Today in History – 26 January

Kâzım Karabekir Pasha is dead

A leader of the National Struggle and close friend of İsmet Pasha, Kâzım Karabekir died in Ankara on January 26, 1948.

Kâzım Karabekir was born in İstanbul in 1882. He studied at the Fatih Military Middle School, Kuleli Military Academy, and the War College. He graduated valedictorian from the Military Academy in 1905. After graduation, he was recruited to the Third Army in Bitola (Manastır). He co-founded the Bitola Branch of the Committee of Union and Progress with Enver Pasha in 1907.

He joined the Balkan War as a major in 1912. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel in 1914, colonel in 1915, and brigadier general in 1918. He was appointed as the commander of the 15th Army Corps in Erzurum in 191. Defying the İstanbul Government’s arrest warrant for Atatürk, he helped organize the Erzurum Congress. He served as protector of the Eastern provinces during the National Struggle. He reclaimed the lands occupied by Armenians and signed the Treaty of Gümrü in 1920. He also reclaimed Artvin and Ardahan from the Georgians.

After the War of Independence ended, Karabekir joined the ranks of the Grand National Assembly in Ankara. In 1924, he resigned from the Republican People’s Party and cofounded Terakkiperver Cumhuriyet Fırkası (Progressive Republican Party), the first opposition party in the history of the Turkish Republic. Following the dissolution of the party in 1926, he continued to serve as an independent deputy.

During the investigation on the assassination attempt on Atatürk, he was tried at the Independence Tribunal along with other opposition leaders, but was acquitted. After his term as a deputy ended in 1927, he stayed away from politics for twelve years and wrote his memoires. He was elected deputy in 1939 after Atatürk’s death and once again returned to politics. Karabekir was named chairman of the Grand National Assembly in 1946 and died when he was still holding that post.