Yusuf al-Azma

Yusuf al-Azma (1883 – 24 July 1920) was a Syrian military officer of Turkmen descent who served as minister of war and chief of general staff of the Arab Kingdom of Syria, built an army of some ten thousand men, and was killed commanding the Syrian forces at the Battle of Maysalun as the French occupied Damascus. ^{1 2}

Al-Azma was born in Damascus to a landowning family of Turkmen descent. His birth year is given two ways: the English article gives 1883, citing Moubayed and Roded, while the Arabic article gives a precise date — 9 April 1884, paired with mid-Rajab 1301 AH, citing a Syrian encyclopedia — and Wikidata carries both values. He attended the secondary school in Damascus and then the Ottoman military academy, graduating from the Ottoman War College as a staff lieutenant in 1906. ^{1 2 3}

Al-Azma was sent to Germany for training, returned to Istanbul, was posted as military attaché in Cairo, and during the First World War commanded the 25th Division, served as deputy to Enver Pasha, and fought in the Caucasus, Damascus and the Palestine front. After the war ended on 30 October 1918 and Ottoman forces withdrew from Syria and Iraq, he joined the government of the Syrian National Congress. ^{1 2}

In January 1920, under Prime Minister Rida al-Rikabi, al-Azma became minister of war of the Arab Kingdom of Syria, and on 26 January 1920 chief of general staff of the Arab Army, succeeding Yasin al-Hashimi. Serving under King Faisal, he built an Arab Army of about 10,000 soldiers armed with French and British artillery, heavy guns, tanks left over from the First World War and aircraft from Ottoman and German aviation academies. After the French arrested the minister of finance and issued an ultimatum on 14 July 1920 ordering the army disbanded, the king accepted and ordered the forces at Khan Maysalun to withdraw; the people refused to disperse, and al-Azma refused to abandon his position, swearing to fight to the death. ^{1 2}

Al-Azma decided not to disband the army and led the Arab forces at the Battle of Maysalun on 24 July 1920. He ordered mines laid in the Wadi al-Qarn valley, moved his forces to the front positions before or at dawn, and divided the army into three columns, commanding the central one himself; Arab counter-attacks and old Turkish artillery posed a serious threat to the French until the two flank commanders pushed forward and left him uncovered. He was killed around 10:30 in the morning, succumbing to his wounds; a popular account holds that he charged a French tank on horseback and was killed by its crew. He was buried at the Martyrs' Cemetery at Maysalun, where the Arabic article records an annual commemoration festival at his tomb. ^{1 2}

Al-Azma is a Syrian hero and martyr: a statue of him stands in a main Damascus square in the al-Muhajirin district that bears his name, a museum in Damascus at the former army headquarters is named for him, and a street in Medina carries his name. ^{1 2}

No article text and no independent source names a religion for al-Azma personally: the English article's text makes no statement of it, and Wikidata's religion field gives generic Islam only. The English article's categories, filing him under "Syrian Sunni Muslims" and "Ottoman Sunni Muslims", are filings, which do not attest an affiliation. The one specific value that exists is the Arabic article's infobox alone: Sunni Muslim (of Ahl al-Sunna wa-l-Jama'a). A single infobox value cannot settle an affiliation under the museum's rule, which requires two independent sources naming the affiliation for the person personally, so his record stands as unknown, with the infobox's value recorded for what it is. ^{1 2 4 3}