Reshid Akif Pasha

Reshid Akif Pasha (Turkish: Reşit Akif Paşa, Albanian: Reshid Aqif Pasha; 1863 – 15 April 1920), was an Ottoman statesman of Albanian descent during the last decades of the Ottoman Empire. Throughout his career as a politician, Reshid Akif Paşa served as governor, minister of the interior, and in the Council of State. He is also noted for providing important testimony in the aftermath of the Armenian genocide.

Reşid Akif Paşa
Born1863
Ioannina, Ioannina Eyalet
Died(1920-04-15)15 April 1920 (aged 56-57)
Constantinople (now Istanbul), Ottoman Empire
OccupationStatesman
Known forTestimony about the Armenian genocide

Life and career

Reshid Akif was born in Ioannina, today's Greece, in 1863[1] and was of Albanian ethnicity.[2][3] He was the son of Mehmet Ali Pasha, an Ottoman statesman and governor. Akif then moved to Constantinople (now Istanbul) to study at Galatasaray High School. He became a politician and the governor of Sivas in 1901.[4] He served as governor until 1908.[5] He eventually moved to Istanbul where he was appointed as minister of the interior on 6 August 1909[6] for a few months, but resigned on health grounds;[7][8] in the same year he became a member of the Senate of the Ottoman Empire.[9]

After Talat Pasha's resignation in 1918, Reşid Akif was appointed to the Council of State under Ahmed Izzet Pasha's government.[10] However, Izzet Pasha's cabinet was dissolved, and Akif Pasha again resigned a few weeks after appointment.[8] He was then appointed to the new Council of Ministers in 1918 by the government of Damat Ferid Pasha.[8]

Armenian Genocide testimony
Reshid Akif Pasha's testimony published by the Grand National Assembly of Turkey in the Meclis-i Ayan Zabıt Ceridesi.

Reshid Akif Pasha is known for providing important testimony on the Armenian genocide during a session of the Ottoman parliament on 21 November 1918.[11] Akif Pasha stated that during his short tenure as the president of the Council of State, he uncovered documents pertaining to the deportation of Armenians.[12] The documents displayed the process in which official statements made use of vague terminology when ordering deportation only to be clarified by special orders ordering "massacres" sent directly from the Committee of Union and Progress headquarters or often the residence of Talat Pasha himself.[13]

He testified as follows:

While humbly occupying my last post in the Cabinet, which barely lasted 25 to 30 days, I became cognizant of some secrets. I came across something strange in this respect. It was this official order for deportation, issued by the notorious Interior Ministry and relayed to the provinces. However, following [the issuance of] this official order, the Central Committee [of Union and Progress] undertook to send an ominous circular order to all points [in the provinces], urging the expediting of the execution of the accursed mission of the brigands. Thereupon, the brigands proceeded to act and the atrocious massacres were the result.[10][n 1]

He continued by saying: "I am ashamed as a Muslim, I am ashamed as an Ottoman statesman. What a stain on the reputation of the Ottoman Empire, these criminal people ..."[14]

The testimony was considered "extremely remarkable and noteworthy" by the contemporaneous local press. It was published by many newspapers in its entirety due to its "special importance".[10] Historian Vahakn Dadrian has concluded that his statements are the "most incriminating evidence" for the systematic killings of the Armenian Genocide.[13]

Death and legacy

Reshid Akif Pasha died on 15 April 1920 in Constantinople. He is best remembered as an Ottoman politician who provided important testimony in the aftermath of the Armenian genocide.[10][13] An elementary school in Zara, Turkey, is named after him.[8]

See also

References

Notes

  1. Original Turkish: 25–30 güne vasıl olmayan (İzzet Paşa) kabine(sin)deki yakın dönemdeki hizmetinde öğrendiğim bazı gizli şeyler vardır. Bu cümleden olmak üzere tuhaf bir şeye tesadüf ettim. Bu tehcir emri resmi olarak mahut Dahiliye Nazırı (Talat) tarafından verilmiş, vilayetlere tebliğ edilmiş. Bu resmi emri takiben ise çetelerin koşup melun vazifelerini yerine getirmeleri için Merkez-i Umumi (İttihat Terakki yönetimi) tarafından uğursuz emirler her yöne tamim (emir) olunmuştur. Binaenaleyh, çeteler meydan almış ve mukatale-i zalime (zalim katliam) yüz göstermiştir.

References

  1. Polat, Nâzım H. (2005). Eski ile yeni arasında Mütevelli-zâde Ömer İhyâ (in Turkish) (1. ed.). Niğde: T.C. Niğde Üniversitesi. p. 29. ISBN 9758062247.
  2. Ernest C. Partridge (January 1909), "A Turkish reformer", Missionary Herald, Boston, MA: American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, 105: 196, ISSN 1079-9036, OCLC 1758344, Reshid Akif Bey, a young Albanian chief, wealthy and of a good family, being considered too liberal to make his stay in the capital longer desirable, was politely but firmly persuaded to accept appointment as governor general of Sivas.
  3. Teuta Hoxha (Directorate of Albanian National Archives) (1982), Ismail Qemali: përmbledhje dokumentesh, 1888-1919 [Ismail Qemali: summary of documents, 1888-1919] (in Albanian), 8 Nëntori, p. 141, OCLC 21764918, translated
    Yesterday, Friday, in Pera-Palace, the elite of Albanian leadership were gathered, thinking about protesting against the ones who oppose these writings [Albanian]. Participants in this meeting between others were Ferid Pasha Vlora, Reshid Akif Pasha, Ismail Kemal Bey, Myfid Bey, Aziz Pasha, Essad Pasha, etc
  4. Gölpınarlı, Abdülbākī (1955). Divan ṣiiri xx. yüzyil (in Turkish). Varlik Yayinevi. p. 12.
  5. Türk Tarih Kurumu (2005). 38. Uluslararası tıp tarihi kongresi bildiri kitabı (in Turkish). Ankara: Türk tarih kurumu. p. 416. ISBN 9751618258.
  6. "The new Turkish ministry", The Hellenic Herald, London: Cravon House, 1–2: 146, 1909
  7. Missionary Herald (Volume 105 ed.). American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. 1909. p. 196.
  8. Aras, Oktay (20 July 2015). "Reşit Akif Paşa" (in Turkish). Galatasaray Lisesi Sıradışı Hayatlar.
  9. Cunbur, Müjgan (2007). Türk dünyası edebiyatçıları ansiklopedisi: O. Cihat-Süyinşialiyev (in Turkish). Atatürk Kültür Merkezi Başkanlığı. p. 333. ISBN 9789751612816.
  10. Akçam, Taner (2006). "The Ottoman Documents and the Genocidal Policies of the Committee for Union and Progress (Ittihat ve Terakki) towards the Armenians in 1915". Genocide Studies and Prevention. 1 (2): 140. doi:10.3138/7087-4340-5H2X-7544. ISSN 1911-0359.
  11. Akcam, Taner (2007). A shameful act: the Armenian genocide and the question of Turkish responsibility (1st Holt pbk. ed.). New York, NY: Metropolitan Books/Holt. ISBN 978-0-8050-8665-2. - Profile at Google Books
  12. Winter, Jay (2004). America and the Armenian Genocide of 1915. Cambridge University Press. p. 92. ISBN 1139450182.
  13. Dadrian, Vahakn N. (2004). The history of the Armenian genocide : ethnic conflict from the Balkans to Anatolia to the Caucasus (6th rev. ed.). New York: Berghahn Books. p. 384. ISBN 1-57181-666-6.
  14. Fisk, Robert (14 October 2006). "Let me denounce genocide from the dock". The Independent.
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