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155-685: Between 1920 and 1922, a clandestine cell of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation carried out seven killings, the best-known being the assassination of Talaat Pasha , the main orchestrator of the Armenian genocide, by Armenian Soghomon Tehlirian in March 1921 in Berlin . The Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) was active within the Ottoman Empire in the early 1890s with the aim of unifying

310-411: A constitution and held elections for a parliament . However, with the unsuccessful war with Russia which ended in 1878, he suspended enforcement of the constitution and prorogued parliament. After further consolidating his rule he governed as an absolutist monarch for the next three decades. This left a very small group of individuals able to partake in politics in the Ottoman Empire. Countering

465-533: A "black list" was created, containing the names of 200 persons deemed most responsible for organising the genocide. The revenge carried out during this operation took place on two levels; firstly, it was about avenging the genocide by executing the key perpetrators, but it was also about the ARF seeking revenge against the Young Turks , with whom they had been allies and in good terms until they took power. For many leaders of

620-573: A city which had 20,000 Armenian residents before World War I and none afterwards. Tehlirian was in Serbia when war broke out. After hearing about anti-Armenian atrocities, he joined the Armenian volunteer units of the Russian army ; as they advanced west, they found the aftermath of the genocide. Realizing his family had been killed, he vowed to take revenge. His memoirs list 85 family members who perished in

775-456: A connection between Tehlirian and Talaat through Tehlirian's mother by proving that Talaat caused her death. Along with the enormity of Talaat's crimes, the defense argument rested on Tehlirian's traumatized mental state, which could make him not liable for his actions according to the German law of temporary insanity , section 51 of the penal code . In contrast, the German prosecution's main goal

930-577: A consolidation of itself in order to define its ideology. Those intellectual Unionists that spent years in exile, such as Ahmed Rıza, would be sidelined in favor of the new professional organizers, Mehmed Talât , Doctor Nazım , and Bahaeddin Şakir . The organization's home being Rumeli, delegations were sent to local chapters in Asia and Tripolitania to more firmly attach them to the organizations new headquarters in Salonica . The CUP would dominate Ottoman politics for

1085-465: A final embrace of love between the simple peoples of Turkey before they should be led to exterminate each other for the political advantage of foreign powers or their own leaders Halide Edip Two European powers took advantage of the chaos by decreasing Ottoman sovereignty in the Balkans. Bulgaria , de jure an Ottoman vassal but de facto all but formally independent, declared its independence on

1240-424: A general deportation order was given, and armed gendarmes forced Armenians in the city to abandon their homes and leave their property behind. As soon as they left the city, the gendarmes began to shoot the victims and loot their valuables. Tehlirian said, "one of the gendarmes carried off my sister," but did not continue, stating, "I would rather die now than to speak about this dark day again." After prodding from

1395-618: A government, they imposed their ideas on the Ottoman Empire. The CUP had Said Pasha removed from the premiership in less than two weeks for Kâmil Pasha . His quest to revive the Sublime Porte of the Tanzimat proved fruitless when CUP soon censored him with a no-confidence vote in parliament, thus he was replaced by Hüseyin Hilmi Pasha who was more in-line with the committee's ways. Abdul Hamid maintained his throne by conceding its existence as

1550-654: A hotel in Alexanderplatz and a sanatorium in Neubabelsberg , Potsdam , before moving into a nine-room apartment at Hardenbergstraße  [ de ]  4, at today's Ernst-Reuter-Platz . Next to his apartment, he founded the Oriental Club where Muslims and Europeans opposed to the Entente would gather. The Foreign Office monitored the goings-on at this apartment using the former Constantinople correspondent for

1705-544: A month thereafter, and Tehlirian's exploit continued to be brought up in political debate until the Nazi seizure of power in 1933. Following the trial, German newspapers across the political spectrum accepted the reality of genocide. Most newspapers quoted Lepsius's and Tehlirian's testimonies extensively. German reactions to the acquittal were mixed, being generally favorable among those who were sympathetic to Armenians or universal human rights . Journalist Emil Ludwig , writing in

