Mahmud Muhtar Pasha ( tr, Mahmut Muhtar Paşa; 1867 – 15 March 1935), known as Mahmut Muhtar Katırcıoğlu
since 1934, was an
Ottoman-born
Turkish military officer and diplomat, the son of the
Grand Vizier Ahmed Muhtar Pasha
Ahmed Muhtar Pasha ( ota, احمد مختار پاشا; 1 November 1839 – 21 January 1919) was a prominent Ottoman field marshal and Grand Vizier, who served in the Crimean and Russo-Turkish wars. Ahmed Muhtar Pasha was appointed as ...
.
Biography

He was born in Constantinople and returned to the city in 1893 after seven years' military education in
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...
. He was a participant in the
Greco-Turkish War of 1897, in spite of the prohibition by the
Sultan. In 1910, he became Minister of Navy in
Ibrahim Hakkı Pasha's cabinet and arranged the construction of the first Turkish
dreadnought
The dreadnought (alternatively spelled dreadnaught) was the predominant type of battleship in the early 20th century. The first of the kind, the Royal Navy's , had such an impact when launched in 1906 that similar battleships built after her ...
. He married Princess Nimetullah Khanum Effendi, a daughter of
Isma'il Pasha
Isma'il Pasha ( ar, إسماعيل باشا ; 12 January 1830 – 2 March 1895), was the Khedive of Egypt and conqueror of Sudan from 1863 to 1879, when he was removed at the behest of Great Britain. Sharing the ambitious outlook of his gran ...
and they had five children.
At the outbreak of the
First Balkan War
The First Balkan War ( sr, Први балкански рат, ''Prvi balkanski rat''; bg, Балканска война; el, Αʹ Βαλκανικός πόλεμος; tr, Birinci Balkan Savaşı) lasted from October 1912 to May 1913 and invo ...
in 1912, he went to the front, commanded the
III Corps in the
Battle of Kirk Kilisse
The Battle of Kirk Kilisse or Battle of Kirkkilise or Battle of Lozengrad was part of the First Balkan War between the armies of Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire. It took place on 24 October 1912, when the Bulgarian army defeated an Ottoman army ...
,
Battle of Lule Burgas
The Battle of Lule Burgas ( tr, Lüleburgaz Muharebesi) or Battle of Luleburgas – Bunarhisar ( bg, Битка при Люлебургас – Бунархисар , tr, Lüleburgaz – Pınarhisar Muharebesi) was a battle between the Kingdom ...
and was severely wounded in the
First Battle of Çatalca
The First Battle of Çatalca was one of the heaviest battles of the First Balkan War fought between . It was initiated as an attempt of the combined Bulgarian First and Third armies, under the overall command of lieutenant general Radko Dimitriev ...
He wrote an account of his experiences in the Balkan War titled ''Why We Lost
Rumelia
Rumelia ( ota, روم ايلى, Rum İli; tr, Rumeli; el, Ρωμυλία), etymologically "Land of the Romans", at the time meaning Eastern Orthodox Christians and more specifically Christians from the Byzantine rite, was the name of a hi ...
'' ( tr, Rumeli'yi Neden Kaybettik),
of which German and French versions appeared in 1913.
On 30 May 1929, Mahmud Muhtar Pasha was put on trial before the
Supreme Court
A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
(formerly ota, Divan'ı Ali, today tr, Yüce Divan) on charges of damnifying the state treasury by remitting 20,000
pounds without security to the British
Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company
The Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company, Limited was a shipyard and iron works straddling the mouth of Bow Creek at its confluence with the River Thames, at Leamouth Wharf (often referred to as Blackwall) on the west side and at Canning ...
in conjunction with works for the
Anatolian Railway Company. On 3 November 1929, he was sentenced to making a payment of 22,000
Turkish gold coins discounted by five percent.
See also
*
List of Turkish diplomats
List of notable diplomats of the Republic of Turkey, past and present. The names are listed in an alphabetical order according to their last names, with their positions and other relevant information.
In alphabetical order
A
* Burak Akcapa ...
Sources
1867 births
1935 deaths
Ottoman Military Academy alumni
Ottoman Military College alumni
Ottoman Army generals
Pashas
Ottoman military personnel of the Greco-Turkish War (1897)
Ottoman military personnel of the Italo-Turkish War
Ottoman military personnel of the Balkan Wars
Government ministers of the Ottoman Empire
Diplomats of the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman governors of Aidin
Turkish politicians convicted of crimes
{{Ottoman-bio-stub