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{{short description|Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire (1885–1891, 1895, 1908–1909, 1912–1913)}}
[[Image:Kibrisli Kamil Pasha.jpg|thumb|200px|Mehmed Kamil Pasha]]
{{family name hatnote|Mehmed Kâmil|Pasha|lang=Ottoman Turkish}}
{{Format footnotes|date=August 2023}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2020}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|honorific-prefix = [[Cyprus|Kıbrıslı]]
|name = Mehmed Kâmil
|honorific-suffix = [[Pasha]]
|native_name = {{No bold|محمد كامل پاشا}}
|native_name_lang = ota
|image = File:Mehmed Kamil Pasha.jpg
|imagesize =
|nationality = [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]]
|caption =
|office1 = [[Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire]]
|monarch1 = [[Abdul Hamid II]]
|term_start1 = 25 September 1885
|term_end1 = 4 September 1891
|predecessor1 = [[Mehmed Said Pasha]]
|successor1 = [[Ahmed Cevad Pasha]]
|office2 =
|monarch2 = [[Abdul Hamid II]]
|term_start2 = 2 October 1895
|term_end2 = 7 November 1895
|predecessor2 = [[Mehmed Said Pasha]]
|successor2 = [[Halil Rifat Pasha]]
|office3 =
|monarch3 = [[Abdul Hamid II]]
|term_start3 = 5 August 1908
|term_end3 = 14 February 1909
|predecessor3 = [[Mehmed Said Pasha]]
|successor3 = [[Hüseyin Hilmi Pasha]]
|office4 =
|monarch4 = [[Mehmed V]]
|term_start4 = 29 October 1912
|term_end4 = 23 January 1913
|predecessor4 = [[Ahmed Muhtar Pasha]]
|successor4 = [[Mahmud Shevket Pasha]]
|birth_date = 1833
|birth_place = [[Nicosia]], [[Ottoman Cyprus|Cyprus Sanjak]], [[Ottoman Empire]]
|death_date = 14 November 1913 (aged 80)
|death_place = Nicosia, [[British Cyprus]]
|party = [[Freedom and Accord Party]]
|spouse =
}}
'''Mehmed Kâmil Pasha''' ({{langx|ota|محمد كامل پاشا}}; {{langx|tr|Kıbrıslı Mehmet Kâmil Paşa}}, "Mehmed Kamil Pasha the Cypriot"), also spelled as '''Kamil Pasha''' (1833 – 14 November 1913), was an [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] statesman and liberal politician<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://publishing.cdlib.org/ucpressebooks/view?docId=ft7n39p1dn&chunk.id=ch04&toc.depth=1&toc.id=ch04&brand=ucpress|title = Arabs and Young Turks}}</ref> of [[Turkish Cypriots|Turkish Cypriot]] origin in the late-19th-century and early-20th-century. He was the [[List of Ottoman grand viziers|Grand Vizier]] of the Empire during four different periods.<ref name = turkbook>İsmail Hâmi Danişmend, Osmanlı Devlet Erkânı, Türkiye Yayınevi, İstanbul, 1971 (Turkish)</ref>


== Early life ==
'''Kıbrıslı Mehmed Kamil Pasha''' (''Mehmed Kamil Pasha the Cypriot''), also spelled as '''Kâmil Pasha''' or '''Kiamil Pasha''' was an [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] statesman of [[Turkish Cypriots|Turkish Cypriot]] origin in the late 19th century and early 20th century, who became, as aside regional or international posts within the Ottoman state structure, [[grand vizier]] of the Empire during four different periods.
[[File:Kamil bey.jpg |thumb|200px|left|Kâmil Pasha, 1860s]]
Mehmed Kâmil Pasha was born in [[Nicosia]], [[Ottoman Cyprus]] in 1833. He was the son of an artillery captain, Salih [[Agha (title)|Agha]], from the village of [[Pyrogi]]. His paternal grandfather is from [[Karakese]] village of [[Anamur]]. Kâmil's mother is Pembe [[Khanum|Hanım]], who also hailed from Cyprus.<ref name=":0">{{cite web |archive-date=1 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230101164237/https://tez.yok.gov.tr/UlusalTezMerkezi/TezGoster?key=WY5CM7tPNE2z_YM6pBu0t2UvIWrL3Q-7iYGBAs71gE8sYteKi4iS8VRlXKa1eMwo |date=1995 |first=İsmail |last=Şen |title=Sadrazam Kıbrıslı Mehmed Kamil Paşa: 1832-1913 |url=https://tez.yok.gov.tr/UlusalTezMerkezi/TezGoster?key=WY5CM7tPNE2z_YM6pBu0t2UvIWrL3Q-7iYGBAs71gE8sYteKi4iS8VRlXKa1eMwo |work=Ankara Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü doktora tezi}}<!-- auto-translated from Turkish by Module:CS1 translator --></ref>


