Officer,
politician and statesman (b. 1882, İstanbul – d. 1968, İstanbul). He was the
grandson of Marshall Mehmet Ali Paşa, who was one of the commanders at the
Turkish-Russian War between 1877 and 1878, and was the son of Ferik İsmail Paşa.
He was one of the classmates of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. He attended the War
School (1902) and graduated from the Turkish War College (1905). He went to
Beirut and Thessalonica as an intern, and then became a lieutenant (1907).
After serving as the military attaché in Rome, he participated in the Balkan
Wars. As a reward to his superior success during the defense of Ionnia, he was
promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel. During the World War I, he fought
on different fronts. He served as a commander of division, army corps and army.
Because of his successes, he promoted to the rank of colonel (1915) and major
general (1917), and became the commander of the XXth army corps. At the last
phase of the war, he fought on the fronts of the Caucasus and Palestine. After
the Montrose Ceasefire was signed, he transferred the headquarters of his army
corps from Syria to Ereğli, then to Konya and to Ankara. He was among those who
signed Amasya Protocol and participated in the National Independence War. He
contributed to the resistance forces against the Greek army that had begun to
occupy Western Anatolia. At the end of the Sivas Congress, he was appointed as
the general commander of the National Forces by the Board of Representatives
(1920).
The same year, he was elected as
a deputy and he represented Ankara at the First Parliament. The attack, he
started as the commander of Western Front against Greeks resulted in failure.
Therefore, he was appointed as an ambassador to Moscow (1922), and İsmet Paşa
was appointed as the commander of Western Front. By negotiating with the Soviet
leaders in Moscow, he provided financial and military support from the Soviet
Union to the Turkish Independence War. After finishing his duty as an
ambassador, he was elected as the second spokesman of the Turkish Parliament.
However, on permission from the Assembly, he was appointed as second army
inspector, while his office as a deputy continued (1924).
After the declaration of the
Republic, he had to choose either being deputy or being an officer. He
preferred to be a deputy. In this new era of his political career, he joined
the founders of opposition party, the Progressive Republican Party, and he was
elected as the general secretary of the party (1924). During the rebellion of
Şeyh Sait, the Law on the Maintenance of Order was affected and the Progressive
Republican Party was closed down. Ali Fuat Paşa was arrested with the
accusations of participating in the attempt of assassination against Atatürk
and was taken to İzmir. He was tried at the İzmir Independence Court and was
acquitted in 1926. He retired with the title of general. He stayed away from
politics for four years after all these (1927–31). In 1931, he returned to
politics and elected as a deputy from Konya. He served as the deputy of Konya
and Eskişehir until 1950.He also worked as the Minister of Public Works
(1939–43), Minister of Transportation (1943–46) and as the chairman of the
Parliament (1948). He became an independent candidate from Democrat Party in
Eskişehir at the next general elections, however he was not elected. In the
following years, he was elected as a deputy from İstanbul and served in the
parliament for ten more years (1950–1960). After the military coupon 27 May
1960, he quitted politics. He was buried to a backyard of mosque near Geyve
train station, after his will.
MAIN WORKS:
Birüssebi-Gazze Meydan Muharebesi ve 20. Kolordu (The War of Birüsebbi-Gazze and the
20. Army Corps, 1938), Millî Mücadele Hatıraları (Memories from the
Independence War, 1953), Moskova Hatıraları (Memories from Moscow,
1955), General Ali Fuat Cebesoy'un Siyasi Hatıraları (Political Memories
of General Ali Fuat Cebesoy, two volumes; 1957–1960), Sınıf Arkadaşım
Atatürk (My Classmate Atatürk, 1967), Büyük Zaferden Lozan'a Siyasi
Hatıralar 1-2 (Political Memories
from Great Victory to Lausanne, edited by Osman Selim Kocahanoğlu, 2002), Kuva-yı
Milliye'nin İçyüzü (Backstage of National Forces, edited by Osman Selim
Kocahanoğlu, 2002), Lozan'dan Cumhuriyete-Siyasî Hatıralar 1-2
(Political Memories from Lausanne to the Republic, edited by Osman Selim
Kocahanoğlu, 2002).
