Kâzım Özalp (17 February 1882[1] – 6 June 1968) was a Turkish military officer, politician, and one of the leading figures in the Turkish War of Independence.
Already a member of the first term of the parliament of the newly established Republic as an MP from Balıkesir Province, Kâzım Fikri served as the Minister of Defense in several cabinets from 1921 to 1925, and later from 1935 to 1939. He was elected Speaker of the Turkish Grand National Assembly from 1924 to 1935. In 1950, he was elected to the parliament as an MP from Van Province.[4] He retired from active politics in 1954. He was rumored to have been a Bektashi possibly because of his opposition to the decision to close Bektashi centers (Tekke).[4]
Kâzım Özalp wrote his memoirs in his book Milli Mücadele ("National Warfare"). He died on 6 June 1968 in Ankara. His remains were transferred to the Turkish State Cemetery.
^Üngör, Ugur Ümit (2011). The Making of Modern Turkey: Nation and State in Eastern Anatolia, 1913-1950. OUP Oxford. pp. 133–135. ISBN978-0-19-960360-2.