He was educated in on the island until the age of thirteen; He learned Arabic, Persian, French and Greek. In 1845, he was taken to Egypt with his younger brother and studied at Elsine [[Madrasa]]. Shortly after, when the madrasah was converted into a military academy, he took courses on military sciences. He graduated as a cavalry lieutenant.
He was born in [[Lefkoşa]] in 1833, son of Captain Salih Ağa from the village of [[Gaziler]], in Northern [[Cyprus]]. His first post was in the household of the [[Khedive]] of [[Egypt]] who at that time was only nominally dependent to the central Ottoman power in [[İstanbul]]. In the course of this appointment he visited [[London]] for the [[Great Exhibition of 1851]] in charge of one of the Khedive's sons. Kiamil's sojourn in [[England]] left in him a lifelong admiration for [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|Britain]] and during his career within the Ottoman state, he was always known to be an [[Anglophile]].


His first post was in the household of the [[Khedive]] of [[Ottoman Egypt|Egypt]], [[Abbas I of Egypt|Abbas I]], at that time was only nominally dependent to the central Ottoman power in [[Istanbul|Constantinople]]. In the course of this appointment he visited [[London]] for the [[Great Exhibition of 1851]] in charge of one of the Khedive's sons. Kamil's sojourn in London left in him a lifelong admiration for [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|Britain]] and during his career within the Ottoman state, he was always known to be an [[Anglophile]].
Having full command of [[English language|English]], thenceforth to the close of his career he zealously sought the friendship of England for [[Turkey]].


Having full command of English, thenceforth to the close of his career he zealously sought a close friendship between the United Kingdom and the Ottoman Empire.
After remaining in Egypt for ten years, Mehmed Kamil exchanged the service of [[Abbas I of Egypt|Abbas I]] for that of the Ottoman Government as of 1860 and for the ensuing nineteen years -that is to say until he first entered the Cabinet-, he filled very numerous administrative appointments in every part of the Empire. He governed, or helped to govern provinces such as [[Eastern Rumelia]], [[Hercegovina]], [[Kosovo]], and his native [[Cyprus]].


== High politics in the Ottoman Empire ==
Between 1885 and 1913 he filled the office of Grand Vizier four times. His periods of office were;
After remaining in Egypt for ten years, Mehmed Kâmil exchanged the service of Abbas I for that of the Ottoman Government as of 1860 and for the ensuing nineteen years – that is to say until he first entered the Cabinet – he filled very numerous administrative appointments in every part of the Empire. He governed, or helped to govern [[Vilayet|vilayets]] such as [[Eastern Rumelia]], [[Hercegovina]], [[Kosovo]], and his native [[Cyprus]].[[File:Kamil Pasha.png|thumb|175px|right|Kâmil Pasha wearing the diplomatic uniform.]]
[[File:Durbar Port Said stopover 1911.jpg|thumb|upright|Kamil Pasha with British, Egyptian and Turkish royalty in 1911]]
[[File:Enver kamil.jpg|thumb|200px|[[Enver Pasha|Enver Bey]] asking Kâmil Pasha to resign during the [[1913 Ottoman coup d'état|raid on the Sublime Porte]].]]Kamil Pasha was appointed Grand Vizier from 25 September 1885 to 4 September 1891, under [[Abdülhamid II|Abdul Hamid II]]'s reign. During this time he developed a rivalry with [[Mehmed Said Pasha]].


