Mustafa Şerif İlden (1877, Veles – 1952,

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

) was a Turkish career officer, diplomat and far-right politician.

Biography

He was born in Veles. His father, Hüseyin Avni Bey, was a civil servant in

Skopje Skopje ( , ; ; , sq-definite, Shkupi) is the capital and largest city of North Macedonia. It lies in the northern part of the country, in the Skopje Basin, Skopje Valley along the Vardar River, and is the political, economic, and cultura ...

. Şerif Bey graduated from the Manastır Military High School in 1891 and the Istanbul Field Artillery School in 1895. In the same year, he entered the Military Academy with the rank of lieutenant. When the

Balkan Wars The Balkan Wars were two conflicts that took place in the Balkans, Balkan states in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan states of Kingdom of Greece (Glücksburg), Greece, Kingdom of Serbia, Serbia, Kingdom of Montenegro, M ...

broke out, he was the Chief of Staff of the Western Army. On January 8, 1914, he was appointed as the Chief of Staff of the 9th Corps in

Erzurum Erzurum (; ) is a List of cities in Turkey, city in eastern Anatolia, Turkey. It is the largest city and capital of Erzurum Province and is 1,900 meters (6,233 feet) above sea level. Erzurum had a population of 367,250 in 2010. It is the site of an ...

. He participated in

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. He was taken prisoner by the Russians on the Sarıkamış Front on 29 January 1915. The life of captivity in

Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...

lasted three years. In January 1918 he escaped to

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

. He retired on March 31, 1918. He supported the

Turkish War of Independence , strength1 = May 1919: 35,000November 1920: 86,000Turkish General Staff, ''Türk İstiklal Harbinde Batı Cephesi'', Edition II, Part 2, Ankara 1999, p. 225August 1922: 271,000Celâl Erikan, Rıdvan Akın: ''Kurtuluş Savaşı tarih ...

by sending weapons and ammunition to the Turkish soldiers. After 1923, he held diplomatic positions between 1935 and 1939.

References

1877 births 1952 deaths Date of birth missing Date of death missing People from Veles, North Macedonia Ottoman Army officers Ottoman military personnel of World War I Ottoman prisoners of war World War I prisoners of war held by Russia Republican People's Party (Turkey) politicians Members of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey 20th-century Turkish diplomats {{Turkey-politician-stub