Ottoman Pashas who established the Republic

Military-Civil-Bureaucrat Founders of the Republic

The Republic of Turkey was founded by a military-civilian-bureaucrat elite. “The centralist state structure of the Union and Progress Party and its efforts to create a Turkish bourgeois class were transferred to the Republic of Turkey as an accumulation and legacy” (Gedikli Berber, 2011, p. 209). This policy of the Committee of Union and Progress was adopted as a method of development in the Republican period as well, and continued until the statism policies in 1932. Just like in the policies of forming a bourgeois class, three groups mainly benefited from the etatism practices: “Istanbul merchants, Anatolian notables and landlords, officers who participated in the national struggle, and those who later got involved in trade, and a group of deputies and high bureaucrats (Heper, 1974, p.117). ” These innovations and structuring in the narrow band caused the elite to be closer to each other.

Kazım Özalp, Mustafa Abdülhalik Renda, Hasan Saka, İbrahim Refik Saydam, Bekir Sami Kunduh, İsmet İnönü, Tevfik Rüştü Aras, Şükrü Kaya, Hilmi Uran, İbrahim Refet Bele, Hasan Ali Yücel, Cevat Abbas Gürer, Mithat Şükrü Bleda, Mim Kemal Öke , Vehbi Koç, Lütfi Kırdar, Muhittin Üstündağ, Nevzat Tandoğan, Memduh Şevket Esendal, Yunus Nadi Abalıoğlu, Adnan Adıvar, Rıza Nur, Ali İhsan Sabis Pasha, Hüseyin Rauf Orbay and Ali Fethi Okyar who founded the Republic and served the country during the War of Independence. are some of the staff. A substantial amount of the triple and strong hair foot we have mentioned consists of soldiers who took part in the First World War and the War of Independence.

Ottoman Pashas who established the Republic

The Republic of Turkey was established in 1923. The Western Bureaucratic Management Tradition has a great share in its establishment. This civil-military bureaucracy is a structure that also determines politics. Moreover, it has been known for a long time that the commanders, who took part in important duties in both the First World War and the War of Independence, and achieved notable successes, played very important roles in the establishment of the Republic and afterwards.

The founders of the Republic were Ottoman Pashas to a large extent: “There are no monuments such as the Çanakkale Victory in the history of every nation. We have it, and it is unique in the whole East. Çanakkale Victory shows that we are an army, a command committee and a society that can easily organize, resist, endure and insist on a certain target. It is this yeast that founded the Republic. History is an uninterrupted process. The transformation of the Ottoman Empire into the Republic took place in the same way. It was the Empire of the Turks, this is the Republic of the Turks.” (Ortayli, 2019)

The Hero of Anafartalar, Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, is the most important Ottoman Pasha who founded the Republic. He led the War of Independence. He founded the Republic and was the President until his death (1923-38). “Declaring a Republic by chasing the enemy outside is a much more honorable page and a solid construction for the future of the nation, rather than the dishonor and sibling fight that a civil war will bring” (Ortaylı, 2019). Until he was declared the "Eternal Chief" later, undoubtedly the most influential soldier-bureaucrat-politician on the TR was M. Kemal Atatürk. Its effect has been made “eternal”. Because, undoubtedly, he maintains his position as the most influential military-politician of the Republican period.

İsmet İnönü has come to the fore with his political life rather than his military service. He is one of the military-politicians who have been effective for many years as the President of the Lausanne Delegation, the first and longest Prime Minister of Turkey (1923-24/1925-37/1961-65), and the 2nd President (1938-50). He was given the title of "National Chief".

Kazım Özalp is known as a medium-level successful soldier. It's late for the higher ranks. However, he remained in the parliament between 1920-54. The military-politician, who served as the Ministry of National Defense in 1923-24 and 1935-39, and as the Speaker of the Grand National Assembly between 1924-1935, occupied important positions.

Refet Bele is one of the first five generals who participated in Gaza and the War of Independence. He served as the Gendarmerie General Commander in the Ottoman Empire, as the Minister of the Interior and the Minister of National Defense twice in the parliamentary government. Despite being one of the founders of the Progressive Republican Party, he is a soldier-bureaucrat and politician who managed to be a member of parliament 8 times between 1920-50.

