Mehmet Kâzım Orbay (11 March 1887 – 3 June 1964) was a Turkish general and senator. He served as the third Chief of the General Staff of the

Turkish Armed Forces The Turkish Armed Forces (TAF; , TSK) are the armed forces, military forces of the Turkey, Republic of Turkey. The TAF consist of the Turkish Army, Land Forces, the Turkish Navy, Naval Forces and the Turkish Air Force, Air Forces. The Chief of ...

Biography

Kâzım Orbay was born in Smyrna (present day:

İzmir İzmir is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara. It is on the Aegean Sea, Aegean coast of Anatolia, and is the capital of İzmir Province. In 2024, the city of İzmir had ...

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 ...

in 1887. He graduated from Mühendishâne-i Berrî-i Hümâyûn (Imperial School of Military Engineering) and joined the army in the rank of an

artillery Artillery consists of ranged weapons that launch Ammunition, munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during sieges, and l ...

lieutenant in 1904. After finishing the Staff College in 1907, 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 milita ...

. In 1908, he attended military courses in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. In 1912-1913, he fought in 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 was appointed chief adjutant of the Ministry of War in the Ottoman cabinet and served under

Enver Pasha İsmâil Enver (; ; 23 November 1881 – 4 August 1922), better known as Enver Pasha, was an Ottoman Empire, Ottoman Turkish people, Turkish military officer, revolutionary, and Istanbul trials of 1919–1920, convicted war criminal who was a p ...

during

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 ...

. In 1915, he was the Ottoman representative in the Niedermayer–Hentig Expedition to Afghanistan. He presented to Emir Habibullah Khan the Ottoman Sultan's declaration of ''jihad'': a call to all Islamic peoples (including Afghanistan) to join the

Central Powers The Central Powers, also known as the Central Empires,; ; , ; were one of the two main coalitions that fought in World War I (1914–1918). It consisted of the German Empire, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Bulga ...

and attack the Allies. Afghanistan was to attack

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

starting from the city of

Peshawar Peshawar is the capital and List of cities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by population, largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It is the sixth most populous city of Pakistan, with a district p ...

however this plan never came into effect. After the defeat of the

, he joined the independence movement in

Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

. During 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 held commanding positions in the Eastern Front Army between 1920 and 1922, fighting in the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, i ...

. He also took part in the

Battle of Dumlupınar The Battle of Dumlupınar (, ), or known as Field Battle of the Commander-in-Chief () in Turkey, was one of the important battles in the Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922) (part of the Turkish War of Independence). The battle was fought from 26 ...

in western

against the invading

Greek Army The Hellenic Army (, sometimes abbreviated as ΕΣ), formed in 1828, is the land force of Greece. The term '' Hellenic'' is the endogenous synonym for ''Greek''. The Hellenic Army is the largest of the three branches of the Hellenic Armed F ...

. In 1926, he was promoted to ''Korgeneral'' and appointed vice chief of the general staff. During 1928 and 1929, Kâzım Orbay served as Chief of the General Staff of the army of Afghanistan. Following his return to Turkey, he held high-ranking military posts; in 1935, he was promoted to ''Orgeneral''. Succeeding Fevzi Çakmak, he served as Chief of the General Staff of the

from 12 January 1944 to 23 July 1946, when he resigned. Kâzım Orbay retired on 6 July 1950. After the military coup of 1960, he was elected senator in 1961 and served as the president of the parliament. He died of

stomach cancer Stomach cancer, also known as gastric cancer, is a malignant tumor of the stomach. It is a cancer that develops in the Gastric mucosa, lining of the stomach. Most cases of stomach cancers are gastric carcinomas, which can be divided into a numb ...

Ankara Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...

and was laid to rest in the Turkish State Cemetery. He was married to Mediha Hanım, sister of Enver Pasha, and they had a son named Haşmet. On 16 October 1945 Haşmet Orbay murdered physician Naci Arzan. The investigation of the Ankara Murder turned into a political scandal involving the

Republican People's Party The Republican People's Party (RPP; , CHP ) is a Kemalism, Kemalist and Social democracy, social democratic political party in Turkey. It is the oldest List of political parties in Turkey, political party in Turkey, founded by Mustafa Kemal ...

apparatus.

References

Milli Tarih: Sır gibi bir intihar

Radikal ''Radikal'' () was a daily liberal Turkish language newspaper, published in Istanbul. From 1996 it was published by Aydın Doğan's Doğan Media Group. Although Radikal did not endorse a particular political alignment, it was generally consider ...

, 7 July 2007

External links

Mehmet Kazım ORBAY
in the official website of the Turkish General Staff {{DEFAULTSORT:Orbay, Kazim 1887 births 1964 deaths Military personnel from İzmir Ottoman Imperial School of Military Engineering alumni Ottoman Military College alumni Ottoman Army officers Enver Pasha Ottoman military personnel of World War I Turkish military personnel of the Turkish–Armenian War Turkish military personnel of the Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922) Recipients of the Medal of Independence with Red Ribbon (Turkey) Deputy chiefs of the Turkish General Staff General Commanders of the Gendarmerie of Turkey Turkish Army generals Chiefs of the Turkish General Staff Speakers of the Parliament of Turkey Deaths from stomach cancer in Turkey Burials at Turkish State Cemetery People of the Dersim rebellion

Biography

See also

References

External links