UNFINISHED "NUREMBERG"
ON THE OCCASSION OF THE 90-th ANNIVERSARY OF THE TRIAL OF YOUNG TURKS



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The Young Turks perpetrators
After the 1918 Mudros armistice, in order to get rid of the disgraced government of the Young Turks and prevent the possible punitive actions by the victorious Allies, the newly-organized Ahmed Izzet Pasha government, decided to bring the leaders of the Young Turks and the members of the Committee of the Party of “Ittihat ve Terakki” before court for involving the Ottoman Empire in the war and organizing Armenian massacres.
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The verdict of the Turkish Military
Tribunal sentencing to death the Governor
of Trabizon Jemal Azmi Bey
No 3616
On 22 May, 1919
The Journal of “Takvim Vakayi”

According to the decisions of 16 December 1918, Enquiry Commissions were set up (General Chairman former Ankara Governer Mazhar Bey) for the purpose of collecting evidence such as encoded telegraphs, official writings, instructions, orders, as well as eye-witness accounts of the massacres of Armenians.

The provinces of the Ottoman Empire were divided into ten investigative districts; prosecutors, inquiring judges and secretaries were appointed for each district.

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The copy of the encoded circular letter of 10 July,
1915 affirmed by the commander of the
3-rd army Mahmud Kyamil pasha
The journal of “Takvim Vakay”
No 3540
April, 1919
A number of ministers of the Young Turks’ Government, party leaders, regional secretaries, attorneys, governors, servicemen and other officials were arrested.

On 8 January 1918, Military Tribunals of first, second and third instance were established in Istanbul. During the court hearings, investigation was conducted into the criminal actions of the leaders of the Young Turks’ Government; the members of the Central Committee of the “Ittihat ve Terakki” party, the regional secretaries and officials, the special organization that had committed the Armenian slaughters called “Teshkilat-ı Mahsuse,” as well as the organizers of the deportation and carnage of the Armenians of Yozgat, Trebizond and Büyükdere (a suburb of Constantinople) and Harpoot.
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Ismayil Hakki Bey
arrested by the British Soldiers


Although, under the existing law, the criminals were to be tried in the place where they had committed the crime, on 5 February 1919, the Military Tribunal of Istanbul made a decision to prosecute the accused in Istanbul in its first session on the trial of the perpetrators of the deportations and massacres in Yozgat.

By a special decree of Sultan Mehmed VI Vahideddin (1918 to 1922), the leaders and ministers of the “Ittihat ve Terakki” party were brought before the Military Tribunal of Istanbul. In 1919 Grand Vizier Damad Ferid condemned the criminal plan executed by the Young Turks’ Government.

The trial of the leaders and ministers of the “Ittihat ve Terakki” party began in Istanbul on 27 April 1919 and continued until 26 June (13 sittings) with intervals. During these trials, 11 party-affiliated and high-ranking statesmen were sentenced in absentia, together with other 20 political figures who were present at court. On 28 May, the English Command suddenly exiled 77 prisoners to the island of Malta.

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Talaat Pasha and
Minister of Finance Javid Bey
The first verdict of the Young Turk perpetrators were reached on July 5, 1919. 31 criminals including the former Minister of the Interior Affairs, Grand Vizier and Chairman of the Central Committee of the “Ittihat ve Terakki” party Talaat Pasha from 1917 till 1918; former Military Minister Enver Pasha, former Minister of the Marine, Commander of the 4th Turkish army in Syria during World War I and a member of the Central Committee of “Teshkilat-ı Mahsuse” of the “Ittihat ve Terakki” party, Jemal Pasha; and former Minister of Public Education, Doctor Nazım were sentenced to death in absentia. Some of the remaining 27 were sentenced to different prison terms, while a small group of accused officials were acquitted because of the lack of evidence. The verdict did not contain a single reference to the criminals who had been banished to Malta from the Turkish prison under the protection of the English Command. Later many of them after returning back from exile, hold different high positions in the Republic of Turkey.

