Mustafa Nuri Killigil (born on May 5, 1890 in Bitola, modern-day North Macedonia; died on March 2, 1949 in Istanbul, Turkey), also known as Nuri Pasha, was a commander in the Ottoman Army and a trader, investor, inventor, and industrialist during the republican period. During the Tripoli War in 1911 and 1912, he fought with Ataturk and his older brother, Enver Pasha, against the Italian occupation. Towards the end of the First World War, in 1918, as the Commander of the Caucasus Islamic Army, he liberated Baku from Armenian and Russian occupation. For this reason, he was nicknamed the Conqueror of Baku. Nuri Pasha, who was honored with the Medal of Independence by the Turkish Grand National Assembly, is also regarded as the founder of the Turkish defense industry.
EARLY LIFE
Nuri Pasha, who took the Killigil surname after the Surname Law was adopted in 1934, is known as one of the country’s first entrepreneurs, contributing to the development of the domestic defense industry in the private sector by manufacturing cannons, mortars, anti-aircraft bullets, and aircraft bombs in s factory established in Istanbul in the 1940s. Moreover, Killigil produced the Nuri Killigil pistol, which he sketched and named after him at the arms factory.
In official documents, Killigil’s name was recorded as Mustafa Nuri and the date of birth as May 5, 1890 in Istanbul. Although Killigil was born in Bitola during the conflict in Balkans, his father, Hacı Ahmet Bey, made his birth registration in the Besiktas district of Istanbul as the family came to the city.
The ancestors of Killigil were Gagauz Turks. His great-grandfather, Abdullah Killi, or Kilyeli Abdullah, was a Gagauz Turk who later converted to Islam. After marrying a woman from Crimea, they lived together in Anapa, Russia, and their son, Kocaağa Killi, was born there. There is a town named Kilya(ye) by the Kilya branch, one of the three branches of the Danube River, where the root of Killigil’s ancestors has its origins. This is the reason he took the “Killi-Killigil” surname once the surname law was passed.1
Killigil was born into a warrior family. His brother, Enver Pasha, was in the Ministry of War in Ottoman Empire between 1914 and 1919, and his uncle, Halil Pasha, as well as some of his relatives were well-known soldiers. He completed his primary school and military secondary school education in Bitola. His father, Ahmet Bey, was responsible for taking care of a very large family. Ahmet Bey and his wife Ayşe Hanım had six children together: Enver, Nuri, Kamil, Ertuğrul, Hasene, and Mediha. At some point, Ahmet Bey had to sell their house due to their debt. After the sale, the older brother, Captain Enver, was appointed to Thessaloniki. Killigil then enrolled at Kuleli Military High School in 1903 at the age of 13, as his father Hacı Ahmet Bey moved the family to Istanbul once again.
After graduating from Kuleli Military High School in 1906, Killigil returned to Bitola to study at the Military Academy. He was a successful student with good grades at the Military Academy and finished fourth in his class with 506 points.2 On August 26, 1909, after graduating from Bitola Military School with the rank of lieutenant, he was appointed to Berane for his first duty. After serving in this unit for a while, he applied to be a part of the shooting competition to be held in the Austrian Shooting School and was allowed to participate in the competition, for which he came in first place. Later, he was appointed to the Third Army Headquarters on January 9, 1910, with the rank of lieutenant, and began his military career as an officer. Serving until October 1910, Killigil was appointed to the Sultan’s Maiyet Division and started to work under the command of his uncle, Halil Pasha.
CIVIL LIFE AND BUILDING A DEFENSE INDUSTRY
In 1925 Killigil retired from the army with the rank of lieutenant colonel. Later, he was awarded the War of Independence Medal by the Turkish Grand National Assembly on February 29, 1929, for participating in the rescue of Sarıkamış during the War of Independence.6 Believing that Turkey needed to produce weapons locally, Nuri Pasha founded the first private factory for the Turkish defense industry, buying a coal factory in the Zeytinburnu district of Istanbul in 1938 and turning it into a larger factory that produced weapons. Here he produced pistols, flasks, iron rods, gas masks, and bullets. Killigil later closed his factory in Zeytinburnu and opened a new and expanded factory in Sütlüce, located on the Golden Horn, where he started to manufacture guns, 81-millimeter mortars, ammunition, fuses, aircraft bombs, and destruction molds, in addition products produced at the old factory. At Sütlüce, he produced the gun that came to be known as the Killigil Gun in 1946.
