Mirliva [General] Ahmed Avni Pasha and His Memoirs

Abstract

He was born in Batumi, and died in Jounieh / Lebanon on 01 February 1934.His grave is in Jounieh.On 27 March 1915, he fought at the Caucasus front, as the Corps Commander, againstthe Russian invasion. In March-April 1916, during the operation of the 3 rd Army at the CaucasusFront, he acted as the Head of the 10 th and the 4 th Corps Local Boards. On 3 April 1918, he was appointed as Senior Range Inspector of the Yildirim [Lightning ]Armies Group. Until March 1919, he served in various military posts. On 4 March 1919, he wasassigned as the Minister of Public Works in Damat Ferid cabinet, and after one month he wasappointed as the Minister of the Navy. Two months later, he was appointed as Adjutant Generalto Sultan Vahdettin.Avni Pasha expressed that he had had no experience and knowledge about seas whenhe was assigned as the Minister of the Navy. Being a military commander who was alwaysagainst and stayed aloof from politics, Avni Pasha started to write his memoirs in Jounieh /Lebanon, where he spent his last years. However, his memoirs were kept by his family until theyear 2010 and were published in 2011. During the publication process, it became clear that thelast ten pages of this study include Sultan Vahdettin s memoirs.

Özet

Batumda do ğ du. 1 Şubat 1934 yı l ı nda Lübnan - Cünyede vefat etti. MezarıCünyededir. 27 Mart 1915te kolordu komutan ı yetkisiyle Rus istilas ı na karş ı Kafkas Cephesindesava ş tı . Mart - Nisan 1916 tarihlerinde Kafkas Cephesi 3üncü Ordu Harekâtı s ı ras ı nda, 10uncuve 4üncü Kolordu Asker Alma Kurulu ba ş kanl ı kları nda bulundu.3 Nisan 1918de Yı ldı rı m Ordular Grubu Ba ş Menzil Müfetti ş i tayin edildi. Mart 1919akadar muhtelif askerî görevler üstlendi. 4 Mart 1919da Birinci Damat Ferid KabinesindeBayı nd ı rl ı k bakan ı (Nafı a nazı rı ) görevlerinde bulundu ve bir ay sonra Bahriye naz ı rı atand ı , ikiay sonra Sultan Vahdettine seryaver olarak atand ı .Bahriye nazı rı unvan ı verildi ğ inde denizcilikle ilgili hiçbir deneyimi ve bilgi birikimiolmad ı ğı n ı ifade eden, politikaya daima karş ı ve uzak durmaya çaba göstermi ş asker birkumandan olan Avni Pa ş a, yaş am ı nı n son yı lları n ı geçirdi ğ i Lübnan ı n Cünye (Jounieh)kasabas ı nda an ı ları nı yazmaya devam etmi ş tir. Hatı rat 2010 y ı l ı na kadar aile bireyleri tarafı ndanmuhafaza edilmi ş ve 2011 yı l ı nda yay ı mlanm ı ş tı r. Çal ı ş ma s ı ras ı nda, Sultan Vahdettininhatı ratı nı n, bu hatı ratı n son on sayfal ı k kı sm ı nda oldu ğ u ortaya ç ı km ı ş tı r.