Ahmed Djemal

From Freepedia

Image:Ahmed Djemal - Project Gutenberg eText 10338.png Ahmed Djemal Pasha (Turkish: Ahmet Cemal Paşa) (May 6, 1872 - July 21, 1922) was born in Midilli. His father was Mehmet Nesip Bey, a military pharmacist. He graduated from Kuleli Military High school in 1890, then from the Military Academy (Mektebi Harbiyeyi Şahane) in 1893 in Istanbul. Firstly, he served for the 1st Department of the Ministry of Military Issues (Seraskerlik Erkanı Harbiye), and then he worked at the Kirkkilise Fortification Construction Department bound to 2nd Army. Cemal was assigned to the Second Army Corps, in 1896. Two years later, he became the staff commander of Novice Division, in Salonica.

Meanwhile, he began to sympathise with the reforms of "Committee of Union and Progress" (CUP) (İttihat ve Terakki Cemiyeti) on military issues. It was in 1905, when Cemal became a major and designated as the Inspector of Roumelia Railways. In 1906 he joined The Ottoman Liberty Society. He became influential in the department of military issues of the "Committee of Union and Progress". He became a member of Board of the Third Army Corps, in 1907. Here, he worked with Major Fethi (Okyar) and Mustafa Kemal.

Joining the Operations Army, he successfully repressed Armenian riots in the Cilicia, today Adana region of southern Anatolia. In 1911 Ahmet Cemal was appointed Governor of Baghdad. He resigned however from this duty to join again the army in the Balkan War . In October 1912, he was promoted to colonel. At the end of the Balkan War I, he played an important role in the propaganda traced by the CUP, against the negotiations with the European countries. He tried to resolve the problems occurred in Istanbul after the Bab-ı Ali Attack. Cemal Paşa had a significant role in the Second Balkan War, and with the revolution of CUP on January 23, 1913, Cemal became the commander of Istanbul and was appointed minister of public works. In 1914 he became minister of navy. When the Europe was divided in two blocks before the First World War, he supported an alliance with France. He went to France to regulate an alliance with the French but he failed and sided with Enver and Talat Pashas favouring the German side.

Between 1908-1918, Cemal Paşa was one of the most important administrators of the government. He played a very significant role during the period of "Government of Three Pashas" (1913-1918). He was one of the designers of the government’s internal and foreign policies.

He took place in Enver Paşa group emerged after the cabinet crisis following the Russian attack against the Ottoman Navy. After the Ottoman Empire involved in the World War I, Enver Paşa proposed Cemal Paşa to lead the military action against English forces in Egypt. The first and second channel actions in Suez failed. He struggled against the Arab nationalists. In 1915, he disagreed with the policies of the CUP about Armenia. In 1917, he resigned from the 4th Army and came to Istanbul, following Ottoman Army’s defeats by English General Allenby’s advances.

In the last scheduled congress of CUP held in 1917, Cemal Paşa was elected to the board of central administration. After the resignation of Talat Paşa’s Cabinet, on November 2, 1918, Cemal Paşa fled with seven other leaders of the CUP to Berlin and Munich in Germany, and then to Switzerland. There he played an important role in the exile organisation of the CUP. The Military Court accused Cemal Paşa of provoking Arab subjects of the Ottoman Empire, and sentenced him to death in absentia. Later on Cemal Paşa went to Russia, worked for the modernisation of the Afghan army. Because of the Bolshevik Revolution, he went to Tbilisi. But, he was assassinated there together with his secretary on July 21, 1922. Ahmet Cemal's remains was brought to Erzurum and buried there.

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