İsmail Hakkı Okday (20 October 1881 – 10 October 1977) was an Ottoman Turkish military commander, who participated in the

First Balkan War The First Balkan War lasted from October 1912 to May 1913 and involved actions of the Balkan League (the Kingdoms of Kingdom of Bulgaria, Bulgaria, Kingdom of Serbia, Serbia, Kingdom of Greece, Greece and Kingdom of Montenegro, Montenegro) agai ...

Early life and career

He was born in Athens as the son of

Ahmet Tevfik Pasha Ahmet Tevfik Pasha (‎; 11 February 1843 – 8 October 1936), later Ahmet Tevfik Okday after the Turkish Surname Law of 1934, was an Ottoman diplomat and statesman of Crimean Tatar origin. He was the last grand vizier of the Ottoman Empir ...

, who was then the Ottoman ambassador to Greece, and later became the last

Grand Vizier Grand vizier (; ; ) was the title of the effective head of government of many sovereign states in the Islamic world. It was first held by officials in the later Abbasid Caliphate. It was then held in the Ottoman Empire, the Mughal Empire, the Soko ...

of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

. He married Sultan Mehmed VI Vahdeddin's daughter Ulviye Sultan.

Education

He studied at

Galatasaray High School Galatasaray High School (, ), established in Istanbul in 1481, is the oldest and Selective school, highly selective high school in Turkey. It is also the second-oldest Turkish educational institution after Istanbul University, which was establi ...

, his education began in his early teens. After completing his officer training at the Military Academy he was sent to the Prussian Military Academy.

Balkan Wars and World War I

When the

began in 1912 he took a break from training and was tasked to defend

Ioannina Ioannina ( ' ), often called Yannena ( ' ) within Greece, is the capital and largest city of the Ioannina (regional unit), Ioannina regional unit and of Epirus (region), Epirus, an Modern regions of Greece, administrative region in northwester ...

. He completed his training in Germany to return to the Military Academy which was set up after the

Balkan Wars The Balkan Wars were two conflicts that took place in the Balkans, Balkan states in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan states of Kingdom of Greece (Glücksburg), Greece, Kingdom of Serbia, Serbia, Kingdom of Montenegro, M ...

. He served as a staff officer in

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

Turkish War of Independence

During the later years of the

Turkish War of Independence , strength1 = May 1919: 35,000November 1920: 86,000Turkish General Staff, ''Türk İstiklal Harbinde Batı Cephesi'', Edition II, Part 2, Ankara 1999, p. 225August 1922: 271,000Celâl Erikan, Rıdvan Akın: ''Kurtuluş Savaşı tarih ...

, he established back channels with the Turkish nationalists, who invited him to join in the upcoming

Great Offensive The Great Offensive () was the largest and final military operation of the Turkish War of Independence, fought between the Turkish Armed Forces loyal to the government of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, and the Kingdom of Greece, ending ...

. On 27 January 1922, without informing anyone except his father's chief aid, whom also went with him, he escaped from Istanbul to Ankara. Tevfik Pasha knew of his defection plan, but chose to keep quiet. Ulviye, for not being informed of his plan, chose to divorce him and never forgave him. He served as the Division Chief of Staff and was awarded the Independence Medal with red stripes.

Diplomatic career

After the war, he entered the Foreign Ministry; as with Moscow, Antwerp, Plovdiv, Bari, Basra, and has served as Consul General in Vienna. He remarried with Ferhunde Hanım ( Ms. Nazli's aunt, the mother of Bulent Ecevit). He retired from Athens Consulate. After his retirement he owned and lived in the Park Hotel in Ayaspaşa, he died there in 1977.

References

{{Authority control Military personnel of the Ottoman Empire 1881 births 1977 deaths Ottoman military personnel of the Balkan Wars Ottoman military personnel of World War I Turkish military personnel of the Turkish War of Independence Damats