Hüseyin Rauf Orbay (27 July 1881 – 16 July 1964) was an Ottoman-born Turkish naval officer, statesman and diplomat of

Abkhazia Abkhazia, ka, აფხაზეთი, tr, , xmf, აბჟუა, abzhua, or ( or ), officially the Republic of Abkhazia, is a partially recognised state in the South Caucasus, recognised by most countries as part of Georgia, which ...

n origin.

Biography

Hüseyin Rauf was born in

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

in 1881 to an Abkhazian family. As an officer in the Ottoman Navy, he achieved fame for his actions as the captain of the

cruiser A cruiser is a type of warship. Modern cruisers are generally the largest ships in a fleet after aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships, and can usually perform several roles. The term "cruiser", which has been in use for several ...

'' Hamidiye'' during the

First Balkan War The First Balkan War ( sr, Први балкански рат, ''Prvi balkanski rat''; bg, Балканска война; el, Αʹ Βαλκανικός πόλεμος; tr, Birinci Balkan Savaşı) lasted from October 1912 to May 1913 and invo ...

.''Huseyin Ra'uf Orbey'', W.M. Hale, ''The Encyclopaedia of Islam'', Vol. VIII, ed. C.E.Bosworth, E. van Donzel, W.P.Heinrichs and G. Lecomte, (Brill, 1995), 174. He was Chief of Naval Staff during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

and by October 1918 was Minister of Marine and led the delegation that signed the

Armistice of Mudros Concluded on 30 October 1918 and taking effect at noon the next day, the Armistice of Mudros ( tr, Mondros Mütarekesi) ended hostilities in the Middle Eastern theatre between the Ottoman Empire and the Allies of World War I. It was signed by th ...

. Rauf Orbay also played a role in assisting

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, or Mustafa Kemal Pasha until 1921, and Ghazi Mustafa Kemal from 1921 Surname Law (Turkey), until 1934 ( 1881 – 10 November 1938) was a Turkish Mareşal (Turkey), field marshal, Turkish National Movement, re ...

in a near court-martial during a feud with

Djemal Pasha Ahmed Djemal ( ota, احمد جمال پاشا, Ahmet Cemâl Paşa; 6 May 1872 – 21 July 1922), also known as Cemal Pasha, was an Ottoman military leader and one of the Three Pashas that ruled the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Djemal w ...

and

Enver Pasha İsmail Enver, better known as Enver Pasha ( ota, اسماعیل انور پاشا; tr, İsmail Enver Paşa; 22 November 1881 – 4 August 1922) was an Ottoman military officer, revolutionary, and convicted war criminal who formed one-third ...

. On 31 October 1918, he signed the

as the Minister of Navy, which ended the Ottoman Empire's participation in

. When 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 ...

began, he resigned from his position and went to

Ankara Ankara ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and over 5.7 million in Ankara Province, maki ...

to collaborate with

. He was elected as a member of the representative committee in the

Congress of Erzurum Erzurum Congress ( tr, Erzurum Kongresi) was an assembly of Turkish Revolutionaries held from 23 July to 4 August 1919 in the city of Erzurum, in eastern Turkey, in accordance with the previously issued Amasya Circular. The congress united dele ...

on 23 July 1919. He joined the

Congress of Sivas The Sivas Congress ( tr, Sivas Kongresi) was an assembly of the Turkish National Movement held for one week from 4 to 11 September 1919 in the city of Sivas, in central-eastern Turkey, which united delegates from all Anatolian provinces of th ...

as a delegate for

Sivas Sivas (Latin and Greek: ''Sebastia'', ''Sebastea'', Σεβάστεια, Σεβαστή, ) is a city in central Turkey and the seat of Sivas Province. The city, which lies at an elevation of in the broad valley of the Kızılırmak river, is ...

on 4 September 1919 and was elected deputy chairman. When the War of Independence ended he became the first

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

of the new provisional

Government of the Grand National Assembly The Government of the Grand National Assembly ( tr, Büyük Millet Meclisi Hükûmeti), self-identified as the State of Turkey () or Turkey (), commonly known as the Ankara Government (),Kemal Kirişci, Gareth M. Winrow: ''The Kurdish Question and ...

on 11 August 1922. In 1924, he was one of the founders of the ''Terakkiperver Cumhuriyet Fırkası'' ( Progressive Republican Party) at the request of Atatürk as part of Atatürk's attempt to begin the tradition of multiparty democracy in the young Republic, in opposition to Atatürk's

Republican People's Party The Republican People's Party ( tr, Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi, , acronymized as CHP ) is a Kemalist and social-democratic political party in Turkey which currently stands as the main opposition party. It is also the oldest political party i ...

. When this party was closed down in 1925 after Atatürk found that Islamist reactionaries had infiltrated its ranks, Rauf went to exile in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

for 10 years. Later, he was cleared of all accusations and became a member of the

Turkish parliament The Grand National Assembly of Turkey ( tr, ), usually referred to simply as the TBMM or Parliament ( tr, or ''Parlamento''), is the unicameral Turkish legislature. It is the sole body given the legislative prerogatives by the Turkish Consti ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, Rauf Orbay was the Turkish ambassador in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, helping keep Turkey out of the war. He always firmly believed in the Republic of Turkey and always stated that

was the only person who could have organised and led the transformation of the crumbling Ottoman Empire into modern Turkey. File:Hamidié, Croiseur de 1ère classe.jpg, Rauf Orbay as the captain of the cruiser Hamidiye File:HüseyinRaufOrbay IstanbulNavalMuseum.JPG, Bust of Rauf Orbay in the Istanbul Naval Museum

Autobiography

*''Cehennem Değirmeni'' ("Windmill of Hell"), Emre Publishing, September 1993Book summaries

References

* ''Rauf Orbay, Siyasi Hatiralar'', Örgün Yayinevi, İstanbul, 2003.

External links

* * Mustafa Alkan
"Hüseyin Rauf Orbay’ın Hayatı (1880-1964)"
''Atatürk Araştırma Merkezi Dergisi'', Sayı 59, Cilt: XX, Temmuz 2004,

{{DEFAULTSORT:Orbay, Rauf 1881 births 1964 deaths 20th-century prime ministers of Turkey Diplomats from Istanbul Military personnel from Istanbul Turkish people of Abkhazian descent Ottoman Naval Academy alumni Ottoman Navy officers Ottoman military personnel of the Italo-Turkish War Ottoman military personnel of the Balkan Wars Ottoman military personnel of World War I Members of the Special Organization (Ottoman Empire) People of the Turkish War of Independence Malta exiles Members of Kuva-yi Milliye Prime Ministers of Turkey Ambassadors of Turkey to the United Kingdom Progressive Republican Party (Turkey) politicians Politicians from Istanbul