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1860-509: A more humanitarian act than that which has been described in this courtroom?" Along with arguing that Tehlirian's act was compulsively committed, the defense maintained that it was also just. Both the prosecution and the defense stressed the difference between German and Turkish behavior during the genocide. Werthauer argued Talaat had been living in Berlin without the knowledge of the German government. Niemeyer said exoneration "would put an end to

2015-580: A new found faith in Ottomanism was found in the various millets . Violence in Macedonia ceased as rebels turned in their arms and celebrated with citizens. An area from Scutari to Basra was now acquainted with political parties, nationalist clubs, elections, constitutional rights, and civil rights. The revolution and CUP's work greatly impacted Muslims in other countries. The Persian community in Istanbul founded

2170-686: A protest to this "cleansing" by the Bureau, some members of the ARF French Central Committee also resigned. On 31 May 1926, the Turkish government passed Law Number 882, which assigned property to the relatives of Ottoman leaders assassinated for their role in the Armenian genocide. This law covered the families of important CUP members such as Talaat Pasha, Ahmet Cemal Pasha , Said Halim Pasha , and Behaeddin Shakir , amongst others. The regulations within

2325-636: A rebellion of Russian Armenians against the Russian Army in the event of a Caucasus Campaign opening up. The Armenians agreed to remain loyal to their government, but declared their inability to agree to the other proposal. Prominent ARF members were among the Armenian intellectuals targeted on April 24, 1915 in Constantinople . The arrested people were moved to two holding centers near Ankara under Interior Minister Mehmed Talat 's order on April 24, 1915 , and mostly deported and killed. In 1919, after

2480-652: A relationship with the Bashkimi Society . The CUP always held a close relationship with the non-Muslim groups of the Vlachs , their Christianity being an important propaganda asset, and the Jews . According to Ismail Enver the CUP set the date for their revolution to be sometime in August 1908, though a spontaneous one happened before August anyway. The event that triggered the revolution

2635-623: A representative of the Turkish nationalist movement abroad. Using a false passport under the name Ali Saly Bey, he traveled freely throughout continental Europe despite being wanted by the United Kingdom and the Ottoman Empire for his crimes. Many German newspapers suspected his presence in Berlin, and he spoke at the press conference after the Kapp Putsch , a failed attempt to overthrow the German government in March 1920. Many Germans, but especially

2790-615: A symbolic position, but in April 1909 attempted to seize power (see 31 March Incident ) by stirring populist sentiment throughout the Empire. The Sultan's bid for a return to power gained traction when he promised to restore the caliphate , eliminate secular policies, and restore the Sharia -based legal system. On 13 April 1909, army units revolted, joined by masses of theological students and turbaned clerics shouting, "We want Sharia", and moving to restore

2945-399: A trip to Rome. Vahan Zakariants , posing as a man looking for lodging, investigated and was able to discover that Talaat was living at Hardenbergstraße 4. To confirm the identification, Tehlirian rented a pension across the street at Hardenbergstraße 37, where he could observe people coming and going from Talaat's apartment. His orders from Natalie stated, "You blow up the skull of

3100-423: Is just and godly". There was deep dissent on both sides, but not yet to the point of separation. To forestall the probable victory of these "freedom fighters" at the upcoming 11th General Congress of the ARF (27 March to 2 May 1929), on the eve of the meeting, the Bureau began a "cleansing campaign". The first to be "removed" from the party was Bureau member Shahan Natalie. "Knowingly" (by his definition) having joined

3255-679: The Frankfurter Zeitung , Paul Weitz  [ de ] . A decree of the Social Democratic Party of Germany 's (SPD) chancellor Friedrich Ebert legalized Talaat's residence. In 1920, Talaat's wife Hayriye joined him. The German government had intelligence that Talaat's name was first on an Armenian hit list and suggested he should stay at a secluded estate belonging to former Ottoman chief of staff Fritz Bronsart von Schellendorf in Mecklenburg . Talaat refused because he needed

