Mustafa Mümin Aksoy Paşa, also known as Gavûr Mümin, (b. 1892,

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 ...

, d. 24 January 1948,

) was a member of the ''

Kuva-yi Milliye The Kuva-yi Milliye (; 'National Forces' or 'Nationalist Forces') were irregular Turkish militia forces active in the early period of the Turkish War of Independence. These irregular forces emerged after the occupation of the parts of Turkey by t ...

'', the irregular

Turkish nationalist Turkish nationalism () is nationalism among the people of Turkey and individuals whose national identity is Turkish people, Turkish. Turkish nationalism consists of political and social movements and sentiments prompted by a love for Turkish cu ...

forces that fought in 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 was also part 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 ...

. Aksoy was the son of Osmanzade İbrahim Bey', a nephew of Izimir's mayor Hacı Hasan Bey.

Military career

In 1911, he graduated from the Beylerbeyi Reserve Officer School (''Beylerbeyi Yedek Subay Okulu'') as a lieutenant, after he served 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 ...

. He was stationed in

Edirne Edirne (; ), historically known as Orestias, Adrianople, is a city in Turkey, in the northwestern part of the Edirne Province, province of Edirne in Eastern Thrace. Situated from the Greek and from the Bulgarian borders, Edirne was the second c ...

and

Çatalca Çatalca () is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Istanbul Province, Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 1142 km2, making it the largest district in Istanbul Province by area. Its population is 77,468 (2022). It is in Eas ...

. He later served in the Gallipoli Campaign, called ''Çanakkale Savaşı'' in Turkish, and along the eastern front of the Turkish War of Independence. Prior to the Occupation of Izmir, Aksoy served as commander of the Izmir Gendermarie Regiment until 1920. During Greece's occupation of Turkey, he was part of the Turkish intelligence organization that formed in the Izmir region. While Mümin was director of the intelligence services, his uncle Hacı Hasan Paşa worked with the Greek administration. Mümin continued his duties in Izmir with the aid of his uncle and presented himself as a Turkish officer working on behalf of the Greek administration. He gained the trust of the Greek commander Zafirios. He was given the nicknames ''Gavûr Kirye'' and ''Hain Mümin'' by the Turkish population of Izmir, who did not know the truth of his activities. Mümin passed intelligence reports from the Greek occupation headquarters to the Ankara government. Mümin Paşa's activities were discovered by the Greek force and he was arrested before the

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 ...

and taken to the Palamadi prison. After the

Armistice of Mudanya The Armistice of Mudanya () was an agreement between Turkey (the Grand National Assembly of Turkey) on the one hand, and Italy, France, and Britain on the other hand, signed in the town of Mudanya, in the province of Bursa, on 11 October 1922. Th ...

he was sent to Palya İstratona prison, and eventually he was moved to the Lusiya Esir Camp. He was released after the Turkish War of Independence as part of the prisoner exchange agreements between Turkey and Greece. He returned to Turkey on April 5, 1923.

Death

He took the name "Aksoy" after the

Surname law The Surname Law () of the Republic of Turkey is a law adopted on 21 June 1934, requiring all citizens of Turkey to adopt the use of fixed, hereditary surnames. Prior to 1934, Turkish families in the major urban centres had names by which they were ...

was enacted. Mustafa Mümin Aksoy Paşa. He was engaged to ''Muhsine'' but died of tuberculosis en route to

Hakkâri Province Hakkâri Province (, ; ), is a province in the southeast of Turkey. The administrative centre is the city of Hakkâri. Its area is 7,095 km2, and its population is 287,625 (2023). The current Governor is Ali Çelik. The province encompasses ...

on 25 January 1948.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aksoy, Mustafa Mümin 1892 births 1948 deaths Muslims from the Ottoman Empire Ottoman military personnel of the Balkan Wars Ottoman military personnel of World War I Turkish military personnel of the Turkish War of Independence Turkish military personnel of the Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922) Turkish spies 20th-century deaths from tuberculosis Tuberculosis deaths in Turkey