Political and military activities of Eyüp Sabri Bey (Akgöl) in the constitutional and Republican periods

Eyup Sabri Akgol from Ohrid was among the people who took part in the declaration of the Second Constitutional Monarchy, one of the most important events in Turkish political history, and was named the "Hero of Freedom". He gained considerable reputation after the Second Constitutional Era. As a member of the Committee of Union and Progress Headquarters, he had a say in the administration of the Ottoman Empire. However, Eyup Sabri Akgol remained in the shadows of Mr. Enver and Mr. Ahmet Niyazi, who were also known as the "Heroes of Freedom", partly of his own volition and partly due to the mysterious structure of the Headquarters. Furthermore, Eyup Sabri Akgol was not only an influential figure in the Constitutional Era. From the Ottoman-Greek War of 1897 to the year 1950, when the one-party rule in the Republic of Turkey ended, he was a prominent figure in many important events in Turkish history. However, despite such active role he played in Turkish political history, no independent study has been made about Eyup Sabri Akgol, and his life and political activities have not been the main subject of academic studies. This paper tries to explain the military and political life of Eyup Sabri Akgol in the light of the events of the era in which he lived. His school and military life, his role in the July 23, 1908 Revolution, his membership in the Committee of Union and Progress Headquarters, his activities in the Balkan Wars and the First World War, his captivity on the island of Malta, his activities during the Armistice and the National Struggle period, his trials by Ankara Independence Court, as well as his office as a member of parliament between 1935-1950 in the Republic Era are among the subjects discussed in this paper. Through to this study, the events that took place in parallel with the life of Eyup Sabri Akgol were also examined, aiming to introduce a different perspective to the recent Turkish political history. Keywords: Eyup Sabri, Constitutional Monarchy, Committee of Union and Progress, Freedom.