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3410-472: The Philadelphia Public Ledger , among many others, requested press passes. According to historian Stefan Ihrig , it "was one of the most spectacular trials of the twentieth century". The defense strategy was to put Talaat Pasha on trial for the murder of Tehlirian's family members and the other one million Armenians whose deaths he had ordered. Natalie saw it as an opportunity to propagandize

3565-474: The Adana massacre . Only then did the judge read out the charges of premeditated murder. Asked if he was guilty, Tehlirian said "no", despite having initially admitted to having carried out the assassination. He explained, "I do not consider myself guilty because my conscience was clear   ... I have killed a man, but I am not a murderer." Tehlirian denied having a plan to kill Talaat, but said that two weeks before

3720-576: The Armenian National Council , a group of professionals based in Tiflis , declared the independence of the First Republic of Armenia . Hovhannes Kachaznuni and Alexander Khatisyan , both members of the ARF, moved to Yerevan to seize power and issued the official announcement of Armenian independence on May 30, 1918. Yerevan became the capital city of Armenia. At this city, from September 27 to

3875-625: The Armistice of Mudros , Turkish courts-martial were convened in Constantinople, during which some of the principal perpetrators of the Armenian genocide were convicted and sentenced to death. The UK seized some of the perpetrators from the Ottoman authorities in several of Istanbul's prisons, after their incompetency in failing to hold fair trials, and transported them to the British colony of Malta . There,

4030-836: The Constitution , recall the parliament , and schedule an election . Thus began the Second Constitutional Era . The revolution took place in Ottoman Rumeli in the context of the Macedonian Struggle and the increasing instability of the Hamidian regime. It began with CUP member Ahmed Niyazi 's flight into the Albanian highlands. He was soon joined by İsmail Enver , Eyub Sabri , and other Unionist officers. They networked with local Albanians and utilized their connections within

4185-526: The Goudi Coup , bringing Eleftherios Venizelos to power. In the 2010 alternate history novel Behemoth by Scott Westerfeld , the Young Turk Revolution in 1908 fails, igniting a new revolution at the start of World War I. Historian Ronald Grigor Suny states that the revolution had no popular support and was actually "a coup d'état by a small group of military officers and civilian activists in

4340-631: The Ilinden–Preobrazhenie Uprising in 1903, the Ottoman Empire capitulated to international pressure to implement reforms in Macedonia under Great Power supervision, offending Muslims living in Macedonia and especially army officers. In 1905, another intervention by the Great Powers for reform in Macedonia was greeted with dread amongst the Muslim population. Throughout this period, the Ottoman Empire's weak economy and Abdul Hamid's distrust of

4495-558: The Iranian Union and Progress Committee . The leaders of the Young Bukhara movement were deeply influenced by the Young Turk Revolution and saw it as an example to emulate. Indian Muslims imitated the CUP oath administered to recruits of the organization. Discontent in the Greek military saw a secret revolutionary organization explicitly modeled from the CUP which overthrew the government in

4650-776: The Jewish Social Democratic Labour Party in Palestine (Poale Zion) , Al-Fatat , and Armenians organized under the Armenakan , the Hunchaks and the Dashnaks . The 1908 Ottoman general election took place during November and December 1908. Due to its leading role in the revolution, the CUP won almost every seat in the Chamber of Deputies . The large parliamentary group and the then lax laws on party affiliation eventually whittled

4805-472: The Malta exiles (so-called by Turkish sources) were, after Mustafa Kemal Atatürk 's incarceration of Lord Curzon 's relative, exchanged for British subjects detained by the Turkish government of Atatürk. Since there were no international laws in place under which they could be tried, the men who orchestrated the genocide travelled relatively freely throughout Germany , Italy , and Central Asia . On May 28, 1918,

