Why Do Arabs Remember Cemal Pasha as ‘Cruel’?

Walking around like a desert prince in the middle of the desert Djemal PashaHe was dazzling with a nobility that even his enemies admired. “Rule of the Three Pashas” During this period, known as the 19th century, the hand of mercy he extended to the Armenians during a major disaster in Adana turned into a curse descended from the sky against the Arabs in Damascus. This situation caused him to be remembered with hatred by the Arabs. So what was the reason for this?

Cemal Pasha, who wrote his name in history, achieved great success during the War of Independence.

We know him as an important military leader and statesman in the last periods of the Ottoman Empire. Ahmet Cemal Pasha, He was born in Istanbul in 1872. II. Cemal Pasha, who started his career during the reign of Abdulhamid, held various positions after graduating from the Military Academy in 1895.

He represented the Ottoman army during the Balkan Wars and World War I, and in particular On the Syrian and Palestinian fronts His presence was one of the important duties he took on.

The army led by Cemal Pasha achieved success in the Battle of Gallipoli.

Pasha, first He was educated at Kuleli Military High School and then at Mektep-i Harbiye-i Şahane. During his military career, his job as an inspector in the Thessaloniki region gave him the opportunity to meet many important names, and he also proved to everyone that he was a reliable soldier with the courage he displayed in spy tracking.

Cemal Pasha began to rise rapidly within the Committee of Union and Progress after joining the Ottoman Freedom Society. Turning point in your lifeAction Army after the March 31 Incident He entered Istanbul with.

Cemal Pasha was one of the members of the Divan-ı Harb-i Örfi (Court), which was established after the Unionists took control of Istanbul.

The most important task given to him is He was appointed governor of Adana. The “Adana Events” were among the events that reversed the spring atmosphere that came with the Constitutional Monarchy. Armenians attempted to establish an independent state in Adana, but this attempt resulted in great massacres. Cemal Pasha would describe what happened when he arrived in the region as follows in his memoirs:

“Such terrible massacres began in Adana, Tarsus, Hamidiye, Misis, Erzin, Dörtyol, Azizli, everywhere where there were many Armenians, that reading the details of them was “It makes people really fall into hatred.”

Pasha may have been seen as a cruel ruler by many circles, but the victim people and the injured in Adana Helping Turkish families heal their wounds in a short time His contribution can never be denied.

He managed to quickly rebuild Adana, which was exposed to the devastating effects of a major rebellion.

He did everything necessary as the pioneer governor of Adana, with water wells, qualified civil servants and a strong gendarmerie system. Despite his compassionate management style, Pasha’s harsh temperament during his governorship of Baghdad came to light when his name was heard. a feared figure caused it to become.

This attitude Arabs It was influential enough to change the image of the Turks in his memory.

Cemal Pasha’s execution of Arabs is still a matter of debate.

In fact, what is generally accepted on this issue is that Cemal Pasha decided to prevent the risk of the Ottoman Empire losing the Arab regions and In order to control Arab nationalism is to implement this harsh measure.

During his time as Governor of Baghdad between 1911 and 1915, he served as the Governor of the Ottoman Empire. in Arab lands He observed that the Arab nationalism movement was gaining strength. He decided to take harsh measures to suppress this situation.

Through the military court established in Baghdad in 1915 Cemal Pasha tried those who participated in the Arab nationalism movement and sentenced many to death. Leading figures of Arab nationalism such as Sheikh Mahmut Hayrullah, Sheikh Muhammad Said al-Hashimi and Sheikh Ali al-Kurdi are among those executed.

He also emigrated some of the separatist Arabs who cooperated with the British.

Execution of Arabs, in the short term Although it was successful in suppressing Arab nationalism, it failed in the long run. It also became an important factor that led to the loss of these lands by shaking the Arabs’ trust in the Ottoman Empire.

Cemal Pasha’s approach to ethnic groups in Syria, such as Arabs, Armenians and Jews, was shaped by his concern about damaging the independence and unity of the Ottoman Empire. These populations To ensure that the state is brought to a position that does not threaten its independence worked.

Ottoman lands He saw it as a sacred duty to save people from British “rape” and although he could not achieve this goal, he even stated that he was ready to fill “the Suez Canal with the corpses of himself and his friends” if necessary.

He served as the Fourth Army Commander in Syria during World War I.

Cemal Pasha, who initially ignored Arab separatism, searched the consulate buildings of England and France in Beirut after the declaration of war and found some documents belonging to Arab societies. Documents “Cemiyet’üs-Suriyetü’t-Arabiyye” It shows that he was at the head of organizations working for independence, and it even contained a declaration addressed to the Syrian people in 1915.

After Cemal Pasha seized these documents, in the town of Aliye He established a military court and captured 33 Arab intellectuals and sent them to the court for trial. Among those on trial were leading intellectuals of the Arab world, journalists, some Arab members of the Ottoman Parliament and a priest.

On May 6, 1916 They were hanged in Damascus’ “Merce” Square and Beirut’s “Burj” Square. Thousands of Arabs, especially the families of the prisoners, were exiled to various parts of Anatolia.

These executions caused the decline of elite intellectuals in Syria and the shift of the Arab enlightenment movement to Egypt.

After completing the work of the court established in the town of Aliye, Cemal Pasha prepared a document containing the documents that this court accepted as evidence of crime and the reasoned decision. “Explanation on the Political Issues Considered in the ‘Aliye Dîvân-ı Harb-i Örfîsi'” He published a book called. This book contained the correspondence of Arab independence organizations, documents regarding the protection requested by the Syrians from France, and declarations of rebellion issued to the Syrian people. For those who want to read, the book was translated into modern Turkish by Cahit Kayra in 2008. “The Arab Revolution and the Damascus Court” It was published under the name.

In the mentioned declaration, many Turks were mentioned. the beginning of insult and rebellion There were sentences containing:

After all this, Cemal Pasha, one of the main heroes of the War of Independence, was killed by Russian-Armenian collaborators in the middle of the street in Tbilisi, along with his two aides, on July 21, 1922. While Armenians remembered him as a “compassionate Turkish governor”, Arabs always remembered him as “a cruel Turkish ruler” remembers as.

Our other history-related content: