Ahmet Fevzi Big

Ahmet Fevzi
1304-P. 38[1]

Born1871
Düzce, Ottoman Empire
Died1947 (aged 75–76)
Istanbul, Turkey
Allegiance Ottoman Empire
Service / branch Ottoman Army
Years of service1889–1920
RankMajor general
CommandsIX Corps
XV Corps
Istanbul Central Command
Undersecretary of the War Ministry
Battles / warsBalkan Wars
First World War
Turkish War of Independence

Ahmet Fevzi Big or Ahmet Fevzi Paşa (1871-1947) was an Ottoman commander of the Ninth Army Corps of the Ottoman Third Army. He was an Abkhazian immigrant from Düzce.[2] He was from the Circassian Big family. His father's name was Yakub.[3]

Career

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He graduated from the Ottoman Military College in 1913. Two years later, he participated in the Defense of Gallipoli during World War I.

After the war ended and the Ottoman Empire was occupied and partitioned, he joined the forces of Mustafa Kemal and fought in the Turkish War of Independence. After the Kuva-i Inzibatiye forces loyal to the Ottoman Government were defeated by Çerkes Ethem's forces[year needed] in the Revolt of Ahmet Anzavur, he was sent to recruit Circassians for the nationalist Kuva-yi Milliye. His efforts to persuade Circassians around the South Marmara towns of Manyas and Gönen were largely unsuccessful. He later told Kâzım Özalp that the people of Manyas were waiting for an opportunity to launch a second rebellion.[2]

The XI Corps began the Ottoman Third Army's offensive in the Caucasus Campaign on 7 November[year needed]. On 12 November they were joined by reinforcements from the IX corps commanded by Fevzi Paşa. Together they were able to push the Russians back.[4]

Behaeddin Shakir was unable to bring the IX Corps under the control Committee of Union and Progress (CUP) while Fevzi Paşa remained their commander. When Fevzi Paşa opposed the Ottoman plan to attack the Russians during the winter, Shakir replaced Fevzi Paşa as corps commander.[5][page needed][6]

Although he was appointed the commander of the XX Corps in place of Ali Fuad Pasha, he refused it at the caution of Rauf Bey and Bekir Sami Bey.

Fevzi Pasha died in 1947 in Istanbul.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b T.C. Genelkurmay Harp Tarihi Başkanlığı Yayınları, Türk İstiklâl Harbine Katılan Tümen ve Daha Üst Kademelerdeki Komutanların Biyografileri, Genelkurmay Başkanlığı Basımevi, Ankara, 1972, s. 18.
  2. ^ a b Gingeras, Ryan (26 February 2009). Sorrowful Shores: Violence, Ethnicity, and the End of the Ottoman Empire 1912-1923. OUP Oxford. ISBN 978-0-19-956152-0.
  3. ^ Ünal, Muhittin (1996). Kurtuluş Savaşı'nda Çerkeslerin rolü. Cem Yayınevi. ISBN 978-975-406-582-4.
  4. ^ Ford, Roger (16 August 2011). Eden to Armageddon: World War I in the Middle East. Pegasus Books. ISBN 978-1-4532-1839-6.
  5. ^ Göçek, Fatma Müge (2015). Denial of Violence: Ottoman Past, Turkish Present and Collective Violence Against the Armenians, 1789-2009. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-933420-9.
  6. ^ Dadrian, Vahakn N.; Akçam, Taner (30 December 2011). Judgment At Istanbul: The Armenian Genocide Trials. Berghahn Books. ISBN 978-0-85745-286-3.