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4960-548: The Republic of Armenia . Tehlirian attended these meetings even after falling ill with typhoid in mid-December. He was so ill that he collapsed while tracking Şakir and had to rest for a week. The Dashnak Central Committee ordered them to focus on Talaat to the exclusion of other perpetrators. At the end of February, the conspirators located Talaat after spotting him leaving from Berlin Zoologischer Garten railway station on

5115-433: The Salonica based Third Army to instigate a large revolt. A string of assassinations by Unionist Fedai also contributed to Abdul Hamid's capitulation. Though the constitutional regime established after the revolution eventually succumbed to Unionist dictatorship by 1913, the Ottoman sultanate ceased to be the base of power of the empire after 1908. Immediately after the revolution, Bulgaria declared independence from

5270-579: The Serbian Chetniks , but did reach out to the Greek bands for support. Using more sticks than carrots, the CUP walked away with a tenuous declaration of neutrality from the Greeks. The most resources were invested in attaining Albanian support. Albanian feudal lords and notables enjoyed CUP patronage. While the Unionists were less successful in recruiting bourgeois nationalists to their cause they did cultivate

5425-549: The Syrian Desert in 1915, to wipe them out. Of 40,000 Armenians deported from Erzurum , it is estimated that fewer than 200 reached Deir ez-Zor . When more Armenians survived than Talaat had intended, he ordered a second wave of massacres in 1916. Talaat estimated that around 1,150,000 Armenians disappeared during the genocide. In 1918, Talaat told journalist Muhittin Birgen  [ tr ] , "I assume full responsibility for

5580-572: The Third Army based in Salonika were motivated by the fear of a partition of Ottoman Macedonia. A desire to preserve the state, not destroy it, motivated the revolutionaries. Following the 1902 Congress of Ottoman Opposition, Ahmed Rıza's Unionists abandoned political evolution and formed a coalition with the Activists, which were political revolutionaries. With the fall of Prince Sabahaddin, Rıza's coalition

5735-482: The imam of the Turkish embassy, Shükri Bey, were held at Talaat's apartment. Afterwards, a large procession accompanied the coffin to Matthäus, where he was interred. Many prominent Germans paid their respects, including former foreign ministers Richard von Kühlmann and Arthur Zimmermann , along with the former head of Deutsche Bank , the ex-director of the Baghdad railway , several military personnel who had served in

5890-460: The 5th of October. The day after, Austria-Hungary officially annexed Bosnia and Herzegovina which used to be de jure Ottoman territory but de facto occupied by Austria-Hungary. The fall of Abdul Hamid II foiled the rapprochement between Serbia and Montenegro and the Ottoman Empire which set the stage for their alliance with Bulgaria and Greece in the Balkan Wars . Following the revolution

6045-454: The ARF and unjustly separated from it, Shahan Natalie wrote about this: "With Shahan began again that which had begun with Antranig ; Bureau member, Shahan, was 'ousted'." After Shahan were successively ousted Haig Kntouni, Glejian, and Tartizian with their partisans, General Smbad, Ferrahian with his group, future "Mardgots" (Bastion)-ists Mgrdich Yeretziants, Levon Mozian, Vazgen Shoushanian, Mesrob Kouyoumjian, Levon Kevonian and many others. As

6200-488: The ARF, the genocide was perceived as a betrayal by the Young Turks, whom they had shared struggles with and even supported during the 1908 Revolution . Thus, it was also a cathartic operation for the ARF, who wanted to "atone for their mistakes" and the error of supporting the Young Turks against Abdul Hamid II . The leader of the group responsible for the task was Shahan Natalie , working with Grigor Merjanov. For Natalie,

6355-439: The Armenian cause. He believed that Tehlirian would likely be convicted according to German law but hoped to secure a pardon . Werthauer was more optimistic, announcing days after the assassination his certainty of achieving his client's acquittal. The Protestant missionary and activist Johannes Lepsius , who had spoken out against the killing of Armenians since 1896 , worked on presenting the case against Talaat. Their strategy

