2. Chief of Staff of the Army
Senior colonel İsmet Bey was appointed as the chief of staff of the Second Army after the Battle of Gallipoli. When this army under the command of İzzet Pasha was sent to the East to reclaim Erzurum from the Russians, İsmet Bey took post on the Bitlis-Mu?-Ki?? line. After 2nd Army Corps Commander Faik Pasha fell martyr, Colonel İsmet assumed temporary commandership of the 2nd army corps as the officer with the highest rank.
Recognizing the shortage of equipment and provisions in the army, İsmet Bey communicated with Cemal Pasha, Commander of the Fourth Army and third great leader of the Committee of Union and Progress, and had the supplies and equipment delivered on camelback to Diyarbakır and Çapakçur, where the army was located. Soon thereafter, he was appointed as the commander of the 4th Army Corps.
Cemal Pasha described Colonel İsmet, whom he knew well, as “the most intelligent staff officer of the army.”