His second premiership came about during the height of the [[Armenian Crisis]] during the [[Hamidian massacres]]. On 2 October 1895 he was appointed Grand Vizier in a tense atmosphere. As a neo-[[Tanzimat|Tanzimatist]], Kamil Pasha petitioned the sultan to put responsible governance back in the hands of the [[Sublime Porte]]. He received support from the Great Powers and Young Turk media. Several CUP organs supported Kâmil Pasha in his showdown with the Sultan, but by 7 November, Kâmil Pasha was out of high office, his "coup" ending in ''status quo''. For the next decade, he was exiled as governor of [[Aidin vilayet|Aydın]].
* from 25 September 1885 to 4 September 1891, under [[Abdülhamid II]]'s reign,
* from 2 October 1895 to 7 November 1895, under Abdülhamid II's reign,
* from 5 August 1908 to 14 February 1909, under Abdülhamid II's reign and during the [[Second Constitutional Era in the Ottoman Empire]],
* and from 29 October 1912 to 23 January 1913, under [[Mehmed V]] Reşad's reign and during the Second Constitutional Era of the Ottoman Empire.


When Said Pasha resigned from office soon after the [[Young Turk Revolution]], Abdul Hamid II and the CUP compromised with Kâmil Pasha to run the government. Kâmil soon had an antagonistic relationship with the committee, and associated himself with [[Prince Sabahaddin]]'s [[Liberty Party (Ottoman Empire)|Liberty Party]]. His premiership lasted just over five months, before the CUP censured him with a vote of no confidence, and replaced him with someone more pliant to the committee's wishes.
In May 1913, he returned to his native Cyprus which he had not seen since he had ceased to govern it as far back as 1864.


For three years he stayed out of politics. In 1911 he contracted pneumonia and went to Egypt for a change of atmosphere. There he met with King [[George V]] of England and the queen, who were on a trip to India, for lunch on the ship. This incident caused him to be heavily criticized in the pro-CUP press.<ref name=":1">{{cite book |access-date=24 August 2020 |archive-date=28 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200928152905/https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/kibrisli-kamil-pasa |first1=Atilla |last1=Çetin |title=KIBRISLI KÂMİL PAŞA maddesi |url=https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/kibrisli-kamil-pasa |url-status=live}}<!-- auto-translated from Turkish by Module:CS1 translator --></ref> After a while he returned to Istanbul.
The reason was no happy one. After the [[Young Turk]] Revolution of 1908, Kamil initially had tried to compromise with the new men in power. But soon he decided to oppose the Young Turk Regime and became a figurehead of the so-called "liberal" (merely conservative-traditionalist) opposition. After the overthrow of the Young Turk Regime in summer 1912, he became Grand-Vizier of the then ruling liberals. But he had no time to consolidate power because the Ottoman Empire got involved in the [[First Balkan War]] of 1912/13 and suffered serious military defeat, accompanied by massacres and mass flight of Muslim inhabitants of the contested Balkan provinces. In January 1913, Kamils government decided to accept severe peace conditions including massive territorial losses. The Young Turks in the military forces used that period of ultimate weakness and governmental unpopularity for their second coup d'état.


After the shuttering of parliament in summer 1912 by the [[Savior Officers]], he became head of the [[Council of State (Ottoman Empire)|Council of State]] in [[Muhtar Pasha]]'s Great Cabinet. With his resignation Kâmil returned to the premiership leading a [[Freedom and Accord Party|Freedom and Accord]] government. He was appointed Grand Vizier for his friendly relations with the British (he was often known as ''İngiliz Kamil'', or "English Kamil", for his [[Anglophile|Anglophilia]]<ref name="Finkel2007">{{cite book|last=Finkel|first=Caroline|title=Osman's Dream: The History of the Ottoman Empire|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9cTHyUQoTyUC|date=1 August 2007|publisher=Basic Books|isbn=978-0-465-00850-6|page=523}}</ref>), in the hopes that he would be able to get favorable terms for the end of the ongoing, disastrous [[First Balkan War]] (since the victorious Bulgaria's foreign interests were represented by the British). In January 1913, Kamil's government decided to accept severe peace conditions including massive territorial losses.
On 23 January 1913, [[Enver Pasha]], one of the [[Young Turk]] military leaders, burst with some of his associates into the [[Sublime Porte]] while the Cabinet was actually in session. One of Envers officers, [[Yakup Cemil]], shot the Minister of War [[Nazım Pasha]] and the group pressed Kamil Paşa to resign immediately.