While he was selling some weapons and ammunition to the Ministry of National Defense, he also started exporting his products abroad. In addition to producing weapons and ammunition, he also mined mercury in Izmir’s Karaburun district. He continued to manufacture weapons and ammunition for the Turkish army during World War II. He also sold weapons, missiles, and bullets to countries such as Egypt, Pakistan, Syria, and Palestine.
In his book, Atilla Oral stated that Killigil also stepped in to save the Crimean Turks, who were imprisoned in camps after the Germans invaded in World War II. He saved many of them.7 Killigil died in an explosion at the Sütlüce factory on March 2, 1949. A total of 29 people lost their lives, including employees and some firefighters who came to extinguish the fire. Soon after, his family began the necessary procedures for the funeral prayer and ceremony, but the Istanbul mufti announced that a funeral prayer could not be performed because some parts of his body were missing. A nonofficial funeral ceremony, therefore, was held for Killigil on March 24, 1949. His small coffin and was wrapped in a Turkish flag. Killigil’s funeral prayer was finally performed in 2016, some 67 years later. A number of his admirers as well as officials from Azerbaijan attended in the service.
REFERENCES
- Atilla Oral, Enver Paşa’nın Kardeşi Nuri Killigil, 2016, Demkar Yayıncılık
- Fatih Bozdoğan, Ömrünü̈Türk dünyasına adamış, Enver Paşaʼnın Kardeşi: Nuri Killigil Paşaʼnın Hikâyesi, 2019, Destek Yayınları
- Serpil Sürmeli, Nuri (Killigil) Paşa’nın Trablusgarp Savaşı Hatıraları, 2012, Atatürk Üniversitesi Atatürk Dergisi, Cilt-1, Sayı:1
- Mehmetov, İsmail, Türk Kafkasyasında Siyasi ve Etnik Yapı Eski Çağlardan Günümüze Azerbaycan Tarihi, 2009, Ötüken Neşriyat
- Nejdet Karaköse, Afrika Grupları komutanı – Kafkas İslâm Ordusu komutanı- Sütlüce fabrikasının sahibi Nuri Paşa (Killigil): (Enver Paşa’nın kardeşi), 2012, Ötüken Yayınları
- Kazım Öztürk, Türk Parlamento Tarihi, Milli Mücadele ve TBMM II. Dönem 1923-1927, 1995, TBMM Vakfı Yayınları
- Atilla Oral, Enver Paşa’nın Kardeşi Nuri Killigil, 2016
FOR FURTHER READING
- Altunsoy, Y. (2019), Kafkas İslam Ordusu ve Bakü Zaferi, Karatay Sosyal Araştırmalar Dergisi, S II: 42-91
- Bozdoğan, F. (2019), Ömrünü Türk dünyasına adamış, Enver Paşaʼnın kardeşi: Nuri Killigil Paşaʼnın hikâyesi
- Karaköse, N. (2010), Askeri, Siyasi ve Silah Sanayicisi Kisiligi ile Nuri Pasa (Killigil), Doktora Tezi – Dokuz Eylül University
- Karaköse, N. (2012), Afrika Grupları komutanı – Kafkas İslâm Ordusu komutanı – Sütlüce fabrikasının sahibi Nuri Paşa (Killigil): (Enver Paşa’nın kardeşi)
- Süleymanov, M. (2014), Nuri Paşa va Silahdaşları, Kafkas Üniversitesi
- Ebulfez Amanoğlu, (1918 ), Bakü’de Ermenilerin Yaptıkları Soykırım