Cevat Abbas Gürer, before joining the National Struggle, was a captain, then a soldier-politician in the rank of major, chief aide of Mustafa Kemal Pasha, the Grand National Assembly of Turkey and the Grand National Assembly of Turkey I., II., III., IV. and V. term Bolu deputy.

Ali İhsan Sabis is a soldier and politician, one of the commanders of the Caucasus Front and the Iraqi Front in the First World War, and the Western Front in the Turkish War of Independence. He was dismissed from his duty as he opposed the abandonment of Batumi and Azerbaijan to the Soviet Union with the Moscow Treaty. He became a DP deputy in 1954.

H.Rauf Orbay, Minister of the Navy in the Ottoman Empire, Hero of Hamidiye, signatory of the Armistice of Mudros, Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey in the War of Independence, 3rd Prime Minister of the Republic of Turkey. Become one of the founders of the Progressive Republican Party. Orbay returns to politics in 1939, despite being tried and sentenced to ten years in the Izmir Assassination case. He acts as Kastamonu deputy and ambassador to London. He is a soldier-bureaucrat-politician.

Fethi Okyar is a soldier-diplomat-politician who served as Minister of Justice and Internal Affairs in the Ottoman period, Minister of Interior in the Parliamentary Government and the Republic, Prime Minister, Minister of National Defense, Speaker of the Grand National Assembly, Prime Minister, deputy and ambassador for 7 terms.

Ali Fuat Cebesoy is the first commander, ambassador, soldier, diplomat and politician who took part in all parties, who actually started the War of Independence. He was one of the founders of the Progressive Republican Party, Turkey's first opposition party, and was tried by the Independence Courts while he was a general as a suspect in the Izmir Assassination. Returning to politics in 1931, he became the chairman of the Turkish Grand National Assembly, the minister of public works and the minister of transportation. He continues his politics in the Democratic Party since 1948.

Kazım Karabekir is the hero of Alçıtepe. He is among the commanders who started the Turkish War of Independence. He is honored with the Red-Green Striped Medal of Independence for his achievements on the Eastern Front. Founder of the first main opposition party, 1,2,5,6,7,8. He is a soldier and politician who was a term deputy and Speaker of the Turkish Grand National Assembly in 1946-48.

If you look, you can also find other military-politicians. But that's enough. After a period, Atatürk clarifies this situation:

“Either be a soldier or a politician”.

References:

ALTIPARMAK, Aytekin, (1998), The Development of the Entrepreneur Class in the First Years of the Republic in Turkey, Journal Park, Year 1998, Vol 1, Issue 1, pp. 65-80. https://dergipark.org.tr/en/download/article-file/864787

(The Concept of Entrepreneur and the Development of the Entrepreneur Class in Turkey from the Tanzimat to 1932, Erciyes University, Institute of Social Sciences, Economic Theory and History of Economics, summarized article from 1993)

AYDEMIR, S. Sureyya (1969), Single Man, Istanbul: Yükselen Printing House.

GEDİKLİ BERBER, Şarika (2011), Liberalism-Stateism Conflict from the Last Period of the Ottoman Empire to the First Years of the Republic, Atatürk Research Center Journal, 27( 80), pp. 209-239. https://atamdergi.gov.tr/tam-metin-pdf/98/tur

HEPER, Metin, (1974), Bureaucratic Management Tradition, METU Publication, Ankara.

İNAN, A. Afet, (1972) The Principle of Statism and the First Industrial Plan of the Republic of Turkey, Turkish Historical Society Publications, Ankara.

Istanbul Governorship, (28.10.2019), Prof. Dr. İlber Ortaylı: "The Founder of the Republic is the Maya of the Turkish Society", http://www.istanbul.gov.tr/cumhuriyet-kuran-turk-toplumunun-mayası

MARDIN, Şerif, (2004), Political Ideas of Young Turks, İletişim Publications, Istanbul.

ORTAYLI, İlber, (2018), Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, Chronicle book, Istanbul.

YALMAN, A. Emin, (1970), What I Have Seen and What I Have Experienced in Recent History, Innovation Press, Istanbul.

*Short Biographies have been accessed from open sources.