practices,includingthedailybriefing(Vortrag)oncurrentmilitaryandintelli-
gencedevelopmentsforEnverandLiman.⁵⁶However,othercustomsoftheGer-
manstaffofficerswereabitstrangeforKarabekir.Theyansweredthephoneby
shoutingtheirsurnameswithoutmentioningtheirranks,hung(likeOttovon
Feldmann)bilingualnamesignstotheirofficedoorsintheheydaysofemerging
Turkishnationalism,repudiatedofficialpapersbyKarabekirwhichwereundat-
ed,andingeneralwerealwaysuptofindsomemistakesinthepaperworkthe
Ottomanofficersdelivered.⁵⁷ForanOttomanofficer,thosewerehumiliating
dailyoccurrences,whichcontributedtothegrowingdissatisfactionwiththe
allyinthesecondhalfofthewar.
Inaddition,thereweresevereproblemswiththeGermanofficersonaper-
sonallevel.TheOttomanofficersfeltaggrievedbytheirGermanallies,whore-
ceivedhigher ranksupontheirentryintotheOttomanarmy.Afterthewar
thoseemotionsreturnedwhenevertheshortcomingsofOttomanofficerswere
mentionedinGermanmemoirs.InthecaseofAliİhsanSabis,itwasacomment
inLimanvonSander’smemoirsthatappearedabsolutelyunjustifiedtoSabis.⁵⁸
TheretiredGeneral,therefore,dedicatedsixpagesofhismemoirstothepreju-
dicesandthevilificationbyGermans,whichheandotherofficershadtoendure.
RegardinghistraininginGermanyfrom 1910 to 1912 hestated:“Icanevensay
thatIwenttoGermanyasafriendandadmirer;upontomyreturnIwascon-
vincedthattheGermansdidnotharbourgoodfeelingsandideasaboutus.”⁵⁹
AsimilarreactioncanalsobefoundinthememoirsofBehiçErkin,who
workedattherailwaydepartmentatthebeginningofthewar.Becausehissupe-
rior,HansvonKannengießer,questionedhisloyalty,⁶⁰Erkindefendedhimselfby
pointingoutthefollowing:
“IamamongtheoneswhoappreciatethehighabilitiesoftheGermanpeople[Almanmil-
let]ineveryfield.TherewasnoreasonformetodisliketheGermansingeneral[külhal-Karabekir,CihanHarbineNasılGirdik,188.
SeefortheseaccusationsespeciallyKazımKarabekir,TarihBoyuncaTürk-Almanİlişkileri
Turkish-GermanRelationsthroughoutHistory, 395 – 396 ,4 24 – 42 7.
LimancriticizedasenselessoperationinPersiaunderthecommandof“theveryinfluential
andclever,butveryintriguingandlessGerman-friendlyIchsanPascha.”OttoLimanvonSand-
ers,FünfJahreTürkei(Berlin:Scherl,1919), 17 0.
Sabis,HarbHatıralarım,vol.1,58.
“Idonotknowifhe[Erkin]wasastaunch‘Germanophile’.Ibelieveheheldtheopinionof
somehigherTurkishofficerswhoacceptedthefactthatthearmycouldnotreorganizeonits
own,consideringthe[German]militarymissionasanecessaryevil.Inafewyearsthey
hopedtobeabletostandontheirownfeet.”Kannengießer,Gallipoli, 102 – 103.
RejectingtheJuniorPartnerRole 173