Enver Pasha (born November 23, 1881 or December 6, 1882[ – died August 4, 1922) was an Ottoman soldier and politician who was active in the last years of the Ottoman Empire. He was among the important leaders of the Committee of Union and Progress, enabled the society to come to power with the military coup called Bâb-ı Âli Raid in 1913, and pioneered the military alliance with Germany in 1914, leading the Ottoman Empire to enter the First World War. During the war years, he directed the military policy as the Minister of War and the Deputy Commander-in-Chief. He is one of those who prepared the Armenian Deportation that took place during this war. After the defeat of the First World War, he made many struggles in Germany and Russia to bring the Turkish peoples together. He became the head of the Basmachi Movement in Central Asia and fought against the Bolsheviks. He was killed by the Bolsheviks during a conflict on August 4, 1922.
In 1914, he married Naciye Sultan, the granddaughter of Sultan Abdülmecid (daughter of Şehzade Süleyman) and became a groom to the Ottoman dynasty.
He was born on 23 November 1881 in Istanbul Divanyolu. His father is Hacı Ahmet Pasha, a construction technician in the public works organization (he is also an exile from Malta), and his mother is Ayşe Dilara Hanım. His mother is a Crimean Turk, his paternal lineage is based on the Gagauz Turks. He is the eldest of 5 children in the family. He spent his childhood in different cities due to the appointments of Hacı Ahmet Pasha, who first worked as a science officer in the Ministry of Public Works, and later became the Surre Emini (Surre-i Hümâyûn Emini) and rose to the position of civilian pasha. Her siblings were Nuri (Nuri Pasha-Killigil), Kamil (Killigil-Hariciyeci), Mediha (she will marry General Kazım Orbay) and Hasene (she will marry Nazım Bey, the Central Commander of Thessaloniki). Enver Pasha was also the brother-in-law of Kazım Orbay, one of the former chiefs of the General Staff.
Also known as "Kût'ül-Amâre Hero", Halil Kut is Enver Pasha's uncle.
training
At the age of three, he went to the İbtidaî School (primary school) near their home. Later, he entered the Fatih Mekteb-i İbtidaîsi, and when he was in the second year, he had to leave because his father was appointed to Manastır. Despite his young age, he was accepted to the Manastır Military High School (secondary school) in 1889 and graduated from there in 1893. He continued his education at the Manastır Military High School, where he entered the 15th rank, and graduated in 1896 at the 6th rank. He transferred to the Military Academy and finished this school in 1899 as an infantry lieutenant in the 4th rank. While he was studying at the Military Academy, he was arrested together with his uncle Halil Pasha, who was still a student, and was tried and released in Yıldız courts. He graduated from the Military Academy as the 2nd and succeeded in entering the 45-person quota of the Mekteb-i Erkan-ı Harbiye, which trained staff officers for the Ottoman Army. After his training there, he was assigned to the Manastır 23th Artillery Regiment 1902st Division, under the command of the Third Army, on 13 November 1 as a Staff Captain.
Military service (first semester)
While in the 13st Division of the 1th Artillery Regiment, Manastır participated in the operations carried out to monitor and punish the Bulgarian gangs. In September 1903, he was transferred to the first company of the 20th Infantry Regiment in Koçana, and a month later to the first company of the first battalion of the 19th Infantry Regiment. He was commissioned in the 1904th Cavalry Regiment in Skopje in April 16. Enver Bey, who went to the regiment in Shtip in October 1904, completed his "sunûf-ı muhtelife" service two months later and returned to the headquarters in Manastır. Here he worked for twenty-eight days in the first and second branches of the staff office, then he was appointed as the inspector of the Ohrid and Kırçova regions of the Manastır District Military. He became Kolagasi on March 7, 1905. During this duty, he was awarded with the fourth and third Order of Mecidiye, the fourth Order of Osmaniye and the gold Medal of Merit, as he showed outstanding success in the military operation against Bulgarian, Greek and Albanian gangs; He was promoted to major on 13 September 1906. His activities against Bulgarian gangs played a role in the influence of nationalist ideas on him. He was wounded in the leg during the clashes and stayed in the hospital for a month. He joined the Ottoman Freedom Society, which was founded in Thessaloniki in September 1906, as the twelfth member. On his return to Manastır, he took actions to establish the organization of the society there. He continued these activities more intensely after the merger of the Ottoman Freedom Society and the Ottoman Progress and Union Society, headquartered in Paris, and the first organization took the name of the Ottoman Progress and İttihat Cemiyeti Internal Center-i Umûmisi. He participated in the revolutionary initiatives initiated by the Progress and Union Society. He was invited to Istanbul after his actions were reported. However, on the evening of June 24, 1908, he went to the mountain and played a leading role in the revolution.