On 21, 23, 28 June 1919, the trials of the regional secretaries and other officials of the “Ittihat ve Terakki” party took place. The verdict was reached on 8 January 1920. Three of the 36 people accused were sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment, the others to imprisonment of several years.
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Talaat Pasha with his friends
in the years of escape, Holland, 1920
Yozgat and Governor of Boghazlyan Kemal Bey was sentenced to death. Yozgat’s Police Chief Tefik Bey was sentenced to 15 years of penal servitude. The verdict of the perpetrators of Trebizond massacres was reached on 22 May 1919. Two of the eight criminals, Governor of Trebizond province Jemal Azmi Bey, and Responsible Secretary of the “Ittihat ve Terakki” party Naim Bey, were sentenced to death in absentia; the others were sentenced to different years of imprisonment. The verdict of the perpetrators of the Armenian and Greek massacres of Büyükdere was proclaimed on 24 May 1919. All those accused received prison terms of several years. The verdict of the active organizers of the deportation and slaughter of Harpoot Armenians was reached on 13 January 1920. Member of the Central Committee of the “Ittihat ve Terakki” party and Chairman of “Teshkilat-ı Mahsuse” Behaeddin Shakir Bey was sentenced to death, and Responsible Secretary of the Party of “Ittihat ve Terakki” Resneli Nazım Bey was sentenced to 15 years of penal servitude.

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Enver Pasha, Talaat Pasha,
Halil Menteshe, Sadrazam Sayid Halil Pasha (on the right side)
The Treaty of Sèvres signed on August 10, 1920 authorized the Allies to carry out certain steps for punishing the Ottoman criminals convicted of Armenian Genocide. Thus according to the treaty, the Turkish state not only recognized the right of the Allied Rowers to prosecute people charged with the breach of laws and customs of conducting war, but also "The Turkish Government undertakes to hand over to the Allied Powers the persons whose surrender may be required by the latter as being responsible for the massacres committed during the continuance of the state of war on territory which formed part of the Turkish Empire on August 1, 1914".

The decisions and reports of the trials of 1919 to 1920 were published in the appendices of the Turkish official newspaper“Takvim-i Vekayi”. All the title pages had the following heading: “Report of the Trial of the Military Tribunal made up by His Majesty Sultan’s Imperial Order Dated 8 March 1335 (1919).”

Publications on these trials are also found in the contemporary Armenian and Turkish press.

The documents (encoded telegraphs and letters) attached to the verdicts attest that Armenian deportations and massacres were not implemented for the security reasons. The documents collected during the court hearings and attached to the verdicts reached prove that the Armenian deportations were aimed at total annihilation of the Armenian population. This plan for a“final solution” was camed out exceptionally on the initiative of the Central Committee of the “Ittihat ve Terakki” party with instructions and secret orders received from the centre.

The trials of the Young Turks’ Government, organized between 1919 and 1920 by the Turkish authorities, are unique evidence proving that the Armenian Genocide was politically organized and commited act.

These trials and verdicts are important arguments against the denial of the Armenian Genocide by the official Turkish historiography. Most of the convicted former Ottoman officials who were involved in the perpetration of the Armenian mass killings and property expropriation and were sentenced during these trials, later appeared as close associates of Kemal Atatürk, holding important positions in the military and political elite of the Republic of Turkey.


The list of the accused


MEHMED TALAAT PASHA 1847-1921

Leader of the Party of “Ittihat ve Terakki”

Minister of the Interior Affairs 1913-1917

Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire 1917-1918

He was sentenced to death by the Ottoman Military Tribunal in 1919

He was shot to death by Soghomon Tehleryan in 1921


ISMAIL ENVER PASHA 1881-1922

One of the organizers of the Armenian Genocide

Member of the Central Committee of the Party of “Ittihat ve Terakki”

War Minister in 1914

He was sentenced to death by the Ottoman Military Tribunal in 1919

He was sentenced to death in the Central Asia in 1921


JEMAL PASHA 1872-1922

One of the organizers of the Armenian Genocide

Member of the Central Committee of the Party of “Ittihat ve Terakki”

