THE BRAIN OF THE ORGANIZATION: TALÂT PASHA

Abstract

Mehmet Talât Pasha, the most important figure of the Committee of Union and Progress, was born in Edirne in 1874. Although known as a Pasha in history, Talât Pasha had started civil service as a civil servant at Edirne Post-Telegraph Administration and he was called a Pasha since he became a Grand Vizier, according to the rules of the Ottoman Empire. In Thessaloniki, where he was exiled as an officer of Post-Telegraph, he became a founder of the Ottoman Society of Liberty with the influence of his brother-in-law İsmail Yörük and his other friends. Thus, the Committee, which initially operated as an underground organization, got stronger and became the Committee of Union and Progress as the Military staff in Rumelia began to become members of the Committee and the process which led to the declaration of the Second Constitutional Monarchy was experienced. Following the declaration of the Constitutional Monarchy on July 24, 1908, Talât Pasha entered the parliament as the Edirne Member of Parliament. He became the minister of Internal Affairs in the government that was established after the Bâbıâlî Raid. Before and during the First World War, as the minister of Internal Affairs, he dealt with the issue of immigrants from the Balkans, the issue of Armenians and especially the issue of forced Armenian migration. He became the Grand Vizier on February 4, 1917. During his Office as Grand Vizier while the Frist World War was continuing, he dealt with problems such as the subsistence of the army and cities. Towards the end of the war, on the night of November 2, following the Armistice of Mudros, he left İstanbul with the leaders of the Union and Progress. He moved to Germany and continued his political activities during the days he lived in Berlin. On March 15, 1921, he was killed by an Armenian terrorist. On February 20, 1943, his body was brought to Turkey and buried at Hürriyet-i Ebediye hill.