Iraq_Area_Command_(Ottoman_Empire)

Iraq Area Command (Ottoman Empire)

Iraq Area Command (Ottoman Empire)

Military unit

The Iraq Area Command or Iraq Regional Command of the Ottoman Empire (Turkish: Irak ve Havalisi Genel Komutanlığı) was one of the military formation of the Ottoman Army. It was formed in Iraq in the initial stage of World War I.

Quick Facts Iraq Area Command Irak ve Havalisi Genel Komutanlığı, Active ...

Formations

Order of Battle, November 1914

In November 1914, the corps was structured as follows:[6]

  • Iraq Area Command (Commander: Cavit Pasha)
    • 38th Division

Order of Battle, January 1915

In January 1918, the corps was structured as follows:[4]

  • Iraq Area Command (Commander: Kaymakam Süleyman Askerî Bey)
    • 38th Division
    • Sahrıca Detachment (Provisional Dicle Division since January 25, 1915)
    • Kerha Group
    • Fırat Group

Because Süleyman Askerî Bey committed suicide on April 14, 1915, Nureddin Bey was appointed the commander on April 20. Nureddin Bey arrived in June to take command of the Iraq Area Command and he was appointed the Governor of Basra Province and Baghdad Province at the same time.[5] On December 21, 1915, German Generalfeldmarschall Colmar von der Goltz arrived at Baghdad and changed the name of the Command as the Iraq Army (Irak Ordusu).[2]

Order of Battle, Late 1915

In late 1915, the corps was structured as follows:[7]

Sources

  1. [1]
    Birinci Dünya Harbi'nde Türk Harbi: Irak-İran Cephesi, 1914–1918, Vol. III, Part I, Genelkurmay Basım Evi, 1979, p. 42. (in Turkish)
  2. [2]
    Orhan Avcı, Irak'ta Türk ordusu (1914–1918), Vadi Yayınları, 2004, ISBN 978-975-6768-51-8, p. 30. (in Turkish)
  3. [3]
    Emin Demirel, Teşkilat-ı Mahsusa'dan Günümüze Gizli Servisler, IQ Kültür Sanat, 2002, p. 180. (in Turkish)
  4. [4]
    Orhan Avcı, Irak'ta Türk Ordusu (1914–1918), Vadi Yayınları, 2004, ISBN 975-6768-51-7, p. 28. (in Turkish)
  5. [5]
    T.C. Genelkurmay Harp Tarihi Başkanlığı Yayınları, Türk İstiklâl Harbine Katılan Tümen ve Daha Üst Kademelerdeki Komutanların Biyografileri, Genelkurmay Basım Evi, 1972, p. 32. (in Turkish)
  6. [6]
    Edward J. Erickson, Order to Die: A History of the Ottoman Army in the First World War, Greenwood Press, 2001, ISBN 0-313-31516-7, p. 43.
  7. [7]
    Orhan Avcı, Irak'ta Türk Ordusu (1914–1918), Vadi Yayınları, 2004, ISBN 975-6768-51-7, p. 29. (in Turkish)
Share this article:

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Iraq_Area_Command_(Ottoman_Empire), and is written by contributors. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.