Minister of Wavy

Commander of the 4th Turkish army in Syria in 1914

He was sentenced to death by the Ottoman Military Tribunal in 1919

He was killed by Artashes Gevorgyan and Petros Ter Poghosyan on July, 1922


DOCTOR NAZIM 1872-1926

Member of "Teşkilat-ı Mahsusa" and the Central Committee of the Party of “Ittihat ve Terakki”

Minister of the Public Education in 1918

He was sentenced to death by the Ottoman Military Tribunal in 1919

He was hanged in 1926


BAHADDIN SHAKIR 1877-1922

Member of the Central Committee of the Party of “Ittihat ve Terakki”

Leader of "Teşkilat-ı Mahsusa"

He was sentenced to death by the Ottoman Military Tribunal in 1920

He was killed by Arshavir Shirakyan in Rome in December, 1921


HALIL MENTESHE1874-1948

Member of the Party of “Ittihat ve Terakki”

Speaker of the Ottoman Mejlis in 1914 - 1915

Chairman of the State Council in 1915, Minister of Foreign Affairs in 1915 - 1917

Minister of the Justice in 1917 - 1918

He was exiled to the island of Malta by the British command in 1919, prisoner No 2760

Deputy of the Parliamnet of Turkey from Izmir from 1931


MEHMED JAVID BEY 1875-1926

Member of the Party of “Ittihat ve Terakki”

Minister of Finance in 1914

He was sentenced to a prison terms of 15 years in absentia by the Military Tribunal in 1919

He was present at the Conference of London as Adviser of Ankara’s delegation in 1921


HUSEIN RAUF ORBAY 1881-1964

Member of the “Teşkilat-ı Mahsusa and the Party of “Ittihat ve Terakki”

Minister of Wavy in 1918

Exiled to the island of Malta by the British Command, prisoner No 2776

Minister of Wavy in Ankara’s Government 1921 - 1922

Prime Minister in Ankara’s Government 1922 - 1923


ALI FETIH OKYAR 1880-1943

Member of "Teşkilat-ı Mahsusa" and the Party of “Ittihat ve Terakki”

Deputy of the Ottoman Mejlis (Istanbul) in 1914

He was exiled to the island of Malta by the British Command, Prisoner No 2689

Speaker of the parliament of Turkey 1923 to 1924

Prime Minister of the Republic Turkey 1924 - 1925


SHUKRU KAYA 1883-1959

One of the immediate accomplices of the Armenian massacres and deportations

Member of the Party of “Ittihat ve Terakki”

General Supervisor of the deportations

Exiled to the island of Malta by the British Command, prisoner No 2738

He was elected as a Deputy of the parliament of Turkey for three times from 1923

Minister of Agriculture of Turkey in 1924


MUSTAFA ABDULHALIK RENDA 1881-1957

One of the immidiate accomplices of the Armenian massacres and deportations

Governor of Bitlis 1914 - 1915, Governor of Aleppo 1915 - 1917

Exiled to the island of Malta by the British Command in 1920, prisoner No 2800

Minister of Finance 1924 - 1934, Minister of the National Defense 1927 - 1930

Speaker of the Parliament of Turkey 1935 - 1946

Acting President of the Republic in 1938


MIDHAT SHUKRU BLEDA 1874-1956

The immediate perpetrator of the carnage and deportations of the Armenians

Member of the Central Committee of the Party of “Ittihat ve Terakki”, the Secretary General of the Party

Minister of the Education in 1915

Exiled to the island of Malta by the British Command in 1919, prisoner No 2756

Deputy of the Parliament of Turkey 1935 - 1950


AHMED MUAMMER /JANKARDESH/ 1874-1928

The accomplice of the Armenian Genocide

The Governor of Sivas 1913 - 1916

Exiled to the island of Malta by the British Command in 1919, prisoner No 2719

The Governor of Kayseri in 1922

Deputy of the Parliament of Turkey from Sivas in 1923, 1927


HASAN TAHSIN UZER 1877-1939

The perpetrator of the Armenian Genocide

Governor from Van 1913 - 1914

Governor of Erzrum (Erzeroum) 1914 - 1916

He was banished to the island of Malta by the British Command in 1920, prisoner No 2774