hero of freedom
Talking to his uncle, Captain Halil Bey, he agreed to join the Ottoman Freedom Society (later the Committee of Union and Progress), a branch of the Young Turk Movement in Thessaloniki, headquartered in Paris. (Approximately May 1906) He was accepted as the twelfth member of the society with the guidance of Bursalı Mehmet Tahir Bey. He was given the task of establishing the monastery branch of the society.
Major Enver Bey, who was involved in the revolutionary movements initiated by the Committee of Union and Progress, took part in the plan to kill Staff Colonel Nazım Bey, the Central Commander of Thessaloniki, who was the wife of his sister Hasene Hanım and known as the man of the palace. While the assassination attempt on 11 June 1908 resulted in the injury of Nazım Bey and the bodyguard Mustafa Necip Bey, who was responsible for killing him, Enver Bey was sent to the Court of War. However, instead of going to Istanbul, on the night of 12 June 1908, he went to the mountain and set out for Manastır to start a revolution. When he learned that Niyazi Bey from Resne had gone to the mountain in Resne, he headed to Tikveş instead of Monastery and tried to spread the community there. Eyüp Sabri Bey from Ohrid followed him. This movement by the sultan II. He played an important role in the declaration of the Constitutional Monarchy. Since he was the most senior officer among the officers who went up the mountain and carried out important activities, Enver suddenly said:hero of freedomHe became one of the most important names of the military wing of the Committee of Union and Progress. After the Second Constitutional Monarchy, Enver Bey was appointed as the head of the Rumeli Province Inspectorate on August 23, 1908. On March 5, 1909, he was appointed as the military attaché in Berlin with a salary of 5000 kuruş. This post, which lasted for more than two years at various intervals, caused him to admire the military situation and social structure of Germany and made him a German sympathizer.
Berlin Military Attaché
Enver Bey, who was appointed as the Berlin Military Attaché on March 5, 1909, was introduced to German culture during this duty and was very impressed. He temporarily returned to Turkey after the March 31 Incident broke out in Istanbul. He joined the Action Army, which went from Thessaloniki to Istanbul to suppress the revolt and was commanded by Mahmut Şevket Pasha; He took over the chief of staff of the movement from Kolağası Mustafa Kemal Bey. After the revolt was suppressed, II. Abdülhamit was dethroned and replaced by Mehmet Reşat. In the Ibrahim Hakkı Pasha cabinet that was established, the duty of the Minister of War was not given to Enver Bey, as expected, but to Mahmut Şevket Pasha.
He came back to Istanbul on 12 October 1910 to serve as an administrator in the First and Second Army maneuvers and returned shortly after. Enver Bey, who was called to Istanbul in March 1911, was sent to the region by Mahmud Şevket Pasha, with whom he met on March 19, 1911, to supervise the measures to be taken against the gang activities in Macedonia and to prepare a report in this area. Enver Bey traveled around Thessaloniki, Skopje, Manastır, Köprülü and Tikveş, while working on measures to be taken against the gangs, on the other hand, he met with the notables of the Union and Progress. He returned to Istanbul on May 11, 1911. On May 15, 1911, she got engaged to Nâciye Sultan, one of Sultan Mehmed Reşad's nephews. On 27 July 1911, as the chief of staff (erkanıharp) of the Second Corps, which was gathered in Shkodra due to the Malisör rebellion, he left Istanbul to go to Shkodra via Trieste. The suppression of the Malisör rebellion in Shkodra, which he reached on July 29, played an important role in the settlement of the issues of the Committee of Union and Progress with the Albanian members. After these developments, Enver Pasha returned home after the Italians attacked Tripoli, even though his place of duty was transferred to Berlin. There he made the soldier's hat called "Enveriye". This hat became the favorite of the Ottoman Army.
