Djemal Pasha | |
---|---|
Born |
Midilli, Ottoman Empire |
6 May 1872
Died | 21 July 1922 Tbilisi, Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic, (present day: Georgia) |
(aged 50)
Allegiance | Ottoman Empire |
Years of service | 1893–1918 |
Rank | General |
Unit | Minister of the Navy |
Commands held | Fourth Army |
Battles/wars | Balkan Wars, Sinai and Palestine Campaign, Mesopotamian Campaign, 1915-1917 |
Other work | Revolutionary, despot, deposed despot |
Ahmed Djemal Pasha (Ottoman Turkish: احمد جمال پاشا, modern Turkish: Ahmet Cemal Paşa; 6 May 1872 – 21 July 1922), commonly known as Djemal Pasha to Turks, and Jamal Basha in the Arab world, was an Ottoman military leader and one-third of the military triumvirate known as the Three Pashas (also called the "Three Dictators") that ruled the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Djemal was the Minister of the Navy. (Also, he was the Mayor of Istanbul). There is discussion about his leading role in the Armenian genocide, the Greek genocide, and the Assyrian genocide.
Ahmed Djemal was born in Mytilene, Lesbos, to Mehmet Nesip Bey, a military pharmacist.
Destined for the army, Djemal passed out from Kuleli Military High School in 1890. He went on to the Military Academy (Mektebi Harbiyeyi Şahane) in 1893, the staff college in Istanbul. He was posted to serve with the 1st Department of the Imperial General Staff (Seraskerlik Erkânı Harbiye), and then he worked at the Kirkkilise Fortification Construction Department bound to Second Army. Djemal was assigned to the II Corps in 1896; being appointed two years later, the staff commander of Novice Division, stationed on the frontier Salonica.
Meanwhile, he began to sympathize with the reforms of Committee of Union and Progress (CUP) on military issues. It was in 1905, when Djemal was promoted to major and designated Inspector of Roumelia Railways. The following year he signalled democratic credentials, 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 III Corps, in 1907. Here, he worked with future Turkish statesmen Major Fethi (Okyar) and Mustafa Kemal (Atatürk), although Atatürk soon developed a rivalry with Djemal Pasha and his colleagues over their policies after they seized power in 1913. Between 1908 and 1918, Djemal was one of the most important leaders of the Ottoman government.