The CUP used this pretext for their [[1913 Ottoman coup d'état|coup d'état]] on 23 January 1913. That day, [[Enver Pasha|Enver Bey]], one of the CUP's military leaders, burst with some of his associates into the Sublime Porte while the cabinet was in session. By most accounts, one of Enver's officers, [[Yakub Cemil|Yakup Cemil]], shot the Minister of War [[Nazım Pasha]] and the group pressed Kamil Pasha to resign immediately at gunpoint.
Kamil was put under house arrest and surveillance. The ex-Grand Vizier (who probably was in danger of life) was invited by his British friend [[Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener|Lord Kitchener]] to stay with him in [[Cairo]]. After three months in Egypt, Mehmed Kamil Pasha decided to wait a favourable turn of fortune in his native Cyprus.


Five weeks after his return to Cyprus the assassination of his Young Turk successor in the Grand Vizierate, [[Mahmud Şevket Pasha]], occurred in June 1913, possibly to avenge the murder of Nazım Pasha. The Young Turk regime reacted with persecution of well-known opoosition politicians. The prominent Old Turks were either expelled or had to flee from Turkey. [[Ahmed Djemal]] Paşa, then Young Turk prefect of the capital Constantinople, indicated to Kamil's family that he had to leave the Ottoman Empire or he would be arrested. His family joined his excile.
Kamil was put under house arrest and surveillance. The ex-Grand Vizier (who probably was in danger of life) was invited by his British friend [[Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener|Lord Kitchener]] to stay with him in [[Cairo]]. After three months in Egypt, Mehmed Kamil Pasha decided to wait for favourable turn of events in his native Cyprus, now under British occupation. Five weeks after his return to Cyprus, the assassination of his successor to the premiership, [[Mahmud Shevket Pasha]], occurred in June 1913, by a relative of Nazım Pasha to avenge his death. The CUP regime reacted with persecution of well-known opposition politicians. [[Djemal Pasha]], then the CUP prefect of the capital Constantinople, indicated to Kamil's family that they had to leave the Ottoman Empire or he too would be arrested. His family joined his exile in Cyprus.


On 14 November 1913, while full of plans for revisiting England in 1914, Mehmed Kamil Paşa suddenly died of [[Syncope (medicine)|syncope]] and was buried in the court of [[Arab Ahmed Pasha]] Mosque.
On 14 November 1913, while full of plans for revisiting England in 1914, Kamil Pasha suddenly died of [[Syncope (medicine)|syncope]] and was buried in the court of the [[Arab Ahmet Mosque]].


== Family ==
[[Sir Ronald Storrs]], British Governor of Cyprus from 1926 to 1932, caused a memorial to be raised over Mehmed Kamil Pasha's grave. He also composed the English inscription, carved on the headstone below a Turkish one in old lettering. It runs as follows:
Kamil married Layika (Bayur) and had several children. His grandson is [[Hikmet Bayur]] and his grand nephew is film maker [[Zeki Alasya]]. His son-in-law is general [[Naci Eldeniz]]. [[Tekin Arıburun]], president of the Turkish Senate from 1970–1977, is his grandson-in-law.

== Legacy ==
[[Sir Ronald Storrs]], British Governor of Cyprus from 1926 to 1932, erected a memorial to be raised over Kamil Pasha's grave. He also composed the English inscription, carved on the headstone below a Turkish one. It runs as follows:


''His Highness Kiamil Pasha'' <br />
''His Highness Kiamil Pasha'' <br />
Line 41: Line 92:


==See also==
==See also==
* [[List of Ottoman Grand Viziers]]
* [[List of Ottoman grand viziers]]


==Sources==
==Sources==
{{refbegin}}
<div class="references-small"><references />
* [http://bornova.ege.edu.tr/~ncyprus/kamil.html Cyprus by Sir Harry Luke for a short biography of Kamil Pasha and a moving account of his funeral]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050305191533/http://bornova.ege.edu.tr/~ncyprus/kamil.html Cyprus by Sir Harry Luke for a short biography of Kamil Pasha and a moving account of his funeral]
{{refend}}
</div>
{{reflist}}


