Who is Talaat Pasha? So, his full name is Mehmed Talaat Pasha, and this is a Turkish politician who left a bright mark on world history.
Biography
The future Minister of Internal Affairs of the Ottoman Empire was born in 1874, in the seedy provincial town of Kardzhali (Edirne), which is currently located in the Kardzhali region of Bulgaria. Talaat Pasha was born in the family of an ataman military figure (investigator). By origin, Mehmed Talaat Pasha was a Pomak. Pomaks are a Bulgarian-speaking religious group that professed Islam. It is important to note that the Pomaks were a mixed group in origin. Pasha converted to Islam at a very young age in order to advance his career in the Ottoman Empire.
Interesting fact: Talaat Pasha had rather dark skin, for which he was often called a gypsy at work.
The future politician graduated from high school in Edirne. And then he began to build his career. As you know, this figure during his short life, 47 years long, managed to prove himself in many industries as an employee. He managed to occupy high positions in government, however, due to his rigid convictions and criminal activities towards the Armeniansand directly destroying them, Talaat was killed. Due to his political actions, 1-1.5 million people became victims.
The beginning of Pasha's career
The famous politician Mehmed Talaat Pasha began his career as a clerk in a telegraph office. But over time, he actively began to be interested in political activities. While still a clerk in the office, the pasha also actively fought against the tyranny of Abdulgamidoa, and decided to become a member of the Young Turk movement. However, in order to understand this topic more deeply, it is necessary to explain what the Young Turk movement is and what its goals were.
Young Turkish movement
So, the Young Turk movement (members of this movement are often called "Young Turks") is a political movement in the Ottoman Empire that began its existence in 1876. Its purpose was to carry out certain reforms in the state and create a directly constitutional state structure. In fact, the achievements of the Young Turk movement are very important, because the Young Turks were able to overthrow Abdul-Hamid 2nd and carry out a number of certain reforms. However, it is important to note that power in the hands of this political movement did not last long. After all, after the fall of Turkey in World War I, the Young Turks lost all control over the state.
The young pasha was such an ardent revolutionary that he was arrested and sentenced for political crimes: two years in prison. However, after his arrest and serving his sentence, Mehmed continued to work, onlyat first he worked only as a postman. But after 1908, when the political situation in the state completely changed (after the Young Turk coup in 1908), Mehmed Talaat Pasha was elected to parliament.
He was a member of the Unity and Progress Party, which advocated the removal of the Sultan.
Post Minister of the Interior
Not much time passed, as already in 1909, Mehmed Pasha received a high-ranking position in the government, namely the position of the Minister of the Interior of the Ottoman Empire. And it is important to note that by 1909 Mehmed becomes one of the most influential people in the Ottoman Empire. And, holding this post, the nationalist takes the most severe measures in relation to national minorities, and this was especially evident in relation to the Armenian nation, which was regularly exterminated by order of the pasha. An Ottoman politician once wrote in his memoirs that he was very afraid that the Armenian nation would proclaim an independent state.
After receiving this post, the pasha takes up the organization of a campaign of forced "turkification" and conducts ideological work, imposing the ideas of pan-Turkism. Pan-Turkism is a political and cultural movement that contains ideas about the need to consolidate the Turkic peoples, based on the cultural, ethnic and linguistic norms of these peoples. The nationalist Talaat Pasha believed that the Armenians were a big obstacle to the Turkification of the population. Therefore, he decided that the best way out of the situation was to get rid ofArmenians. He was convinced that the Armenians should be finished forever.
The post of Minister of the Interior was the last rung on the career ladder of Mehmed Talaat Pasha because he was assassinated.
The main reason for the murder of the Minister of the Interior. Armenian Genocide
As the story goes, in 1915, Talaat Pasha gave instructions for the extermination of the Armenian population throughout the territory of the Ottoman Empire. He also initiated a program under which many Armenians were deported to the deserts, where poor people died of hunger and thirst. And sometimes they became victims of cruel marauders, who, not sparing, killed them. Already in June of the same 1915, an order was received that absolutely all Armenians living in the eastern part of the Ottoman Empire were to be exiled to the desert.
The plan was as follows: after the end of the Armenian genocide, their number in the country was to be no more than 10 percent of the Muslim population.
