Hafız Hakkı attended the
Ottoman Military Academy, and graduated with
Enver Pasha,
Mahmud Kâmil Pasha, and
Fahreddin Pasha. He finished second in his class (Fahreddin was first, Enver was fourth, Mahmud Kâmil was eighth) and also graduated from the
Ottoman Military College first in his class (Enver was second, Mahmud Kâmil was fourth, Fahreddin was seventh) on 5 December 1902. Hafız Hakkı Bey fought in the
Balkan Wars of 1912-1913 and went on to write books about how armies should be led. In
World War I, Hakkı was one of the Ottoman
commanders at the
Battle of Sarikamish. As a
Colonel, Hakkı was placed in charge of X Corps along the
Ottoman Army's left flank. During this battle, the Ottoman Army was utterly defeated by a much smaller
Russian force. During the Ottoman retreat, their army was nearly annihilated, mostly due to extremely cold temperatures. ==Personal life==