Nureddin Paşa: Brutal, Irascible, Xenophobic - but Indispensable - Commander in the Turkish War of Independence Introduction Mustafa Kemal Paşa was no fan of Nureddin Paşa, reluctantly appointing him to command the 1 st Army for the August 1922 “Büyük Taaruz” after other candidates demurred. While commander of the “Merkez Ordusu” in central Anatolia in 1920- 1921, Nureddin Paşa’s brutality in suppressing the Pontus and Koçkiri revolts nearly sent him to a court martial – he was saved by Mustafa Kemal Paşa’s intercession. In “Nutuk”, Mustafa Kemal Paşa’s account of the War of Independence, he allocated about 30 pages to criticism of Nureddin Paşa, citing his irascibility and oversized ego relative to his actual accomplishments. In particular, Nureddin Paşa liked to characterize himself as the “Izmir Fathi” (Conquerer of Izmir/Expulsion of the Greek Army, 9 September 1922), which irked Mustafa Kemal Paşa to no end. In fact, in “Nutuk” Mustafa Kemal Paşa said that Nureddin Paşa was among “those who had the least right to claim credit for the success of the “Büyük Taaruz””. Nevertheless, time and again Nureddin Paşa was called upon to lead Nationalist armies because, by hook or by crook, he got the job done. Herewith below are English translations of two articles from Turkish researchers about Nureddin Paşa – the first, PART I, contains Nureddin Paşa’s own account of taking command of the 1 st Army for “Büyük Taaruz”; İsmet (İnönü) Paşa’s advice to Nurredin Paşa about how to get along with Mustafa Kemal Paşa at “Büyük Taaruz”, and Mustafa Kemal Paşa recounting in his “Nutuk” how he rescued Nureddin Paşa from court martial because of his misdeeds commanding the “Merkez Ordusu” in central Anatolia. 1