Salih Omurtak (1889–23 June 1954) was a Turkish general and the fourth

Chief of the General Staff The Chief of the General Staff (CGS) is a post in many armed forces (militaries), the head of the military staff. List * Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff ( United States) * Chief of the General Staff (Abkhazia) * Chief of General Staff (Af ...

of the

Turkish Armed Forces The Turkish Armed Forces (TAF; tr, Türk Silahlı Kuvvetleri, TSK) are the military forces of the Republic of Turkey. Turkish Armed Forces consist of the General Staff, the Land Forces, the Naval Forces and the Air Forces. The current Chi ...

Biography

He was born 1889 in

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area, and the capital of the geographic region of ...

, in the Salonica Vilayet of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

(present-day

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

). He graduated from the Military College in 1907 with the rank of a lieutenant. After finishing the Staff College in 1910, he became a

staff officer A military staff or general staff (also referred to as army staff, navy staff, or air staff within the individual services) is a group of officers, enlisted and civilian staff who serve the commander of a division or other large military ...

and served at several headquarters in the

Ottoman Army The military of the Ottoman Empire ( tr, Osmanlı İmparatorluğu'nun silahlı kuvvetleri) was the armed forces of the Ottoman Empire. Army The military of the Ottoman Empire can be divided in five main periods. The foundation era covers the ...

. Deployed 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 ...

on 22 January 1920, he joined the

Turkish revolutionaries The Turkish National Movement ( tr, Türk Ulusal Hareketi) encompasses the political and military activities of the Turkish revolutionaries that resulted in the creation and shaping of the modern Republic of Turkey, as a consequence of the defe ...

and commanded various troops during and after 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 ...

, including the 61st Division. He was promoted to the rank of the

Mirliva ''Mirliva'' or ''Mîr-i livâ'' was a military rank of the Ottoman Army and Navy. It corresponds to a brigadier general (modern Turkish: ''Tuğgeneral'') in the modern Turkish Army. ''Mirliva'' is a compound word composed of ''Mir'' ( commander) ...

in 1926, and in 1930, he became a Ferik. From 1940 on, Omurtak held the commander-in-chief post of the First Army in the rank of the Orgeneral (

four-star general A four-star rank is the rank of any four-star officer described by the NATO OF-9 code. Four-star officers are often the most senior commanders in the armed services, having ranks such as (full) admiral, (full) general, colonel general, army ge ...

). He was appointed Chief of the General Staff of the Turkish Armed Forces on 1 August 1946 following the resignation of Kazım Orbay, and served at this position until 8 June 1949. His following duty was the membership in the Military High Advisory Board, which he held until his retirement on 6 July 1950. Salih Omurtak died on 23 June 1954 in Ankara. His body was moved later to a permanent burial place in the

Turkish State Cemetery The Turkish State Cemetery ( tr, Devlet Mezarlığı) is a national and military cemetery in Ankara, Turkey, containing the graves of the presidents of Turkey and the high-ranked, close companions-in-arms of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder ...

References

External links

Salih OMURTAK
in the official website of the Turkish General Staff {{DEFAULTSORT:Omurtak, Salih 1889 births 1954 deaths Military personnel from Thessaloniki People from Salonica vilayet Macedonian Turks Ottoman Army officers Turkish Army generals Commanders of the First Army of Turkey Deputy Chiefs of the Turkish General Staff Chiefs of the Turkish General Staff 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 Ribbon (Turkey) Burials at Turkish State Cemetery

Biography

See also

References

External links