Tripoli War
After Enver Bey had the members of the Committee of Union and Progress accept the idea of a guerrilla war against the Italians, he set out to go to the region with names such as Kolağası Mustafa Kemal Bey and Paris Attaché Major Fethi (Okyar) Bey. After discussing this situation with the sultan and government officials on 8 October 1911, he left Istanbul on 10 October 1911 to go to Alexandria. He made various contacts with prominent Arab leaders in Egypt and departed for Benghazi on October 22. Crossing the desert, he reached Tobruk on 8 November. He established his military headquarters in Aynülmansur on December 1, 1911. He achieved great success in the war and guerrilla operations against the Italians. On January 24, 1912, he was officially appointed the Commander of the General Benghazi District. On March 17, 1912, in addition to this duty, he was appointed as the governor of Benghazi. He became prefect on 10 June 1912. At the end of November 1912, he left Benghazi to participate in the Balkan War, and went to Alexandria in prudence, and from there to Brindisi on an Italian ship. Returning to Istanbul via Vienna, Enver Bey was appointed as the Chief of Staff of the Tenth Corps on 1 January 1913. He played a leading role in the Union and Progress actions against the efforts of the Kamil Pasha government to sign a peace treaty. Enver Bey, who met with Nâzım Pasha on January 10, 1913, agreed with the Minister of War to force Kamil Pasha to resign and to form a government that would continue the war. Later, he tried to impose this idea on Sultan Mehmed Reşad, who wanted Kamil Pasha to remain in office. He led the forces in Benghazi and Derne; He managed to mobilize 20 thousand people with the prestige gained by being the son-in-law of the dynasty, and he dominated the region by printing money in his name. After a year of struggle, he left the region on November 25, 1912, as he was called to Istanbul with other Turkish officers upon the start of the Balkan War. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel in 1912 due to his successful fight against Italian forces.
Balkan War and Bâb-ı Âli Raid
Lieutenant Colonel Enver Bey, who left Benghazi with other volunteer officers to participate in the Balkan War, played an important role in stopping the enemy forces in Çatalca. The First Balkan War had ended in defeat. Kamil Pasha government was approaching to accept the Midye-Enez border proposed to them at the London Conference. The decision to overthrow the government by force came out of the meeting that the Unionists held among themselves and Enver Bey also attended. On January 23, 1913, the Bâb-ı Âli Raid took place, in which Enver Bey played the leading role. During the raid, Minister of War Nâzım Pasha was killed by Yakup Cemil; Enver Bey had Mehmet Kamil Pasha sign his resignation and visited the sultan and ensured that Mahmut Şevket Pasha became the grand vizier. Thus, the Committee of Union and Progress seized power with a military coup.
After the Bâb-ı Âli raid, Enver Bey entered Edirne on July 22, 1913, without encountering resistance, as the Bulgarian army was fighting on other fronts. Enver, whose prestige increased upon this development, said:Conqueror of EdirneHe got the title ”. He was promoted to the rank of colonel (18 December 1913) and a short time later to the general (5 January 1914). He became the Minister of War, replacing the Minister of War Ahmet İzzet Pasha, who was resigned immediately afterwards. Meanwhile, he got married to Emine Naciye Sultan, the niece of Sultan Mehmet Reşat, at the wedding held at the Damat Ferit Pasha Mansion in Baltalimanı (March 5, 1914).
Ministry of War
Enver Pasha, who made some arrangements in the army after he became the Minister of War, discharged more than a thousand old officers from the army and appointed young officers to important positions. In the army he applied the German style rather than the French model, many German officers were appointed as advisers in the Turkish army. He fired most of the regimental officers and rejuvenated the army. Uniforms were changed; He tried to increase literacy in the army and for this an alphabet called "enveriye script" was put into practice. The Ministry of War, which he continued in the Said Halim Pasha cabinet, which was established after the assassination of Mahmut Şevket Pasha, and in the Talat Pasha cabinet, which was established in 1917 after his resignation, lasted until 14 October 1918.
Introduction to World War I
Minister of War Enver Pasha played an important role in signing a secret Turkish-German alliance against Russia on August 2, 1914. He gave the necessary approval for the two German cruisers, which were allowed to enter through the Straits on 10 August, to attack the Russian Tsarist ports and ships on 29 October. With the declaration of Jihad-i Akbar read at the Fatih Mosque on November 14, the state officially joined the First World War.
