Fesa Evrensev

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Mehmet Fesa Evrensev (1878 – 9 April 1951) was a Turkish aircraft pilot and aviator, known as the first Ottoman pilot and first general manager of the Turkish State Airline. Evrensev graduated from the Turkish Military Academy in 1899 as a lieutenant and spent his early military career in the cavalry. In 1911, following a series of exams, Evrensev and Yusuf Kenan Bey were selected to become the first pilots of the Ottoman Army. They were sent to the Blériot Aéronautique flight school on 9 July and completed their training in February and March 1912, respectively. When they returned, the army had started setting up its own flight school, in which they would be the first instructors. During the opening day of the school on 26 April, Evrensev made his first flight as a certified pilot, becoming the first Turk to do so. During the Balkan Wars, Evrensev was active in Thrace, conducting reconnaissance flights from Thessaloniki. Evrensev was ordered to participate in the Caucasus campaign during World War I, but his ship was sunk by the Russians in October 1914 and he became a prisoner of war. He was imprisoned in a camp in Siberia, from which he escaped in 1917, making his way to Moscow aboard freight trains. He returned to the Ottoman Empire in 1920 after encountering a group of Turkish soldiers there. During the Turkish War of Independence, he served on the Western front. He retired from the military in 1925 and later became the first general manager of the Turkish State Airline. In 1942, he joined the Turkish Aeronautical Association. After suffering from health problems such as tuberculosis originating in the poor conditions in the Russian camp, Evrensev died on 9 April 1951. 26 April was designated World Pilots' Day in 2014 in honour of...