==External links==
{{start box}}
* {{PM20|FID=pe/009502}}
{{succession box|title=[[Grand Vizier]]|before=[[Küçük Mehmed Said Pasha]]|after=[[Ahmed Cevad Pasha]]|years=1885&ndash;1891}}
{{succession box|title=[[Grand Vizier]]|before=[[Küçük Mehmed Said Pasha]]|after=[[Halil Rifat Pasha]]|years=1895}}
{{succession box|title=[[Grand Vizier]]|before=[[Küçük Mehmed Said Pasha]]|after=[[Hüseyin Hilmi Pasha]]|years=1908&ndash;1909}}
{{succession box|title=[[Grand Vizier]]|before=[[Gazi Ahmed Muhtar Pasha]]|after=[[Mahmud Şevket Pasha]]|years=1912&ndash;1913}}
{{end box}}


{{S-start}}
{{Grand Viziers of_Ottoman_Empire}}

{{s-gov}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Kartallı Mehmed Emin Pasha]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=Vali of Aleppo
|years=1877&ndash;1879}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Abdullah Galib Pasha]]}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Hasan Fehmi Pasha]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=Vali of Aidin
|years=1895&ndash;1907}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Ibrahim Faik Bey]]}}
{{s-off}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Abdüllatif Subhi Pasha]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=Minister of Religious Endowments
|years=1880}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Mehmed Nazif Pasha]]}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Mehmed Tahir Münif Efendi]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=Minister of Education
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{{s-aft|after=[[Ali Fuad Bey]]}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Mehmed Asim Pasha]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=Minister of Religious Endowments
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{{s-ttl|title=[[Grand Vizier]]
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{{s-aft|after=[[Ahmed Cevad Pasha]]}}
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{{s-ttl|title=Chairman of the Council of State
|years=1912}}
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{{s-ttl|title=[[Grand Vizier]]
|years=1912&ndash;1913}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Mahmud Şevket Pasha]]}}
{{s-ref|{{cite book|last1=Kuneralp|first1=Sinan|title=Son dönem Osmanlı erkân ve ricali, 1839–1922|date=1999|publisher=İsis|location=Beylerbeyi, Istanbul|language=Turkish}}}} <!-- This template has {{s-end}} embedded into it.-->

{{Grand Viziers of Ottoman Empire}}
{{Governors of the Aidin Vilayet}}

{{Authority control}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Pasha, Kibrisli Mehmed Kamil}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pasha, Kibrisli Mehmed Kamil}}
[[Category:1833 births|Kibrisli Mehmed Kamil Pasa]]
[[Category:1833 births|Kibrisli Mehmed Kamil Pasa]]
[[Category:1913 deaths|Kibrisli Mehmed Kamil Pasa]]
[[Category:1913 deaths|Kibrisli Mehmed Kamil Pasa]]

[[Category:People from Nicosia|Kibrisli Mehmed Kamil Pasha]]
[[Category:People from Nicosia|Kibrisli Mehmed Kamil Pasha]]
[[Category:Turkish Cypriots|Kibrisli Mehmed Kamil Pasha]]
[[Category:Turks from the Ottoman Empire]]
[[Category:Pashas|Kibrisli Mehmed Kamil Pasha]]
[[Category:20th-century Ottoman grand viziers|Kibrisli Mehmed Kamil Pasa]]
[[Category:19th-century Ottoman grand viziers]]


[[de:Kıbrıslı Mehmed Kâmil Paşa]]
[[Category:Pashas|Kibrisli Mehmed Kamil Pasha]]
[[Category:20th-century Grand Viziers of the Ottoman Empire|Kibrisli Mehmed Kamil Pasa]]
[[ru:Мехмед Камиль-паша]]
[[Category:19th-century Grand Viziers of the Ottoman Empire]]
[[tr:Kıbrıslı Mehmed Kâmil Paşa]]
[[Category:Ottoman people of the Balkan Wars]]
[[Category:Ottoman governors of Aidin]]
[[Category:Ottoman governors of Cyprus]]

Latest revision as of 01:02, 1 November 2024

In this Ottoman Turkish style name, the given name is Mehmed Kâmil, the title is Pasha, and there is no family name.

