Ahmet Hulki Saral

Who is Ahmet Hulki Saral?

Ahmet Hulki Saral was a Turkish Army general and a military historian.

He was born 1905 in Sofoular village of Kozana. Before the Balkan Wars, Kozana was a town in the Serfiçe Sanjak of the Monastir Vilayet within the Ottoman Empire. His father was Hodja Ismail Hakki Efendi, a military imam at the 97th Regiment of the Ottoman Army.

Ahmet Hulki Saral graduated from the Turkish Military Academy in 1924 as an infantry officer. In 1933, he completed his education as a staff Second Lieutenant and served in various military units as a staff officer. Between 1948-1950, he was chief of staff at the Dardanelles Fortified Area Command. Then, he commanded the 42nd Infantry Regiment and later, promoted to the rank of a general, the 4th Infantry Division in Gallipoli.

In 1957, he was tasked with the reorganization of the Military Museum in Istanbul and the renowned historical Ottoman military band "Mehter". During the years 1958-1960, he served as the chief of the Turkish Military History Department at the Turkish General Staff. He retired in 1960.

He married to Hacer Cenan Saral from Fethiye. The couple had two sons, İsmail Tosun Saral and Osman Yavuz Saral.