Veysel Turan (1901 - 25 March 2007) was one of the last Turkish veterans of 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 ...

(1919–1923).

Military years

He joined the newly-established army of

Mustafa Kemal Pasha Mustafa () is one of the names of the Prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad, and the name means "chosen, selected, appointed, preferred", used as an Arabic language, Arabic given name and surname. Mustafa is a common name in t ...

Ankara Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...

. In the early period of the

(1919–1923), he carried grain from various places of the country to the soldiers in the west front. Following the Greek Summer Offensive in 1920, he was assigned to a military hospital in

Kütahya Kütahya (; historically, Cotyaeum or Kotyaion; Ancient Greek, Greek: Κοτύαιον) is a city in western Turkey which lies on the Porsuk River, at 969 metres above sea level. It is the seat of Kütahya Province and Kütahya District. In 19 ...

. He then fought in clashes near

Polatlı Polatlı (formerly Ancient Greek: Γόρδιον, Górdion and Latin: Gordium) is a municipality and district of Ankara Province, Turkey. Its area is 3,618 km2, and its population is 128,378 (2022). It is 80 km west of the Turkish capital ...

. He remembers that "they had to bury the fallen in night in order not to demoralize their comrades". After the retreat of the Greek troops, he received a horse, and became a cavalryman in the combat assault battalion of the 1st Division. Subsequently, he took part in the

Second Battle of İnönü The Second Battle of İnönü () was fought between March 23 and April 1, 1921 near İnönü, Eskişehir, İnönü in present-day Eskişehir Province, Turkey during the Greco-Turkish War (1919–22), also known as the western front of the larg ...

(1921),

Battle of Sakarya The Battle of the Sakarya (), also known as the Battle of the Sangarios (), was an important engagement in the Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922). The battle went on for 21 days from August 23 to September 13, 1921, close to the banks of the Sakar ...

(1921) and

Battle of Dumlupınar The Battle of Dumlupınar (, ), or known as Field Battle of the Commander-in-Chief () in Turkey, was one of the important battles in the Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922) (part of the Turkish War of Independence). The battle was fought from 26 ...

(1922).

Later years

In his later years, Tuyrma earned his living by farming. He lived nearly 25 years bedridden at Aydınlıkevler neighborhood of

Selçuklu Selçuklu is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Konya Province, Turkey. Its area is 1,931 km2, and its population is 690,667 (2022). Selçuklu is one of the central districts of Konya, along with the districts of Karatay, Kony ...

district in

Konya Province Konya Province () is a province and metropolitan municipality in southwest Central Anatolia, Turkey. Its area is 40,838 km2, making it the largest province by area, and its population is 2,296,347 (2022). The provincial capital is the city ...

, where was he was cared by his daughter Samiye Turan. He underwent surgeries of kidney and

prostate The prostate is an male accessory gland, accessory gland of the male reproductive system and a muscle-driven mechanical switch between urination and ejaculation. It is found in all male mammals. It differs between species anatomically, chemica ...

in different times and then in August 2005 an

inguinal hernia surgery Inguinal hernia surgery is an operation to repair a weakness in the abdominal wall that abnormally allows abdominal contents to slip into a narrow tube called the inguinal canal in the groin region. There are two different clusters of hernia: g ...

. Veysel Turan had two sons and five daughters. He died at the age of 107 in

Konya Konya is a major city in central Turkey, on the southwestern edge of the Central Anatolian Plateau, and is the capital of Konya Province. During antiquity and into Seljuk times it was known as Iconium. In 19th-century accounts of the city in En ...

on 25 March 2007. He was survived by his daughter Samiye Turan.

References

1901 births 2007 deaths People from Konya Turkish military personnel of the Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922) Members of Kuva-yi Milliye Turkish men centenarians {{Turkey-mil-bio-stub