He was born to his father Ali Bey and his mother Ganimet Hanım in Monastir, Ottoman Empire (present-day Bitola, North Macedonia) in 1892.

After graduation, he served during the First World War in Gallipoli and he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant on March 1, 1916.

Though it was initially placed as a reserve for the U.S. 8th Army, the collapse of the front in the face of massive Chinese attacks on 26 November 1950 meant that it soon found itself in the thick of battle.

Having retired from the Army in 1952, he served as a member of parliament in the ruling Democratic Party from 1954.

After the 1960 military coup, his party was suppressed and he was sentenced to five years in prison at the Yassıada trials.