Nureddin Ibrahim Pasha (; 1873 – 18 February 1932), known as Nureddin İbrahim Konyar from 1934, was a Turkish military officer who served in the Ottoman Army during World War I and in the Turkish Army during the Western Front of the Turkish War of Independence. He was called Bearded Nureddin () because being the only high-ranking Turkish officer during the Turkish War of Independence sporting a beard. He is known as one of the most important commanders of the war. He ordered several murders and massacres.
Ottoman era He was born in 1873 in Bursa of Turkish descent. His father, Field Marshal (Müşir) İbrahim PashaT.C. Genelkurmay Harp Tarihi Başkanlığı Yayınları, Türk İstiklâl Harbine Katılan Tümen ve Daha Üst Kademelerdeki Komutanların Biyografileri, Genelkurmay Başkanlığı Basımevi, Ankara, 1972, p. 31. was a high-ranking officer in the Ottoman Army. He entered the Ottoman Military Academy (Mekteb-i Füsûn-u Harbiyye-i Şâhâne), in Pangaltı, in 1890. He completed the Military Academy as the 31st of the class in 1893 and joined the Ottoman military as an infantry second lieutenant (Mülâzım-ı Sani). Nureddin Pasha was one of the few to reach high rank without having attended a staff college.Edward J. Erickson, Ottoman Army Effectiveness in World War I: A comparative study, Routledge, New York, 2007, , p. 75. He knew Arabic, French, German, and Russian.
He served in the 40th Infantry Battalion of the Fifth Army between March and April 1893. He served in the headquarters of the Hassa Ordusu (First Army) between April 1893 and October 1898.T.C. Genelkurmay Harp Tarihi Başkanlığı Yayınları, Türk İstiklâl Harbine Katılan Tümen ve Daha Üst Kademelerdeki Komutanların Biyografileri, p. 32. On 31 January 1895, he was promoted to the rank of first lieutenant (Mülâzım-ı Evvel) and, on 22 July 1895, to that of captain (Yüzbaşı).
He took part in the Greco-Turkish War of 1897 as the aide-de-camp of the commander-in-chief Edhem Pasha. After going back to Constantinople, he was assigned to the 1st department (chief of operations) of the headquarters of the First Army. In October 1898, he was appointed to the aide-de-camp of Sultan Abdul Hamid II. In 1901, he was promoted to the rank of major (Binbaşı). He was appointed Staff Group of the Command of Bulgarian Border between 1901 and 1902. Nureddin Bey fought guerrillas in Macedonia between 1902 and 1903.
In December 1907, he was assigned to the prestigious Third Army headquarters in Salonika. He was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel (Kaymakam) in 1907 and Colonel (Miralay) in 1908. Before the Young Turk Revolution of 1908, when Müşir İbrahim Pasha attempted to establish discipline in the army, Major Djemal Bey and other members of the Committee of Union and Progress approached his son Nureddin Bey, with warning to the Müşir İbrahim Pasha to keep off their patch.Andrew Mango, Atatürk, John Murray, 1999, , p. 73. Nureddin Bey joined the Committee of Union and Progress (membership number was 6436Kâzım Karabekir, İttihat ve Terakki Cemiyeti, Emre Yayınları, 1982, p. 180.). On 19 August 1909, he was demoted to major, because of the Law for the Purge of Military Ranks (Tasfiye-i Rüteb-i Askeriye Kanunu) and sent to reserve under the First Army. In September 1909, he was appointed to the Governor of Küçükçekmece. In April 1910, he was appointed to the vice commander of the 77th Infantry Regiment by 1910 and after became the commander of the 1st Battalion of the 83rd Infantry Regiment.
In February 1911, Nureddin Bey served on the XIV Corps staff fighting insurgents in Yemen and promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel. In November he became reserve under the XIV Corps. By 1913 he returned from Yemen to command the 9th Infantry Regiment in the last stage of Balkan War. In 1913 he served with the model force (numune kıtası) formed in conjunction with Liman von Sanders's German Military Mission (German: Deutsche Militärmissionen im Osmanischen Reich, Turkish: Alman Hey'et-i Askeriyye-i Islâhiyyesi).