Deputy from Izmir in 1921, from Ardahan in 1925, from Erzrum in 1927 and in 1933 from Konia


KEMAHAL SAHIRZADE SABIT BEY 1881-1960

One of the accomplices of the Armenian Genocide

Governor of Harpoot in 1914, 1916

Banished to the island of Malta by the British Command in 1919, prisoner No 2686

Deputy of the Parliament of Turkey from Erznka in 1920s


JEVDET BEY/ BELBEZ

The perpetrator of the Armenian Genocide

The governor from Van

He was exiled to the island of Malta by the British Command, prisoner No 2690


MUSA HILMI DEMOKAN 1865-1929

The governer from Qrshehiri in 1915

He was banished to the island of Malta by the British Command, prisoner No 2712


ZIYA GYOKALP 1876-1924

Member of the Party of “Ittihat ve Terakki”

Writer, one of the founding ideologists of the Pan-Turkism

Deputy of the Ottoman Parliament in 1912

A Professor of Sociology of the University of Istanbul in 1915

Exiled to the island of Malta by the British Command in 1919, prisoner No 2759

Deputy of the Parliament of Turkey from Diarbekir in 1923


HUSEIN JAHIT YALCH 1875-1957

Member of the Party of “Ittihat ve Terakki”

Writer, journalist, political figure and editor of the “Tanin” newspaper

Deputy of the Ottoman Parliament from Istanbul

He was banished to the island of Malta in 1919, prisoner No 2675

Deputy of the Mejlis of Turkey from Istanbul in 1939, from Kars in 1950


MUSTAFA RESHAT MIMAROGHLU 1882-1953

Chief of the Civilian Police of Istanbul in 1915

He was exiled to the island of the Malta by the British Command in 1920, prisoner No 2798

Chairman of the State Council in 1934

Deputy of the Parliament of Turkey in 1939


SULEYMAN FAYIK PASHA 1886 – ?

Commander of the 11th Corps

Assistant of Governor of Harpoot and Commander of the Units 1915 - 1916

Leader of the Recruital Committee in Harpoot

Banished to the island of Malta by the British Command in 1920, prisoner No 2807


SULEYMAN NEJAMI BEY (SELMAN) 1871-1943

The governor from Samsun in 1914 - 1916

Governor from Sivas in 1916 to 1918

He was exiled to the island of Malta by the British Command in 1920, prisoner No 2812

Governor from Kstamonui in 1923

Deputy of the Parliament of Turkey from Samsun


ARIF FEVZI BEY PIRINCHCHIOGHLU 1878-1933

Deputy of the Ottoman Parliament from Diarbekir

Exiled to the island of Malta in 1919, prisoner No 2743

Deputy of the Mejlis of Turkey from Diarbekir


ALI IHSAN SABIS PASHA 1882-1957

Commander of the 6th Army

The Front of Iraq and Caucasian 1915 - 1918

Banished to the island of Malta in 1920, prisoner No 2667

Commander of the 1st Army in 1921


KARA VASIF 1872-1931

Member of the Party of “Ittihat ve Terakki”

Military, political figure

He was exiled to the island of Malta in 1920, prisoner No---

Deputy of the Parliament of Turkey from Sivas


MUSTAFA KEMAL BEY 1868 – 1926

(KARA KEMAL)

Member of the Central Committee of the Party of “Ittihat ve Terakki”

Minister of Procurement

He was exiled to the island of Malta, prisoner No 2761


ALI MYUNIF BEY YEGHENA 1847 -1951

Member of the Party of “Ittihat ve Terakki”