It is important to note that the Armenian genocide was carried out in several stages:
- Disarmament of Armenian soldiers.
- Selective deportation of Armenians.
- Adoption of a law for their expulsion.
- Mass deportation of Armenians.
- Mass destruction of the Armenian population.
However, the main instigator of the brutal genocide is not only Talaat. The main organizers are the leaders of the "Young Turks" movement Enver Pasha, Talaat Pasha and Dzhemal Pasha.
Enverand Jemal Pasha
Enver is from Istanbul. Born in 1881 in the family of an ordinary railroad worker. The family was quite large, consisting of five children. Enver was the eldest. Since childhood, he knew that he wanted to be a military man, and in his youth he went to a military school. He then graduated from the academy with the rank of captain. But over time, he also received the rank of major.
Then Enver became one of the members of the military movement "Motherland and Freedom".
Enver Pasha actively participated in many wars such as the Italo-Turkish War, the Balkan War and the First World War.
He had a particular dislike for Greeks and Armenians in the Ottoman Empire who professed Christianity. Therefore, he became an active accomplice in the genocide of these peoples.
Ahmed Jemal Pasha was born in 1872 in Mytilene, the son of a military doctor. He also studied at a military school, and then - at a military academy. Just like Dzhemal, Talaat was an active participant in the "Unity and Progress" movement. He also participated in many wars and was a politician in the Ottoman Empire.
Prerequisites for the Armenian Genocide
As it is already known, at that time in the Ottoman Empire all power was concentrated in the hands of the Young Turks, who disliked the Armenians and Greeks. And the reason was that these peoples professed Christianity. But the act of genocide was carried out by representatives of the Young Turks not only because of their sadism and cruelty. Naturally, there were some causes and prerequisites for these terribleevents.
History says that Armenians lived in the territory of the Ottoman Empire for many centuries. And they built a large part of the empire's economy. It is important to note that Armenians have always been discriminated against because of their religion.
However, the real reason lies in the fact that the Armenians at the end of the 19th century began to organize underground organizations, the purpose of which was to create an independent Armenian state on the territory of the Ottoman Empire. The government, of course, did not like such organizations. Therefore, they took the most severe measures against the entire Armenian people, fearing that the Armenians would seize power.
Death of Talaat Pasha
On March 15, in Germany, in the city of Berlin, the Minister of the Interior of the Ottoman Empire, Mehmed Talaat Pasha, at the age of 47, was shot dead. Witnesses say that it was a sunny day and the Pasha was walking along the alley, and an unknown person was walking towards the meeting, who suddenly shot at the Minister of the Interior. But who killed Talaat Pasha? The story goes that an Ottoman politician was killed as part of Operation Nemesis, which punished the perpetrators of the Armenian genocide. And at number 1 on the list for murder was the name of Talaat Pasha. The murder of Mehmed was not a big surprise, because at that time everyone who organized the massacre of the Armenians began to be executed for their criminal deeds. And Mehmed was the direct organizer and ideological inspirer of the Armenian genocide.
Executioner
How was Talaat Pasha killed and by whom?
The Minister of the Interior of the Ottoman Empire was shot on March 15, 1921 in Berlin by Soghomon Taileryan. It is important to note that in the end the Pasha's killer was acquitted in a German court.
Soghomon Taileryan was born in the village of Nerkin-Bagari, which was located on the outskirts of the Ottoman Empire. He was Armenian and the only survivor of his family. Soghomon lost all his relatives as a result of the Armenian genocide, led by the nationalist Talaat Pasha. The killer acted as part of the revenge operation "Nemesis" and avenged his family, which was completely destroyed as a result of a brutal genocide.
Dyeongme sect
As the story goes, Talaat Pasha is a Jew from the Dönmeh sect. But what is this sect? And how did she influence the fate of Mehmed?
Dönme is a Kabbalistic sect founded back in 1683. As you know, this sect began to support the Young Turk movement, so Talaat Pasha became a member of it. It is known that all the time since its existence, the sect led a closed lifestyle, and therefore various rumors and conjectures were woven around it. However, in the 20th century, it infiltrated the secular elite and became more open. Now it still exists in Turkey, although the number of its members is not so large: only 2,500 people.