World War
By April 1914 he assumed command of the 4th Division (Dördüncü Fırka). The commander of the Iraq Area Command Süleyman Askerî Bey committed suicide on 14 April 1915 and Nureddin Bey was assigned to the Iraq Area Command on 20 April. He arrived in June to take command of the battered army in Iraq and he was appointed the Governor of Basra Province and Baghdad Province at the same time.
In November 1915, Nureddin Bey stopped Major General Charles Vere Ferrers Townshend's 6th Poona Infantry Division of British Indian Army at the Battle of Ctesiphon,Edward J. Erickson, Ottoman Army Effectiveness in World War I: A comparative study, pp. 74–78. and then pursued his retreating opponents to the town of Kut. Several attacks failed to take the town, and he settled down to a siege which ended in a British surrender.Edward J. Erickson, Ordered to Die: A history of the Ottoman Army in the First World War, Greenwood Press, Wesport, CT 2001, , pp. 112–115. German Generalfeldmarschall Colmar von der Goltz arrived at Baghdad on 21 December 1915, changed the name of the Command as the Iraq Army (Irak Ordusu),Orhan Avcı, Irak'ta Türk ordusu (1914–1918), Vadi Yayınları, 2004, , p. 30. inspected his positions and later left to start an invasion of Persia.Edward J. Erickson, Ottoman Army Effectiveness in World War I: A comparative study, p. 86. On 20 January 1916, Enver Pasha, Ottoman Minister of War, replaced Nureddin Bey with Colonel Halil BeyEdward J. Erickson, Ordered to Die: A history of the Ottoman Army in the First World War, p. 150. and Nureddin Bey was appointed to the commander of the IX Corps and the provisional commander of the Third Army.
In October 1916, he was appointed to the commander of the Muğla and Antalya Area Command (Muğla ve Antalya Havalisi Komutanlığı) and ordered to establish the XXI Corps (he became the commander of this corps) based in Aidin and became the Deputy Governor of Aidin Vilayet on 25 October 1918.Kâmil Erdeha, Vilâyetler ve Valiler, Remzi Kitabevi, 1975, p. 373. He was promoted to the rank of Mirliva in 1918.
After the armistice
After the Armistice of Mudros, in November 1918, he was appointed to the commander of the XVII Corps based in İzmir and the Governor of Aidin Vilayet at the same time. On 30 December 1918 he was appointed to the commander of the XXV Corps based in Constantinople. On 2 February 1919, because of the breaking out of the rebellion in Urla, he was reassigned to the Governor of Aidin Vilayet and Aidin Area Command (Aydın Bölge Komutanığı).T.C. Genelkurmay Harp Tarihi Başkanlığı Yayınları, Türk İstiklâl Harbine Katılan Tümen ve Daha Üst Kademelerdeki Komutanların Biyografileri, p. 33.
Nureddin Pasha established a consultation committee consisting of delegates of parties, societies and merchant clubs in Smyrna (Izmir), and supported activities of the Society for the Defence of Ottoman Rights in Izmir (İzmir Müdafaa-i Hukuk-ı Osmaniye Cemiyeti).Mesut Çapa, "İzmir Müdafaa-i Hukuk-ı Osmaniye Cemiyeti (Aralık 1918 – Mart 1920)", Atatürk Araştırma Merkezi Dergisi, Sayı 21, Cilt: VII, Temmuz 1991. However, activities of the society slowed down with Nurettin Pasha's departure from İzmir. In order to weaken Turkish defense against Greek landing at İzmir, The Allied Powers, especially the British Prime Minister David Lloyd George, wanted to remove Nurettin Pasha from İzmir. Before the Occupation of İzmir, nationalist general Nureddin Pasha was recalled the Governor, who had fallen foul of Chrysostomos of Smyrna.Andrew Mango, Atatürk, p. 207. Kurd Ahmet Izzet Pasha was appointed as the new governor on 11 March, and retired general Ali Nadir Pasha was appointed as the new military commander on 22 March.
