Statesmen and
politician, grand vizier (B. 1874, Edirne – D. 1921, Berlin, Germany). His full
name was Mehmed Talat and he was the son of Ahmet Vasıf Efendi, prosecutor of
Kırcaali. He completed his primary education in Vize, Kırklareli. After he
graduated from Edirne Akeri Rüştiyesi (secondary school), he joined the staff
of the telegraph company as a postal clerk in Edirne and he taught Turkish
lesson in the Alliance Israelite School. In the meantime, he went into politics
and joined a secret community working against Abdülhamit II. However, he was
arrested for this act (1895) and was sent exile to Thessaloniki (1898). There, he served as a postman on the staff of
the Post Office and attended Thessaloniki Law School but he couldn’t complete
his higher education.
Talat Bey was one of the
founding members of Osmanlı Hürriyet Cemiyeti, later to be named as the Committee
of Union and Progress, which was established in 1906. He joined the mason guild
in Thessaloniki and used their influence to organize the Committee of Union and
Progress. He spread the force of the Committee of Union and Progress. He came
to Istanbul for the second time and founded a branch of the Committee and
organized them. However, his secret actions were found out by the palace, he
was dismissed of his duty and sent exile to Anatolia as well. He was forgiven
thanks to Hüseyin Hilmi Pasha. While he was working at a private school as a
principal, he also continued his works to organize the Committee of Union and
Progress in Istanbul.
Talat Pasha became the deputy
of Edirne in the Ottoman Parliament after the Second Constitution in 1908 and
he was appointed as the vice president. He was appointed as the first Grand
Master of Turkish Grand Lodge (known as Maşrık-ı
Azami Osmanî) (1909-10) and he played an important role in dethroning of
Abdulhamid II. He was appointed Minister of Interior Affairs in Second Hüseyin
Hilmi Pasha Government (1909-11) and Minister of Post and Telegram and Vice
Minister of Interior Affairs in Sait Pasha Government (1912).
He was one of the masterminds of January 23rd,
1913 Ottoman coup d'état (Babıali Baskını) which was an action against Kamil
Pasha Government by the Committee of Union and Progress, after Edirne was lost
to Bulgaria upon the defeat of the First Balkan War. He had an active role to
lead the Ottoman Empire into Second Balkan War for the Balkan League was
fighting each other. He was appointed to head representative of Turkey in peace
talks which was held in Istanbul on September 29th, 1913 after
Edirne was taken back from Bulgaria. Together with the Minister of War, Enver
and the minister of the Navy, Cemal, he was one of the three pashas who had
been the dominant political figures in interior and foreign policy of the
empire until the end of 1918, since Said Halim Pasha became the grand vizier (12th
June 1913). In spite of the oppositions, Talat Pasha was appointed as the Minister
of Interior Affairs by Said Halim Pasha Government
and he played a leading role in Turco-German alliance (2nd August
1914), thus spearheading the Ottoman Empire into World War I. He also issued
the order for the relocation law which forced Armenians to migrate from war
zone to the south and he himself administered the migration as Minister of
Interior Affairs.
Upon the dismissal of Grand Vizier Said Halim Pasha (prime
minister), his political rival, Talat Pasha was appointed as the Grand Vizier
by Sultan Mehmet Reşat (4th February 1917). Talat Pasha represented
the Ottoman Empire during the peace talks between Russia and the Ottoman, which
was held in Brest-Litovsk after the Russians withdrew following the October
Revolution in Russia (1917) and he maintained his office as the grand vizier
when Mehmed VI (Vahdettin) ascended the throne (4th July 1918). Upon
the defeat in World War I, he resigned from the grand vizier duty on 8th
October 1918 to make it easier to sign the treaty of peace. After the Armistice
of Montrose (30th October 1918), during General Congress of the Committee of Union and Progress on
1st November 1918, he announced
that he quitted his career in politics. The following day, he left Turkey by a
German submarine. He went to Russia and after a while he went to Germany and
settled in Berlin.
While he was aboard, he kept in touch with Enver Pasha, who was still
active in Soviet Union and Cemal Pasha, who was in the service of Afghanistan.
He corresponded with Mustafa Kemal Pasha, who was establishing the Independence
War of Turkey, but he couldn’t gain his friendship. Contrary to Enver Pasha, he
was for pursuing a timid policy against the Soviet Union and he thought it was
better not to be in rush to lay hand on organizing of Anatolia. On 15th
March 1921, Talat Pasha was assassinated with a single bullet just outside of
his house in Berlin by an Armenian Revolutionary Federation member named
Soghomon Tehlirian. He was buried in a Muslim cemetery in Berlin after his body
was embalmed and then he was reburied in Hürriyet-i Ebediye, Istanbul on 25th
February 1943.
Talat Pasha rose through the ranks in the Committee of Union and Progress while he was a post
officer and promoted to leader of the civil branch of organization. The most
tempestuous era of the Turkey was lived under the rule of his government. Even
though he was one of those who led a great empire into a very bad situation
because of their ignorance and inefficacy, he fled not to answer for the dreadful
errors to people and left a letter to Grand Vizier İzzet Pasha telling: “I accept the responsibility, I would like to
answer to people and serve the sentence to be given. I promise that I will come
to Turkey whenever it is possible.” Some of his friends chose to stay and
borne the consequences, however Talat Pasha didn’t do so. He fled to Berlin
leaving a collapsed country behind.
The journal he wrote in Berlin
during the last times of his life was published in modern Turkish (Talat Paşa’nın Anıları) by Alpay Kabacalı
in 2000. Notes of Aubrey Herbert, a British intelligence agent who had
interviewed with Talat Pasha for three days shortly before his assassination
were presented in the book as well. “İstiklâl
Harbimizde Enver Paşa ve İttihat Terakki Erkânı” (1990), a book written by
Kazım Karabekir, tells of oppositions of Talat Pasha and his supporters against
War of Independence.