Sarikamis Operation
Enver Pasha took over the management of the military operation as the Minister of War after the country entered the World War I. He assumed the command of the Sarıkamış Winter Operation, which the 3rd Army launched against the Russian forces on the Eastern Front. In the operation that took place in January 1915, the Turkish troops were completely defeated. Enver Pasha left the command of the army to Hakkı Hafız Pasha and returned to Istanbul and did not take command of any other front during the war. For a long time, he did not allow any news or publication about Sarıkamış in the Istanbul press. Enver Pasha, who became the Deputy Commander-in-Chief as well as the Ministry of War on April 26, 1915, was promoted to lieutenant general in September.
Armenian Crimea
Knowing that during the 1877 War in 1878-93, some local Armenians were fighting alongside the expansionist Russian armies against the Ottoman Empire and rioting behind the front, Enver Pasha sent a secret telegram to the Minister of Internal Affairs, Talat Pasha, on May 2, 1915, demanding that the rebellious Armenians be removed from the region. . The practice was initiated by Talat Pasha and was put into effect by enacting the Relocation Law on 27 May.
Enver Pasha's rank was promoted to full general following the capture of British general Townshend in Kut ul-Amare in 1917 and the successes achieved against the Russians in the Caucasus front.
escaping abroad
The Ottoman Empire's defeat in the war became certain after the Ottoman army was constantly defeated by the British in Palestine, Iraq and Syria. When Talat Pasha's cabinet resigned on 14 October 1918 to facilitate armistice agreements, Enver Pasha's duty as war minister came to an end. After the British issued an arrest warrant for the members of the Union and Progress, he fled abroad with a German torpedo with his party friends. He went first to Odessa and then to Berlin; He later moved to Russia. In Istanbul, the Divan-ı Harp reinstated his ranks and sentenced him to death in absentia. On January 1, 1919, he was expelled from the military by the government.
Organizing the Committee of Union and Progress
Enver Pasha, who spent the winters of 1918-19 hiding in Berlin, started to reorganize the Committee of Union and Progress. He met with Soviet politician and journalist Karl Radek, who was in Berlin to participate in the revolutionary uprisings in Germany, and at his invitation, he set out for Moscow. However, on his third attempt, he managed to go to Moscow in 1920, where he met with the Soviet Foreign Minister Chicherin, with Lenin. He attended the First Congress of Eastern Peoples held in Baku on September 1-8, 1920, representing Libya, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco. However, the congress did not bring significant results. Under the impression that the Soviets did not really support nationalist movements in Turkey and other Muslim countries, he returned to Berlin in October 1920. After the assassination of Talat Pasha on March 15, 1921, he became the main leader of the Committee of Union and Progress.
Enver Pasha, who went to Moscow again in 1921, met with the Turkish delegates headed by Bekir Sami Bey, sent by the Ankara Government to Moscow. Although he wanted to join the National Struggle movement in Anatolia, he was not accepted. Some former Unionists in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey wanted him to replace Mustafa Kemal Pasha. In July 1921, a Congress of Union and Progress was held in Batumi. When the Greek attack on Ankara started on July 30, Enver Pasha, who hoped to enter Anatolia like a savior, lost this hope with the Battle of Sakarya, which was won in September.
Bringing his body to Turkey
The removal of his body came to the fore during President Süleyman Demirel's trip to Tajikistan in September 1995. After the contacts of the authorities, the tomb of Enver Pasha, located in Obtar village of Belcivan city, about 200 km east of the capital Dushanbe, was opened on 30 July 1996 by a delegation of eight experts and scientists led by the Chief Advisor to the President of the Republic, Münif İslamoğlu. The funeral, which was understood to belong to Enver Pasha from the dental structure, could hardly be brought to the capital Dushanbe due to the political turmoil in Tajikistan. Here, he was put in a coffin wrapped in the Turkish flag and prepared for the official ceremony in Istanbul.
His body, which was brought to Istanbul on August 3, 1996, was kept in Gümüşsuyu Military Hospital for one night. He was buried in the tomb next to Talat Pasha, which was prepared jointly by the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality and the Ministry of Culture, on Abide-i Hürriyet Hill in Şişli, after the funeral prayer led by eight imams in Şişli Mosque, on August 4, 1996, the anniversary of his death. President of the time Süleyman Demirel, Minister of National Defense Turhan Tayan, Minister of State Abdullah Gül, Minister of Health Yıldırım Aktuna, Minister of Culture İsmail Kahraman, ANAP Deputy İlhan Kesici and Istanbul Governor Rıdvan Yenişen and Enver Pasha's grandson Osman Mayatepek and other relatives attended the ceremony. .
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