Kıbrıslı
Mehmed Kâmil
Pasha
محمد كامل پاشا
Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire
In office
25 September 1885 – 4 September 1891
MonarchAbdul Hamid II
Preceded byMehmed Said Pasha
Succeeded byAhmed Cevad Pasha
In office
2 October 1895 – 7 November 1895
MonarchAbdul Hamid II
Preceded byMehmed Said Pasha
Succeeded byHalil Rifat Pasha
In office
5 August 1908 – 14 February 1909
MonarchAbdul Hamid II
Preceded byMehmed Said Pasha
Succeeded byHüseyin Hilmi Pasha
In office
29 October 1912 – 23 January 1913
MonarchMehmed V
Preceded byAhmed Muhtar Pasha
Succeeded byMahmud Shevket Pasha
Personal details
Born1833
Nicosia, Cyprus Sanjak, Ottoman Empire
Died14 November 1913 (aged 80)
Nicosia, British Cyprus
NationalityOttoman
Political partyFreedom and Accord Party

Mehmed Kâmil Pasha (Ottoman Turkish: محمد كامل پاشا; Turkish: Kıbrıslı Mehmet Kâmil Paşa, "Mehmed Kamil Pasha the Cypriot"), also spelled as Kamil Pasha (1833 – 14 November 1913), was an Ottoman statesman and liberal politician[1] of Turkish Cypriot origin in the late-19th-century and early-20th-century. He was the Grand Vizier of the Empire during four different periods.[2]

Early life

[edit]
Kâmil Pasha, 1860s

Mehmed Kâmil Pasha was born in Nicosia, Ottoman Cyprus in 1833. He was the son of an artillery captain, Salih Agha, from the village of Pyrogi. His paternal grandfather is from Karakese village of Anamur. Kâmil's mother is Pembe Hanım, who also hailed from Cyprus.[3]

He was educated in on the island until the age of thirteen; He learned Arabic, Persian, French and Greek. In 1845, he was taken to Egypt with his younger brother and studied at Elsine Madrasa. Shortly after, when the madrasah was converted into a military academy, he took courses on military sciences. He graduated as a cavalry lieutenant.

His first post was in the household of the Khedive of Egypt, Abbas I, at that time was only nominally dependent to the central Ottoman power in Constantinople. In the course of this appointment he visited London for the Great Exhibition of 1851 in charge of one of the Khedive's sons. Kamil's sojourn in London left in him a lifelong admiration for Britain and during his career within the Ottoman state, he was always known to be an Anglophile.

Having full command of English, thenceforth to the close of his career he zealously sought a close friendship between the United Kingdom and the Ottoman Empire.

High politics in the Ottoman Empire

[edit]

After remaining in Egypt for ten years, Mehmed Kâmil exchanged the service of Abbas I for that of the Ottoman Government as of 1860 and for the ensuing nineteen years – that is to say until he first entered the Cabinet – he filled very numerous administrative appointments in every part of the Empire. He governed, or helped to govern vilayets such as Eastern Rumelia, Hercegovina, Kosovo, and his native Cyprus.

Kâmil Pasha wearing the diplomatic uniform.
Kamil Pasha with British, Egyptian and Turkish royalty in 1911
Enver Bey asking Kâmil Pasha to resign during the raid on the Sublime Porte.

Kamil Pasha was appointed Grand Vizier from 25 September 1885 to 4 September 1891, under Abdul Hamid II's reign. During this time he developed a rivalry with Mehmed Said Pasha.

His second premiership came about during the height of the Armenian Crisis during the Hamidian massacres. On 2 October 1895 he was appointed Grand Vizier in a tense atmosphere. As a neo-Tanzimatist, Kamil Pasha petitioned the sultan to put responsible governance back in the hands of the Sublime Porte. He received support from the Great Powers and Young Turk media. Several CUP organs supported Kâmil Pasha in his showdown with the Sultan, but by 7 November, Kâmil Pasha was out of high office, his "coup" ending in status quo. For the next decade, he was exiled as governor of Aydın.

When Said Pasha resigned from office soon after the Young Turk Revolution, Abdul Hamid II and the CUP compromised with Kâmil Pasha to run the government. Kâmil soon had an antagonistic relationship with the committee, and associated himself with Prince Sabahaddin's Liberty Party. His premiership lasted just over five months, before the CUP censured him with a vote of no confidence, and replaced him with someone more pliant to the committee's wishes.

