Ahmed Izzet Pasha

Ahmed Izzet Pasha and Jamal Pasha arriving in Jerusalem, 1917

Ahmed Izzet was born in Nasliç, Manastir Vilayet, into an Albanian family.[2][3] His father was a prominent civil servant of the area. From 1887 to 1890 he was educated in strategy and military geography in the Ottoman Military College,[4] while later until 1894 he studied in Germany under Colmar Freiherr von der Goltz.[3] As a result of his participation in the Greco-Turkish War he was promoted to the rank of Miralay (colonel). In 1908 after the Young Turk Revolution Izzet became chief of the Ottoman general staff. During that period (under the Young Turk Government) he was opposed to the military actions of the Ottoman army under Mahmud Shevket Pasha against Albanian nationalists during the Albanian revolts of 1910. His strong opposition to Shevket Pasha's policies led to his dismissal and reappointment in Yemen in February 1911.[3]

In 1916, he was appointed commander of the Second Army which fought in the Caucasus alongside the Third Army.[2] In 1917, he was appointed to command the Anatolian Army Group, which comprised the Second and Third Armies.[5] The highest rank he held was that of marshal.

After the war, and with the support from Mustafa Kemal Pasha,[6] he was called upon to lead the government that signed the Armistice of Mudros on behalf of the Ottoman Empire,[2] thus putting an end to the First World War for the Ottomans. He also served concurrently as the Minister of Foreign Affairs during his premiership. His government consisted mainly of the anti-war faction of the CUP, which dissolved itself during his short premiership. It did not have any minorities represented, though he recalled offering some ministries to two well respected Greek and Armenian bureaucrats.[7]

İzzet Pasha issued a proclamation allowing deportees the right to return to their homes. Before his resignation he endorsed plans to form dozens of commissions that would return or compensate the losses of homes and businesses to Ottoman Greek and Armenian deportees. However these commissions often resulted in a returned property being inaccurately appraised, already looted, or occupied by resettled muhacirs. Local officials also complicated the process of return by refusing service. By 1920, 335,000 Ottoman Greek and Armenians returned to their homes, according to Ottoman press.[8] İzzet spent much of his 25 day premiership bedridden after catching the Spanish flu.

He was dismissed on 8 November 1918. Afterwards, he was criticized for allowing all three of the Three Pashas to escape abroad on the night of 2–3 November before they could be put on trial in the Turkish Courts-Martial of 1919–20 for crimes including atrocities against the Armenians of the Empire. Izzet Pasha gave a lukewarm promise of safety to Talat:[7]

"As long as I am in the cabinet, I will never turn you over to the enemy. But who knows how long I will remain in the cabinet?"

After the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire and the subsequent loss of the title of pasha after the establishment of the Republic of Turkey, Ahmed Izzet adopted the surname Furgaç in 1934. He died on 31 March 1937 in Istanbul.

Ahmed Izzet Pasha's decisions during the Caucasus campaign have also been criticized and are regarded as one of the factors of its failure, while his subsequent high reputation in Turkey has been attributed to his successful activity during the Turkish War of Independence.[9]

• İzzet Pasha government
• Armistice of Mudros
• List of field marshals of the Ottoman Empire

• Newspaper clippings about Ahmed Izzet Pasha in the 20th Century Press Archives of the ZBW