Юсуф аль-Азма: Сирийский министр войны и герой битвы при Майсалуне

Syrian minister of war

Yusuf al Azma (يوسف العظمة, Turkish: Yusuf el Azma; ALA LC: Yūsuf al ʻAẓmah; 1883 – 24 July 1920) was the Syrian minister of war in the governments of prime ministers Rida al Rikabi and Hashim al Atassi, and the Arab Army's chief of general staff under King Faisal. He served as minister of war from January 1920 until his death while commanding Syrian forces against a French invasion during the Battle of Maysalun. Al Azma hailed from a wealthy Damascene landowning family. He became an officer in the Ottoman Army and fought on multiple fronts in World War I. After the defeated Ottomans withdrew from Damascus, al Azma served Emir Faisal, the leader of the Arab Revolt, and was appointed minister of war upon the establishment of the Arab government in Damascus in January 1920. He was tasked with building the nascent Arab Army of Syria. The country, meanwhile, had been designated as a mandatory territory of France, which did not recognize Faisal's government. Al Azma was among the more vociferous opponents of French rule and as their troops advanced toward Damascus from Lebanon, he was authorized to confront them. Leading a motley army of civilian volunteers, ex Ottoman officers and Bedouin cavalrymen, al Azma engaged the French at Maysalun Pass but was killed in action and his soldiers dispersed, which allowed the French to occupy Damascus on 25 July 1920. Though his army was defeated, al Azma became a national hero in Syria for his insistence on confronting the French despite their clear military superiority and his ultimate death in the ensuing battle.

Al Azma was born to a prominent mercantile and landowning Damascene family of Turkmen descent in 1883. Members of his family formed part of the Ottoman Syrian establishment; Al Azma was married to a Turkish woman, with whom he had a daughter named Laila. Laila was a young child when al Azma died, married Cevad Asar, an Istanbul based Turkish merchant with whom she had a son named Celal. Many members of the al Azma family in Syria later became bankers, landowners and merchants in post Mandatory Syria and one member, Bashir al Azma, served as prime minister of Syria in 1962. After graduating, he underwent additional military training in Germany until returning to Istanbul in 1909. or chief of staff of the Ottoman army in the Caucasus according to historian Ruth Roded. though it is not apparent when, and became a personal chamberlain of Emir Faisal. In January 1919, Faisal appointed al Azma as Damascus' military delegate to Beirut. Al Azma's Damascene roots and reputation as a local and decorated Ottoman wartime general made him "an obvious choice for minister of war", according to Provence, despite having fought against the Arab Revolt months prior. Most of the Syrian government, including Foreign Minister Abd al Rahman Shahbandar, backed al Azma's faction. Against King Faisal's wishes, his delegate to General Gouraud, Nuri al Said, agreed to the French deployment. Al Azma sensed resistance to his conscription campaign, particularly in Aleppo, but managed to gather some troops. Inspired by Kemal's successes against the French in Turkey, al Azma sought to follow in the latter's path in Syria. Meanwhile, al Hashimi had returned to the country from Palestine and was tasked with inspecting al Azma's troops. In the struggle against France, both officers sought to implement the model of Kemal's Anatolian insurgency while Faisal continued, in vain, to seek an intervention by his erstwhile British allies. After King Faisal ratified the cabinet's decision, al Azma withdrew his troops from Anjar, the hills overlooking the Beqaa Valley from the east, and the Beirut Damascus road. However, for unclear reasons, Faisal's notification did not reach Gouraud until 21 July. Al Azma rejected demands to disband the army and implored King Faisal for an opportunity to confront French forces.

About 12,000 French troops consisting of ten infantry battalions as well as cavalrymen and artillerymen backed by tanks and fighter bombers, began their advance on Damascus on 21 July. On 22 July, King Faisal attempted to delay the French advance by dispatching Minister of Education Sati al Husri to negotiate with General Gouraud, who laid out new conditions to prevent his army's offensive and gave King Faisal one more day to deliberate on the terms. The next day, while the cabinet considered Gouraud's conditions, the French requested entry into Maysalun to access its water. The Syrians interpreted the request to be an excuse for Gouraud's army to enter Damascus without a fight and King Faisal ultimately rejected Gouraud's request and his new conditions. The Arab force was composed of northern, central and southern columns with camel cavalry at the head. Statues of al Azma are also present across the Middle East. According to historian Tareq Y. Ismael, the defeat of al Azma and the subsequent French takeover of Syria contributed to popular attitudes in the Arab world—that exist to the present day—which hold that "the West is not honorable in its commitments, speaks with a forked tongue about issues of democracy and will oppress anyone who stands in the way of its imperial designs". Though it has been frequently renovated, the original structure of the tomb remains largely intact. It consists of a stone sarcophagus elevated on a platform. One side of the platform has a stairway and the other side is a concrete column which carries a large concrete roof that is further supported by a beam. The sarcophagus has a triangular roof upon which is engraved the Zulfiqar sword. The Syrian military annually honors al Azma at his tomb on Maysalun Day.