War of Independence In June 1920, he passed through Anatolia to participate in the national liberation movement and he was appointed to the commander of the Central Army (Merkez Ordusu) based in Amasya of some 10,000 men on 9 December 1920. Due to his appointment as the military general governor of the Pontus, the position of the Pontic Greeks took a turn for the worse.Andrew Mango, Atatürk, p. 329. He expelled American missionaries and put some local Christians on trial for treason.Andrew Mango, Atatürk, p. 330.
Koçgiri Rebellion
Against Koçgiri rebels, Nureddin Pasha led a force of some 3,000 cavalrymen and irregulars including the 47th Giresun Volunteer Regiment led by Topal Osman. The rebels were crushed by 17 June 1921.Ergün Aybars, İstiklâl Mahkemeleri, Bilgi Yayınevi, 1975, p. 34.
According to some sources, Nurettin Pasha said: (other sources attribute this to Topal OsmanHalim Demir, Milli Mücadele: Kuvayı Milliye : İttihatçılar ve Muhalifler, Ozan Yayıncılık, 2008, p. 176.):
The severity of the repression led to angry debates in the Grand National Assembly. The assembly decided to send Nureddin Pasha to a commission of enquiry and to put him on trial. Nureddin Pasha was relieved on 3 November 1921 and recalled to Ankara. But Mustafa Kemal prevented a trial and Nureddin Pasha was soon rehabilitated and became the commander of the First Army in 1922.
Pontic Greek Expulsion and Massacre
On 9 June 1921, the Greek destroyers and battleship Kilkis bombed İnebolu.Konstantinos Travlos, Salvation and Catastrophe: The Greek-Turkish War, 1919–1922 (Lexington Books, 2020) Nureddin Pasha advised the general staff of the Ankara government that in view of the danger of a Greek landing in Samsun, all male Greeks aged between 16 and 50 years should be deported to Amasya, Tokat and Karahisar-ı Şarkî (present day: Şebinkarahisar) by the order numbered 2082 and dated 12 January 1921.Ahmet Güzel, Dünden Bugüne Yunanistan'ın Pontus Hedefi, IQ Kültür Sanat Yayıncılık, 2006, , p. 151. The Ankara government accepted it on 16 June. And the Central Army deported nearly 21,000 persons and the Samsun Independent Tribunal passed 485 death sentences. The massacres committed from the Central Army were so brutal,Ebubekir Hazım Tepeyran, Belgelerle Kurtuluş Savaşı Anıları, Istanbul 1982, p. 81. than even MPs of the GNAT demanded Nureddin's execution.Türkiye Büyük Millet Meclisi Gizli Celse Zabitlari, Kültür Yayinlari Türkiye Is Bankasi, v. 2, pp. 240 sq., 252–287, 626–650. Eventually, the National Assembly relieved him of command and prosecuted him, but Mustafa Kemal revoked the procedure.Kazım Öztürk (ed.), Atatürk’ün TBMM Açık ve Gizli Oturumlarındaki Konuşmaları, Ankara 1992, vol. 1, p. 84. After the Greek armoured cruiser Georgios Averof bombed Samsun on 7 June 1922, Greeks in the areas of western and southern Anatolia under Turkish nationalist control were deported by order of the Ankara government.Andrew Mango, Atatürk, p. 331.
Great Offensive
After the commander of the First Army Ali İhsan (Sâbis) was dismissed and sent to the Konya Court Martial, the command of the First Army was offered to Ali Fuat (Cebesoy), and then Refet (Bele). But neither man wanted to serve under İsmet (İnönü).Andrew Mango, Atatürk, pp. 334–335. On 29 June 1922, Nureddin Pasha was appointed to the commander of the First Army replacing Ali İhsan and on 31 August, he was promoted to the rank of Ferik.
Murder of Archbishop Chrysostomos and Great Fire of Smyrna