Statesman, grand vizier (B. 1827 Lika Village / Siroz / Selanik / Ottoman Empire (Thessaloniki / Greece) - D. November 9th,
1901, Istanbul). Also known as Gürcü Halil Rifat Pasha. He was from the
Bölükbaşı family which was well-known in its territory. He rose to Grand Vizier
(Prime Minister) position which was the highest position from a registrar, the
lowest position in the Ottoman bureaucracy. Before his Grand Vizier post in
Sultan Abdulhamid's period, he was the governor of
After finishing the primary school, he was sent to Istanbul
Mülkiye Mektebi (School of Political Sciences). After school he worked as a registrar in Serez
(Siroz) and Thessaloniki, and as divan secretary in cities like Vidin, Edirne,
Erzurum. In 1864 he became Tuna province board head clerk and later the high
officer responsible for the editorial office in the same province. In the
following years, he worked as divan secretary, high officer responsible for the
editorial office, lieutenant governor, governor in different cities and then as
Minister of Internal Affairs and Grand Vizier (Prime Minister). He made his
most brilliant practices in his official posts during his governorships in
Halit Rifat Pasha was appointed as governor to Sivas, a province
center for that period in 1882. He made important works in the region in the
fields of roads, drinking water, agriculture and forest. He was known
particularly for the importance he gave to road construction. The famous saying
"Where you cannot go, does not belong to you" was his.
After
During his first years as the Minister of Internal Affairs and the
first years of Grand Vizier, Halil Rifat Pasha dealt mostly with the Armenian
rebellions. The Darülaceze project he started when he was the Minister of
Internal Affairs was accomplished in the sixth month of his Grand Vizier post;
he made the official opening personally. Although he resigned from his post
after the murder of his son Cavit Bey, who was a member of the state council,
on the bridge by an Albanian called Yanyalı Mustafa in 1899, his request was
not accepted by Abdülhamit, who was in good agreement with him. During his post
as the Aydın governor (1886) he supported Hizmet
newspaper published in Izmir and its authors like Halit Ziya (Uşakligil),
Tevfik Nevzat. During his Grand Vizier period for six years (November 7th,
1895 - November 9th, 1901) he provided successful services. When he
died, he was buried in Sultan Mahmut Tomb on
Halit Rifat Pasha is said to have a strong writing skill and to
write good poems. Today, a district and a mansion in Izmir Konak were named
after him. He has a bust in