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- The leader of 27 May
coup d'état, distinguished member of the Army and fourth President of Republic of Turkey.
- He was born in Erzurum
in 1895 as the son of a member of the Army. He was sent to Dardanelles Wars when he was
studying final class of Kuleli Military High School. He took part in War of Independence.
He worked in various levels in the Army. He was appointed as the Commander of the Land
Forces in 1959. He became the president with 27 May 1960 coup d'état. After a long
illness period, he died in Ankara in 1966.
- He was the son of a
father who lived in battlefields. What could he do apart from his father’s job? He was
enrolled with Erzincan Military Secondary school after primary school. He was very naughty
boy in his childhood, but he was so calm in his school life that all of his friends saw
him as a mature man. So, they called him “Aga”, meaning elder brother. He was called
with this name for half a century...
- When he went to Kuleli
Military High School, when his friends asked his name, he replied “They called me Aga in
Erzincan”, in an innocent and virtous manner. The class found that strange. Even they
found it an arrogant name.
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- It was not longer than
a month, a representative of all of his friends drew near and told him:
- – We will call you Aga here too.
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- His humility,
stouthearted character and polite manners made all class believe in his being an Aga...
The world war started in the year he graduated from Kuleli Military High School. He was
sent to the front together with all his classmates expecting to go to War Academy. He
stayed in Cebel-i Lebanon for eight months. He went to Gaza wars from there. He served
there until the last destruction as battery command. He was exhausted with tropical
malaria when he was taken captive. It must be his destiny, he stayed in captivity in Egypt
for two years and ten days. Anatolia had begun to get organized when he returned to
Turkey. He ran to Anatolia too. He was commissioned as the battery commander of the 1st
division of the newly established army. He took part in the 1st Inönü, 2nd Inönü and
Sakarya Battles with this battery. Only after the great victory could he go to the
Military Academy. He studied for one year in the Military Academy, he put on his shoulder
the star officially, and was enrolled with War Academy directly.
- He wanted to marry the
sister of Captain Nizamettin Bey, whom he met during the war in Palestinian front. His
prospective father-in-law, was the former chief engineer of Hamidiye Armored Ship. They
got married on 27 January 1927. The young officer went to the house of the family of the
bride in Kasimpasa... Years and years, ranks followed each other. He took many duties in
various levels of the heroine army. He was called “Aga”, no matter he went, nothing
else. He was so much loved and respected by the soldiers.
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- When the Law on
Surnames passed, all of his friends insisted “Take Aga surname”, but he said
- – Everybody already knows me as Aga, at least I should
have a different surname, and took “Gursel”. But this surname was only used in
official documents and formal meetings.
- Full General “Aga Cemal”, whom the army sincerely
loved and respected, was appointed as the Commander of Land Forces in 1959. This
appointment arose joy in the army. But it did not last for too long. A meeting in the
Prime Ministry which he took part as the Commander of Land Forces on 11 April 1960 formed
a turning point. In this meeting, the government wanted the army to support itself. The
stouthearted member of army, who did not like politics, thundered “The army takes orders
from the nation, not politicians!”.
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- He was already persona
non grata because of his attitude not yielding to the politicians, and this was too much.
He was harshly criticized by everybody. At last, they retired “Aga Cemal” of the army
three months before the usual period.
- Full General Gursel
sent a farewell message to all army units as the Commander of Land Forces. The government
did not want this message to be published on the newspapers and prohibited its being
published. But duplicators operated without interruption and separated this farewell
message to thousands, even hundreds of thousands of people...
- Aga Cemal, went to
Izmir with his civilian clothes. He had a house in Denizbostanlısı quarter of
Karşıyaka, he settled down there. He started to live a calm life with his wife Melahat
Hanim and his son Ozdemir.
- Ve 1960 yılının o
unutulmaz 27 Mayıs günü sesi Türkiye radyolarında duyuldu:
- And the unforgettible voice was heard on the Turkish radios
on 27 May of 1960:
– ... I decided to put an end to this terrible progress
and seized the government”, said Aga Cemal of the army. He won the great struggle he
initiated as the Commander in Chief of Turkish Armed forces.
- He undertook the duties
of Chairman of National Unity Committee, President of the State and President of the
Government as from 30 May 1960. Then he became the fourth president of Republic of Turkey.
But he remained as “Aga” for all of his lifetime which lasted for 71 years. He was
loved as “Aga”, always...
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