Süleyman Askerî Bey, also known as Suleyman Askeri, Sulayman Askari, Sulaiman al-Askari (;
Turkish: ''Süleyman Askeri'') and unofficially known as Suleyman Askeri Pasha (1884 – 14 April 1915), was a military officer who served in the
Ottoman Army
The Military of the Ottoman Empire () was the armed forces of the Ottoman Empire. It was founded in 1299 and dissolved in 1922.
Army
The Military of the Ottoman Empire can be divided in five main periods. The foundation era covers the years ...
. Askerî was of
Circassian descent and co founder of the
Teşkilât-ı Mahsusa
The Special Organization (, abbreviated TM) was an intelligence, paramilitary, and secret police organization in the Ottoman Empire known for its key role in the commission of the Armenian genocide. Originally organized under the Ministry of War ...
(Special Organisation), a group involved in guerrilla warfare.
Life
Süleyman Askerî was born to General Vehbi Pasha, who served as military staff at Edirne in 1898 and then in Anatolia, in 1884 in Prizren. He graduated from the
Ottoman Military Academy
The Turkish Military Academy () or as it is known historically and popularly Harbiye is a four-year co-educational military academy and part of the National Defence University. It is located in the center of Ankara, Turkey. Its mission is ...
in 1902 and graduated from the
Ottoman Military College
The Ottoman Military College or Imperial Military Staff College or Ottoman Army War College ( or
), was a two-year military staff college of the Ottoman Empire. It was located in İstanbul. Its mission was to educate staff officers for the Ott ...
on 5 November 1905 as Distinguished
Captain
Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...
(''Mümtaz Yüzbaşı'' ).
He was assigned to Monastir (present-day
Bitola
Bitola (; ) is a city in the southwestern part of North Macedonia. It is located in the southern part of the Pelagonia valley, surrounded by the Baba, Nidže, and Kajmakčalan mountain ranges, north of the Medžitlija-Níki border crossing ...
) under the command of the
Third Army stationed at Salonica (present-day
Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki (; ), also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, Salonika, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece (with slightly over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area) and the capital cit ...
). During the days he stayed in Monastir, he joined the
Committee of Union and Progress
The Ottoman Committee of Union and Progress (CUP, also translated as the Society of Union and Progress; , French language, French: ''Union et Progrès'') was a revolutionary group, secret society, and political party, active between 1889 and 1926 ...
and he married Fadime Hanım, who was an aristocrat of Filibe (present-day
Plovdiv
Plovdiv (, ) is the List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, second-largest city in Bulgaria, 144 km (93 miles) southeast of the capital Sofia. It had a population of 490,983 and 675,000 in the greater metropolitan area. Plovdiv is a cultural hub ...
). They had two daughters, Fatma and Dilek. During the
Young Turk Revolution
The Young Turk Revolution (July 1908; ) was a constitutionalist revolution in the Ottoman Empire. Revolutionaries belonging to the Internal Committee of Union and Progress, an organization of the Young Turks movement, forced Sultan Abdul Hamid II ...
(1908), First Lieutenant
Atıf Kamçıl
Atıf Kamçıl, also known as Atif Bey, Atif Efendi (1880–1947) was an Ottoman revolutionary and Turkish politician.
Biography
Young Turk Revolution and assassination of Shemsi Pasha
On 3 July 1908 Adjutant Major Ahmed Niyazi Bey deserted ...
stated that he asked the CUP Monastir branch for a gun and had talks with Süleyman Askerî, the branch's guide about the assassination of
Shemsi Pasha.
Askerî was closest friend of
Kuşçubaşzade Eşref (Sencer). According to Philip Hendrick Stoddard, he was a brother-in-law of
Mehmed Nuri (Conker), who was the oldest friend of
Mustafa Kemal (Atatürk).
In 1909, he was promoted to the rank of ''
Kolağası
''Kolağası'' (also written as ''Kol Ağası'', ''Kol Aghasi'') was a military rank of the Ottoman Army. It corresponds to a Senior Captain or an Adjutant Major. Erik Jan Zürcher, ''The Unionist Factor: The Role of the Committee of Union and Pro ...
'' and appointed to the gendarmerie regiment in
Baghdad
Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...
. In 1911, after the
Kingdom of Italy
The Kingdom of Italy (, ) was a unitary state that existed from 17 March 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 10 June 1946, when the monarchy wa ...
invaded the
vilayet of Tripoli (present-day
Libya
Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...
), he went there and participated in operations in
Benghazi
Benghazi () () is the List of cities in Libya, second-most-populous city in Libya as well as the largest city in Cyrenaica, with an estimated population of 859,000 in 2023. Located on the Gulf of Sidra in the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean, Ben ...
. In 1912, he took part in 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 ...
as the chief of staff of Trabzon Redif Division and then became the Chief of the General Staff of the
provisional government
A provisional government, also called an interim government, an emergency government, a transitional government or provisional leadership, is a temporary government formed to manage a period of transition, often following state collapse, revoluti ...
(31 August 1913 – 25 October 1913) established in
Western Thrace
Western Thrace or West Thrace (, '' ytikíThráki'' ), also known as Greek Thrace or Aegean Thrace, is a geographical and historical region of Greece, between the Nestos and Evros rivers in the northeast of the country; East Thrace, which lie ...
. On 13 November 1913, he was appointed to the chief of the
Ottoman Special Organisation when it was officially formed.
He took his own life in 1915 during a series of devastating Ottoman military defeats, in the middle of a British-Indian Ambush (the British-Indians were outnumbered Ottoman-Arab forces) on the outskirts of Kut, Iraq.
See also
*
Battle of Shaiba
Sources
External links
* Fortna, Benjamin C.
Askerî Bey, Süleymân in
{{DEFAULTSORT:Askeri, Suleyman
1884 births
1915 deaths
People from Prizren
People from Kosovo vilayet
Committee of Union and Progress politicians
Ottoman Army officers
Members of the Special Organization (Ottoman Empire)
Ottoman military personnel of the Italo-Turkish War
Ottoman military personnel of the Balkan Wars
Ottoman military personnel killed in World War I
Ottoman Military Academy alumni
Ottoman Military College alumni
Military personnel of the Ottoman Empire who died by suicide
20th-century Ottoman military personnel
People from the Ottoman Empire of Circassian descent
Suicides in the Ottoman Empire