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6510-528: The Armenian genocide. Levon Eftian told the court that his family was in Erzurum during the genocide and both his parents were killed, but other relatives managed to flee. Tehlirian's interpreter, Zakariants, also testified later that day, saying that he lost his father, mother, grandfather, brother, and uncle during the 1890s Hamidian massacres. Mr. Terzibashian, an Armenian tobacconist in Berlin, testified that all his friends and relatives who had been in Erzurum during

6665-449: The Armenian genocide; Tehlirian's acquittal brought mostly favorable reactions. Both Talaat and Tehlirian are considered by their respective sides to be heroes; historian Alp Yenen refers to this relationship as the "Talat–Tehlirian complex". Talaat was buried in Germany, but Turkey repatriated his remains in 1943 and gave him a state funeral . Polish-Jewish lawyer Raphael Lemkin read about

6820-594: The Armenian population of the Empire" by the Ottoman Special Military Tribunal on 5 July 1919. After it became clear that no one else would bring the perpetrators of the genocide to justice, the Dashnaktsutyun , an Armenian political party, set up the secret Operation Nemesis , headed by Armen Garo , Shahan Natalie , and Aaron Sachaklian . The conspirators drew up a list of 100 genocide perpetrators to target for assassination; Talaat headed

6975-420: The Armenian victims of genocide and the value of law and order . The New York Times noted the jury faced a dilemma; by acquitting, they would condemn the Armenian atrocities, but also sanction extralegal killing: "This dilemma cannot be escaped: all assassins should be punished; this assassin should not be punished. And there you are!" Overall, reactions to the acquittal were favorable. The assassination made

7130-514: The CUP. In the CUP's December 1907 Congress, Rıza, Sabahaddin, and Khachatur Malumian of the Dashnak Committee pledged to overthrow the regime by all means necessary. In practice, this was a tactile alliance between the CUP and Dashnaks which was unpopular in both camps, and the Dashnaks did not play a significant role in the coming revolution. In the lead up to the revolution the CUP courted

7285-636: The Empire) and Afghanistan . It was rumored that in this latest meeting another reform package would be imposed on the Ottoman Empire which would formally partition Macedonia. With the newspaper reports of the meeting, the CUP's Monastir ( Bitola ) branch decided to act. A memorandum was drawn up by Unionists that was distributed to the European consuls which rejected foreign intervention and nationalist activism. They also called for constitutional government and equality amongst Ottoman citizens. With no action taken by

7440-489: The Empire, with attendants shouting Egalité! Liberté! Justice! Fraternité! Vive la constitution! and Padişahım çok yaşa! (Long live my emperor). Armed bands of Serbian, Bulgarian, and Greek chetas , one time enemies of each other and the government, took part in celebrations before ceremoniously turning in their firearms to the government. Niyazi, Enver, and the other Unionist revolutionaries were celebrated as "heroes of liberty", and Ahmed Rıza, returning from his exile

7595-507: The Empire. Most of the Young Turks were exiled intelligentsia, however by 1906–1908 many officers and bureaucrats in the Balkans were inducted into the Committee of Union and Progress , the preeminent Young Turk organization. While the Young Turks were in consensus that some reform was necessary for Ottomanism , the idea of national unity among the ethnic groups of the Ottoman Empire, they disagreed how far reform should go. The anti-Hamidians in

7750-563: The Great Powers or the government, the revolt began in earnest in the first week of July 1908. On July 3 Major Ahmed Niyazi began the revolution by raiding the Resne ( Resen ) garrison cache of money, arms, and ammunition and assembled a force of 160 volunteers to the mountains surrounding the city. From there he visited many villages around the predominantly Muslim Albanian area to recruit for his band and warn of impending European intervention and Christian supremacy in Macedonia. Niyazi would highlight