For three years he stayed out of politics. In 1911 he contracted pneumonia and went to Egypt for a change of atmosphere. There he met with King George V of England and the queen, who were on a trip to India, for lunch on the ship. This incident caused him to be heavily criticized in the pro-CUP press.[4] After a while he returned to Istanbul.

After the shuttering of parliament in summer 1912 by the Savior Officers, he became head of the Council of State in Muhtar Pasha's Great Cabinet. With his resignation Kâmil returned to the premiership leading a Freedom and Accord government. He was appointed Grand Vizier for his friendly relations with the British (he was often known as İngiliz Kamil, or "English Kamil", for his Anglophilia[5]), in the hopes that he would be able to get favorable terms for the end of the ongoing, disastrous First Balkan War (since the victorious Bulgaria's foreign interests were represented by the British). In January 1913, Kamil's government decided to accept severe peace conditions including massive territorial losses.

The CUP used this pretext for their coup d'état on 23 January 1913. That day, Enver Bey, one of the CUP's military leaders, burst with some of his associates into the Sublime Porte while the cabinet was in session. By most accounts, one of Enver's officers, Yakup Cemil, shot the Minister of War Nazım Pasha and the group pressed Kamil Pasha to resign immediately at gunpoint.

Kamil was put under house arrest and surveillance. The ex-Grand Vizier (who probably was in danger of life) was invited by his British friend Lord Kitchener to stay with him in Cairo. After three months in Egypt, Mehmed Kamil Pasha decided to wait for favourable turn of events in his native Cyprus, now under British occupation. Five weeks after his return to Cyprus, the assassination of his successor to the premiership, Mahmud Shevket Pasha, occurred in June 1913, by a relative of Nazım Pasha to avenge his death. The CUP regime reacted with persecution of well-known opposition politicians. Djemal Pasha, then the CUP prefect of the capital Constantinople, indicated to Kamil's family that they had to leave the Ottoman Empire or he too would be arrested. His family joined his exile in Cyprus.

On 14 November 1913, while full of plans for revisiting England in 1914, Kamil Pasha suddenly died of syncope and was buried in the court of the Arab Ahmet Mosque.

Family

[edit]

Kamil married Layika (Bayur) and had several children. His grandson is Hikmet Bayur and his grand nephew is film maker Zeki Alasya. His son-in-law is general Naci Eldeniz. Tekin Arıburun, president of the Turkish Senate from 1970–1977, is his grandson-in-law.

Legacy

[edit]

Sir Ronald Storrs, British Governor of Cyprus from 1926 to 1932, erected a memorial to be raised over Kamil Pasha's grave. He also composed the English inscription, carved on the headstone below a Turkish one. It runs as follows:

His Highness Kiamil Pasha
Son of Captain Salih Agha of Pyroi
Born in Nicosia in 1833
Treasury Clerk
Commissioner of Larnaca
Director of Evqaf
Four times Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire
A Great Turk and
A Great Man.

See also

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Sources

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  1. ^ "Arabs and Young Turks".
  2. ^ İsmail Hâmi Danişmend, Osmanlı Devlet Erkânı, Türkiye Yayınevi, İstanbul, 1971 (Turkish)
  3. ^ Şen, İsmail (1995). "Sadrazam Kıbrıslı Mehmed Kamil Paşa: 1832-1913". Ankara Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü doktora tezi. Archived from the original on 1 January 2023.
  4. ^ Çetin, Atilla. KIBRISLI KÂMİL PAŞA maddesi. Archived from the original on 28 September 2020. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
  5. ^ Finkel, Caroline (1 August 2007). Osman's Dream: The History of the Ottoman Empire. Basic Books. p. 523. ISBN 978-0-465-00850-6.
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Government offices
Preceded by Vali of Aleppo
1877–1879 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Vali of Aidin
1895–1907 		Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by Minister of Religious Endowments
1880 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Minister of Education
1880–1881 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Minister of Religious Endowments
1882–1885 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Grand Vizier
1885–1891 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Grand Vizier
1895 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Grand Vizier
1908–1909 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Chairman of the Council of State
1912 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Grand Vizier
1912–1913 		Succeeded by
Notes and references
1. Kuneralp, Sinan (1999). Son dönem Osmanlı erkân ve ricali, 1839–1922 (in Turkish). Beylerbeyi, Istanbul: İsis.
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