Kazım Orbay

.Mehmet Kazım Orbay (March 11, 1887 –June 3, 1964) was a Turkish general and senator. He served as the third Chief of the General Staff of the Turkish Armed Forces.

He graduated 1904 from the Military College in the rank of an artillery lieutenant. After finishing the Academy of War in 1907, he joined the army as a staff officer. In 1908, he attended military courses in Germany and fought then in the Balkan Wars. He was appointed to chief adjutant of the Ministry of War in the Ottoman cabinet and served so to Enver Pasha during the World War I. During this time, he was deputed as the Turkish representative to the Afghan government in the Niedermayer-Hentig Expedition in 1915, when he presented to Emir Habibullah Khan the Ottoman Sultan's declaration of "Jihad", Turkey's desire to avoid a fatricidal war between Islamic people, and her message to Afghanistan to join the Central powers, break with Britain and declare war against British India.

After the occupation of Turkey by the Allies following the defeat of the Ottoman Empire, he joined the independence movement in Anatolia. Participating actively in the Turkish War of Independence, he served in several commanding positions in the Eastern Front Army between 1920 and 1922. He fought in the Caucasus and took part in the Battle of Dumlupinar.

In 1926, he was promoted to the rank of a three-star general and appointed to vice chief general staff. During 1928 and 1929, Kazım Orbay served as the Chief of the General Staff of the Afghanistan Kingdom. Returned to Turkey, he held high-ranking military posts and in 1935, he was promoted to the rank of a four-star general.

Succeeding Fevzi Çakmak, he served as the Chief of the General Staff of the Turkish armed forces during the time between January 12, 1944 and July 23, 1946, before he resigned.

Kazım Orbay retired on July 6, 1950. After the military coup of 1960, he was elected senator in 1961 and served as the president of the parliament.

He died of stomach cancer in Ankara and was laid to rest in the Turkish State Cemetery. He was married to the sister of Enver Pasha and they had a son.

References

* [http://www.kimkimdir.gen.tr/kimkimdir.php?id=246 Who is who? (in Turkish)]
* [http://www.oncevatan.com.tr/Detay.asp?yazar=13&yz=7658 Vatan Newspaper (in Turkish)]