Fahrettin Pasha

Fahreddin Pasha, whose real name was Ömer and took the surname Türkkan after the Surname Law, came to Istanbul with his family after the War of 1993, graduated from the Military Academy in 1888, and Erkan-ı Harbiyye, the school where staff officers were trained, in 1891. and joined the army as a staff captain.


Fahreddin Pasha, who played a role in the recapture of Edirne with his success in the defense of Çatalca during the Balkan War, was in Mosul as the commander of the 12th Corps of the 4th Army with the rank of lieutenant when the Ottoman Empire entered World War I in 1914. Fahreddin Pasha was promoted to mirliva on 25 November 1914. Fahreddin Pasha, who was appointed deputy commander of the 4th Army in addition to his duty in the 12th Corps on January 26, 1915, suppressed many Armenian uprisings in the same period.


Sharif Hussein Rebellion Meanwhile, upon receiving the news that Mecca Sheriff Hussein, who had made an agreement with the British, was preparing for a rebellion, Fahreddin Pasha was sent to Medina on 28 May 1916 by Cemal Pasha, the commander of the 4th Army. Reaching Medina, Fahreddin Pasha informed Cemal Pasha that Şerif Hüseyin would rebel in a few days. Sharif Hussein and his four sons started the rebellion by destroying the railway and telegraph lines around Medina on June 3, 1916. Although they attacked Medina police stations on the night of June 5-6, they were repelled thanks to the measures taken by Fahreddin Pasha. Initially, the number of rebels was around 50 thousand, and the number of Ottoman soldiers in the entire Hejaz region was around 15 thousand. Fahreddin Pasha immediately started a counter-action and defeated the rebels in Bi'riali, el-Ilave, Bi'rimashi locations on 27 June 1916. Subsequently, Fahreddin Pasha was appointed as the commander of the Hejaz Expeditionary Force, which was reinforced with new units on 15 July 1916. Due to the negligence of Mecca Governor Galib Pasha, the rebels launched a general attack on June 9 and entered Jeddah on June 16, Mecca on July 7, and Taif on September 22. Almost all major centers except Medina, which was defended by Fahreddin Pasha, fell into the hands of the rebels. Meanwhile, since the Canal Operation was continuing with all its intensity, soldiers could not be sent to the Hejaz. Fahreddin Pasha defended Medina for 2 years and 7 months with the extremely limited resources he had. First, Fahreddin Pasha cleared the Aşar Strait, Bi'riderviş, Bi'riabbas and Bi'rireha locations from the rebels in order to create a security line in and around Medina, and a 100-kilometer security strip was created around Medina on 29 August 1916. Fahreddin Pasha was constantly asking for reinforcements from Istanbul to defend Medina, and the Ottoman government was reporting that it was not in a position to respond to his requests.


He sent the holy relics to Istanbul against plunder After the Ottoman government decided to partially evacuate the Hejaz, Fahreddin Pasha went to Medina against any plunder. He proposed that the sacred relics found in the Prophet's tomb be transferred to Istanbul. His offer was accepted by the government on the condition that he would be held responsible. Fahreddin Pasha established a commission and sent the sacred relics, consisting of 30 pieces, to be checked one by one, to Istanbul under the protection of 2 thousand soldiers. When the Bedouins sided with Sharif Hussein and the British, it became difficult to protect the railway connecting Medina to Syria. The famous British spy Lawrence wandered along the railway and destroyed the rails with dynamite. It was decided to evacuate Medina, which had become a fortress in the middle of the desert, cut off from the surroundings, and its food supply was decreasing. Mecca Emir Şerif Haydar Pasha and 3-4 thousand local people left Medina. Fahreddin Pasha continued to defend both this desert road and Medina with the few forces he had left. However, after the Müdevvere Station between Tabuk and Medain, which is close to Medina on the Hejaz railway, fell into enemy hands, the Medina Castle was surrounded by the rebels. Hunger and disease began to prevail among the people and soldiers stuck in the city, who could not get help from anywhere. Despite these difficult conditions, Fahreddin Pasha continued to defend the city and even said to the Istanbul government, which offered to evacuate the castle before the siege, "I cannot lower the Turkish flag from the Medina Castle with my own hands. If you are going to evacuate it, send another commander here." he replied. While Fahreddin Pasha and his soldiers were struggling with the enemy on one side and hunger and disease on the other, the 2nd Canal Operation against the British ended in disaster, Palestine was lost and the nearest Ottoman forces were 1300 kilometers away from Medina. Meanwhile, the Ottoman Empire was defeated and signed the Armistice of Mudros on October 30, 1918. Fahreddin Pasha, who was supposed to surrender according to Article 16 of the armistice, did not agree to this. He left Istanbul unresponsive by imprisoning the captain sent by the Istanbul Government to notify the Armistice of Mudros. Although the British, on the one hand, and the forces of Şerif Hussein, who had surrounded Medina, wanted Medina to be surrendered as soon as possible, Fahreddin Pasha did not respond to their requests. Upon the pressure of the British, the Sublime Porte sent a surrender order, this time bearing the signature of the sultan, to Medina with the Minister of Justice, Haydar Molla. Fahreddin Pasha did not listen to this order either. Even though most of the soldiers were sick and their ammunition, medicine and clothing stocks ran out, they continued to resist. However, in the end, he consented to surrender under the pressure of his own officers.


Although one of the accepted terms of surrender included the statement that commander Fahreddin Pasha would be hosted at the headquarters of the Hashemite forces within 24 hours, Fahreddin Pasha went to a madrasah near Ravza-i Mutahhara (the place from the tomb of the Prophet Muhammad to his pulpit) and went to bed somewhere. He stated that he would not go. However, he was held by Deputy Commander Necib Bey and those around him, who came to meet him on January 10, 1919, and was taken to his tent prepared at Hashemi headquarters. Sharif Abdullah's forces entered Medina on January 13, 1919, in accordance with the agreement. Thus, Medina was surrendered 72 days after the Armistice of Mudros. Fahreddin Pasha, who was called "Turkish tiger" and "Desert Tiger" by the British, was sent to Egypt as a prisoner of war on January 27, and was exiled to Malta on August 5. During his exile, he was sent to Istanbul by the occupying state to try war criminals. He was sentenced to death by the court, which was established in 1966 and popularly known as Nemrud Mustafa Divan-ı Harbi, because of its president. However, Fahreddin Pasha was liberated from Malta on April 8, 1921, with the efforts of the Ankara government, and upon the invitation of Enver Pasha, whom he met in Berlin, he went to Moscow, where he attended the Islamic Revolutionary Societies Union Congress. Fahreddin Pasha, who came to Ankara on 24 September 1921 to participate in the War of Independence, was appointed as the Kabul ambassador of the Turkish Grand National Assembly on 9 November 1921 and played an important role in the development of Turkish-Afghan friendship. Fahreddin Pasha, who returned to the country after the end of his duty on May 12, 1926, retired from the Turkish Armed Forces with the rank of major general on February 5, 1936, and died on November 22, 1948. Fahreddin Pasha's body was buried in Aşiyan Cemetery.