Mustafa Sekip Bigol 1903-2008
jayp...@aol.com
Posted : Tue, 11 Nov 2008 10:09:08 GMT
Author : DPA
Category : Europe (World)
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Ankara - The last surviving Turkish soldier from the Turkish War of
Independence died in Istanbul on Tuesday aged 105, the Anadolu news
agency reported. Born into the family of a naval officer in the
Istanbul suburb of Uskudar in 1903, Mustafa Sekip Birgol attended a
military high school before joining Turkish forces under the
leadership of Mustafa Kemal fighting Allied partitioning of the
Ottoman Empire after it was defeated in the First World War.
Birgol fought as a second-lieutenant in the western Anatolian region
of Afyon and took part in the recapturing of Smyrna (today's Izmir)
from Greek forces in September 1922.
Mustafa Kemal's victory in 1923 forced the Allies to abandon the
partitioning of Anatolia and instead sign the Treaty of Lausanne which
established the independent Turkish republic.
Mustafa Kemal became the country's first president, later taking the
name Ataturk (father of the Turks) while Birgol was sent to the Black
Sea city of Samsun.
Birgol retired from the army in 1952 with the rank of colonel.