving in the

Romanian Front The Romanian Front ( ro, Frontul Românesc, FR) was a moderate fascist party created in Romania in 1935. Led by former Prime Minister Alexandru Vaida-Voevod, it originated as a right-wing splinter group from the mainstream National Peasants' Part ...

, he was sent as commander of the Palestinian Front. After the defeat in Palestine, the 12th Corps headquarters was moved to the city of

Konya Konya () is a major city in central Turkey, on the southwestern edge of the Central Anatolian Plateau, and is the capital of Konya Province. During antiquity and into Seljuk times it was known as Iconium (), although the Seljuks also called it D ...

where he served as 12th Corps commander to the end of the war. During the

Turkish War of Independence The Turkish War of Independence "War of Liberation", also known figuratively as ''İstiklâl Harbi'' "Independence War" or ''Millî Mücadele'' "National Struggle" (19 May 1919 – 24 July 1923) was a series of military campaigns waged by th ...

, Altay served as commander of the V. Cavalry Corps. Perhaps his most famous exploit during his leadership of the V. Cavalry Corps was the famous

Battle of Dumlupınar The Battle of Dumlupınar ( el, Μάχη του Τουμλού Μπουνάρ, translit=Máchi tou Toumloú Bounár, tr, Dumlupınar (Meydan) Muharebesi, lit=Dumlupınar (Field) Battle), or known as Field Battle of the Commander-in-Chief ( t ...

, where the V. Cavalry Corps passed behind the Greek lines at the beginning of the battle. His cavalry cut Greek supply and communication. They raised havoc among the retreating Greek troops and also captured General

Nikolaos Trikoupis Nikolaos Trikoupis ( el, Νικόλαος Τρικούπης; 1868–1956) was a Greek general and politician, most notable for his service in the Greco-Turkish War of 1919–1922, where he was taken as a prisoner of war. He also participate ...

, CO of Greek forces in Anatolia. In the Great Smyrna Offensive, V Cavalry Corps was one of the offensive vanguards of the Turkish Army. According to ''Altay Spor Tarihi'' ("The History of Altay Sports Club"), in 1966 when Fahrettin Altay visited the Altay Sports Club at

, he explained to Erdoğan Tözge how his surname was given. According to Erdoğan Tözge, he presented a gold

fountain pen A fountain pen is a writing instrument which uses a metal nib to apply a water-based ink to paper. It is distinguished from earlier dip pens by using an internal reservoir to hold ink, eliminating the need to repeatedly dip the pen in an inkw ...

to Fahrettin Altay and asked him how he chose Altay as his surname. Fahrettin Altay replied, ''When we visited Izmir with Gazi Mustafa Kemal Pasha during the years of armistice, the Altay club played football against a mixed team consisting of Royal Navy personnel. We watched the game together. Altay club played very well and when they won against the British, Gazi Mustafa Kemal Pasha was affected, honored, and expressed his appreciation. After a long time had passed and Gazi Mustafa Kemal Pasha sent me to

Tabriz Tabriz ( fa, تبریز ; ) is a city in northwestern Iran, serving as the capital of East Azerbaijan Province. It is the List of largest cities of Iran, sixth-most-populous city in Iran. In the Quri Chay, Quru River valley in Iran's historic Aze ...

to settle a border dispute with Iran. During my staying at Tabriz, the

Surname Law Surname law can refer to any law regulating the use of surnames. Canada From 1941 to 1978, the Government of Canada issued disc numbers to identify Inuit in their records. In the mid-1960s Project Surname began, and, headed by Abe Okpik, Inuit w ...

was adopted in the

Grand National Assembly Great National Assembly or Grand National Assembly may refer to: * Great National Assembly of Alba Iulia, an assembly of Romanian delegates that declared the unification of Transylvania and Romania * Great National Assembly (Socialist Republic of R ...

, and the Assembly gave the name Atatürk to Gazi Mustafa Kemal Pasha unanimously. All the country congratulated him because of his new surname. I also sent a telegraph and celebrated.''Ç. Esen Kaftan, Aydın Sevgel, Günay Şimşek, Mehmet Ali Hesertürk, ''Altay Spor Tarihi'', Altay Spor Kulübü, c. 1975. Atatürk's response that he received the next day, was: Afterwards, Fahrettin said, "My eyes were full when I received the telegram. Atatürk deemed me worthy of surname Altay for the memory of the football match of Altay that we had watched together and he had been affected." In 1933-35 Altay was chosen by Afghanistan and Iran to demarcate the middle section of their common boundary. He retired from the army in 1945. Between 1946 and 1950 he served as an MP for the CHP from Burdur. After 1946 he retired from political life and died in Istanbul in 1974. Baskın Sokulluoğlu together with his grandfather Fahrettin Altay Paşa in 1938

Baskın Sokulluoğlu together with his grandfather Fahrettin Altay Paşa in 1938

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Altay, Fahrettin 1880 births 1974 deaths People from Shkodër People from Scutari vilayet Republican People's Party (Turkey) politicians Deputies of Mersin Deputies of Izmir Deputies of Burdur Ottoman Army officers Turkish Army generals Commanders of the First Army of Turkey Ottoman military personnel of the Balkan Wars Ottoman military personnel of World War I Turkish military personnel of the Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922) Ottoman Military Academy alumni Ottoman Military College alumni Recipients of the Medal of Independence with Red-Green Ribbon (Turkey) Burials at Turkish State Cemetery Commanders of the Second Army of Turkey

Biography

See also

Sources