Governor from Lebanon in 1915 - 1916

Minister of Public Affairs in 1916

He was banished to the island of Malta in 1919, prisoner No 2762

Mayor of Adana

Deputy of the Parliament of Turkey from Mersin and from Adana


SULEYMAN NUMAN PASHA 1868 – 1925

Member of the Central Committee of the Party of “Ittihat ve Terakki”

General, Chief of the Medical Service

Exiled to the island of Malta, prisoner No 2732


AHMED FAIK ERNER BEY

Assistant of Baghdad’s Governor 1914 - 1915

Chief of Police of Istanbul 1916 - 1918

Banished to the island of Malta in 1919, prisoner No 2724


ILYAS SAMI BEY /MUSH/ ?-1945

Deputy of the Ottoman Parliament from Mush

He was exiled to the island of Malta in 1920, prisoner No 2810

Deputy of the Parliament of Turkey from Mush, and from Bitilis


ALI JENANI BEY

Member of the Party of “Ittihat ve Terakki”

Deputy of the Ottoman Parliament from Aleppo

He was banished to the island of Malta in 1920, prisoner No 2805

Deputy of the Parliament of Turkey in 1923

Minister of Trade in 1924




The Accused Sentenced in Absentia:

1. Talaat Pasha-Minister of Interior Affairs, Grand Vizier 1917 - 1918
2. Enver Pasha-War Minister
3. Jemal Pasha-Minister of Wavy
4. Bahaddin Shakir Bey- member of the Central Committee of “Ittihat ve Terakki”, Leader of the “Teşkilat-ı Mahsusa”
5. Doctor Nazim Bey- member of the Central Committee of “Ittihat ve Terakki”, member of the “Teşkilat-ı Mahsusa”
6. Javid Bey-Minister of Finance
7. Suleyman Elbistani Bey-Minister of Trade and Farming 1915 - 1917
8. Mustafa Sherif Bey-Minister of Trade and Farming 1917 - 1918
9. Oskar Effendi-Minister of Post and Telegraph 1914 - 1917
10. Doctor Ruzuhi Effendi- member of the Central Committee of “Ittihat ve Terakki”
11. Aziz Effendi-Minister of Public Security, member of the “Teşkilat-ı Mahsusa”



The Accused Present at Court:

1. Sayid Halim Pasha-Grand Vizier 1913 - 1916
2. Midhat Shukru Bey-Secretary General of the Central Committee of “Ittihat ve Terakki”
3. Ahmed Jevid Bey-Commandant of Constantinople, member of the “Teşkilat-ı Mahsusa”
4. Atif Bey-Deputy of Ankara, member of the “Teşkilat-ı Mahsusa”
5. Zia Gyokalp- member of the Central Committee of “Ittihat ve Terakki”
6. Kyuchuk Talaat Bey- member of the Central Committee of “Ittihat ve Terakki”
7. Riza Bey- member of the Central Committee of “Ittihat ve Terakki” and “Teşkilat-ı Mahsusa”
8. Ibrahim Bey-Speaker of the Parliament
9. Hayri Effendi-Sheyh-ul-Islam
10. Musa Kyazim Effendi-Sheyh-ul-Islam
11. Xalil Effendi-Minister of Foreign Affairs and Justice, member of the “Teşkilat-ı Mahsusa”
12. Ahmed Nesimi Bey-Minister of Foreign Affairs 1917 - 1918
13. Ismayil Janpolat Bey-Minister of Interior Affairs 1917 - 1918
14. Abbas Halil Pasha-Minister of Public Affairs 1917 - 1918
15. Ali Myunif Bey-Minister of Public Affairs 1917 - 1918
16. Shukru Bey-Minister of Public Education, member of the “Teşkilat-ı Mahsusa”
17. Kemal Bey-Minister of General Provision, member of the Central Committee of “Ittihat ve Terakki”
18. Husein Hashim Bey-Minister of Post and Telegraph 1917 - 1918
19. Rifat Bey-Speaker of the Parliament
20. Mahmed Esad Effendi-Sheyh-ul-Islam


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