Ali Çetinkaya, also known as " Kel" Ali Bey (1878 – 21 February 1949) was an Ottoman-born Turkish army officer and politician, who served eight terms in the

Grand National Assembly of Turkey 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 Const ...

, including a period in 1939–40 as his country's first Minister of Transport.

Biography

He was born in Kara Hisâr-i Sâhib (present day

Afyonkarahisar Afyonkarahisar (, tr, afyon "poppy, opium", ''kara'' "black", ''hisar'' "fortress") is a city in western Turkey, the capital of Afyon Province. Afyon is in the mountainous countryside inland from the Aegean coast, south-west of Ankara along t ...

) in

Hüdavendigâr Vilayet The Hüdavendigâr Vilayet ( ota, ولايت خداوندگار, Vilâyet-i Hüdavendigâr) or Bursa Vilayet after its administrative centre, was a first-level administrative division ( vilayet) of the Ottoman Empire. At the beginning of the 20th ...

as the son of Ahmed Efendi. He studied in the Bursa Military High School (''Bursa Askerî İdadisi'' ). After graduating from military highschool, he entered the Ottoman Military Academy (''Mekteb-i Füsûn-u Harbiyye-i Şâhâne'' ) In 1898 he graduated academy and joined the Ottoman military as a Second Lieutenant (''Mülâzım-ı Sani'' ). During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, he served for the army in the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia (country), Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range ...

and Galicia fronts. When the Greek forces were landing at Smyrna on May 15, 1919, he was a lieutenant colonel and the commander of 172nd Infantry Regiment stationed in the Aegean coastal town of

Ayvalık Ayvalık () is a seaside town on the northwestern Aegean coast of Turkey. It is a district of Balıkesir province. The town centre is connected to Cunda Island by a causeway and is surrounded by the archipelago of Ayvalık Islands, which fac ...

. His regiment was under the command of the 56th Division of Hürrem Bey. Ali played a key role in the first stage of the Greco-Turkish War of 1919–1922, starting with the opening battle. He was briefly able to hold back the advance into the city of Greek occupation forces. His action is considered to mark the first shots fired by regular forces in the 1919–22 Greco-Turkish War, although there were earlier confrontations in which irregular militias participated, including the battle involving Hasan Tahsin in

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 aggl ...

, as well as actions in Urla and

Ödemiş Ödemiş is a district of İzmir Province of Turkey, as well as the name of its central town (urban population 75,577 as of 2012), located 113 km southeast of the city of İzmir. About 4 km north of Ödemiş town are the ruins of Hypa ...

. The hill in Ayvalık from where the first shots were fired is now called İlk Kurşun Tepesi (First Bullet Hill). Today there is a military rehabilitation center on that hill. After the war, Ali Çetinkaya was elected to Turkish Grand National Assembly for eight successive terms and served until 1942, holding ministerial posts in six different governments, including, with the formation of a Ministry of Transport, becoming Turkey's first Minister of Transport. Ali Çetinkaya died in

Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...

in the year of his 71st birthday. Ali Çetinkaya is considered a hero in Turkey. Cunda Island of Ayvalık was renamed Alibey Adası (Ali Bey Island) after him, although the old name remains in common use. File:Ali Cetinkaya.jpg, Another image of Ali Çetinkaya in the 1920s File:Three members of the Independence Tribunal.jpg, Three members of the Independence Tribunal

References

Ali Çetinkaya biographical sketch at ''Biyografi.info'' (includes small photograph)

External links

* Hasan Kundakçı
"Ali Çetinkaya'yı Anarken"
''Atatürk Araştırma Merkezi Dergisi'', Sayı 38, Cilt: XIII, Temmuz 1997 {{DEFAULTSORT:Cetinkaya, Ali Date of birth unknown 1878 births 1949 deaths People from Afyonkarahisar People from Hüdavendigâr vilayet Republican People's Party (Turkey) politicians Government ministers of Turkey Ministers of Transport and Communications of Turkey Ministers of Public Works of Turkey Deputies of Afyonkarahisar Ottoman Army officers Turkish Army officers Ottoman military personnel of the Balkan Wars Ottoman military personnel of World War I Turkish military personnel of the Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922) Members of the Special Organization (Ottoman Empire) Malta exiles Ottoman Military Academy alumni Recipients of the Medal of Independence with Red-Green Ribbon (Turkey) Members of the 7th government of Turkey Members of the 8th government of Turkey Members of the 9th government of Turkey Members of the 10th government of Turkey Members of the 11th government of Turkey Members of the 12th government of Turkey