7905-566: The Hamidian system. The Dashnaks , previously leading a guerilla resistance in the Eastern Anatolian countryside, became the main representatives of the Armenian community in the Ottoman Empire, replacing the urban centered pre-1908 Armenian amira class, which had been composed of merchants, artisans, and clerics. The Armenian National Assembly used the moment to oust Patriarch Malachia Ormanian for Matthew II Izmirlian . This served to elevate younger Armenian nationalists, overthrowing

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8060-440: The Number 1 nation-murderer and you don't try to flee. You stand there, your foot on the corpse and surrender to the police, who will come and handcuff you." On a rainy Tuesday (15 March 1921) around 10:45 a.m., Talaat left his apartment intending to purchase a pair of gloves. Tehlirian approached him from the opposite direction, recognized him, crossed the street, closed in from behind, and shot him at close range in

8215-542: The Ottoman Empire and Austria-Hungary's annexation of nominal Ottoman territory sparked the Bosnian Crisis . After an attempted monarchist counterrevolution known as the 31 March incident in favor of Abdul Hamid the following year, he was deposed and his half-brother Mehmed V ascended the throne. Sultan Abdul Hamid II was brought to the throne in August 1876 after a series of palace coups by constitutionalist ministers overthrew first his uncle Abdul Aziz , and then his half-brother Murad V . Under duress, he promulgated

8370-408: The Ottoman Empire during the war and August von Platen-Hallermünde, attending on behalf of the exiled Kaiser Wilhelm II . The German foreign office sent a wreath with a ribbon saying, "To a great statesman and a faithful friend." Şakir, barely able to maintain his composure, read a funeral oration while the coffin was lowered into the grave, covered in an Ottoman flag . He asserted the assassination

8525-400: The Ottoman Empire had nothing to do with the assassination and tried to avoid the presentation of evidence on the genocide. Once the evidence was presented, he denied Talaat played a role in the Armenian atrocities and was ultimately obliged to justify the orders that Talaat sent. Before the trial, Hans Humann , who controlled the anti-Armenian Deutsche Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper, lobbied

8680-467: The Ottoman Empire in the back. Germany's inaction led to accusations that it was responsible for the genocide , which became entangled with the debate over Germany's responsibility for the war . After the Armistice of Mudros (30 October 1918), following elaborate preparations, Talaat fled Constantinople on a German torpedo boat with other CUP leaders— Enver Pasha , Djemal Pasha , Bahaeddin Şakir , Nazım Bey , Osman Bedri , and Cemal Azmi —on

8835-415: The Ottoman Empire that joined the CUP were conservative liberal, imperialist, technocratists. To what extent they could have achieved praxis was dubious, as Ahmet Rıza , the exiled CUP leader, initially denounced revolution. Some Young Turks wished for a federation of nations under an Ottoman monarch, as exemplified in Prince Sabahaddin 's movement, though after his failed coup attempt in 1903 his faction

8990-439: The Ottoman Empire. Ambassador Hans von Wangenheim approved limited removals of Armenian populations from sensitive areas. German representatives issued occasional diplomatic protests when the Ottomans went far beyond this in an attempt to contain the reputational damage from their allies' actions. Germany censored information about the genocide and undertook propaganda campaigns denying it and accusing Armenians of stabbing

9145-445: The Ottoman government in Constantinople nor the Turkish nationalist movement in Ankara wanted the body; it would be a political liability to associate themselves with the man considered the worst criminal of World War I. Invitations from Hayriye and the Oriental Club were sent to Talaat's funeral, and on 19 March, he was buried in the Alter St.-Matthäus-Kirchhof in a well-attended ceremony. At 11:00 a.m., prayers led by

9300-452: The Ottoman military, but the terrible conditions of their service deeply affected morale for the worse. Mektebli officers, graduates of the modern military schools, were bottlenecked for promotion, as senior alaylı officers didn't trust their loyalties. Those stationed in Macedonia were outraged against the sultan, and believed the only way to save Ottoman presence in the region to join revolutionary secret societies. Many Unionist officers of

9455-494: The Soviets in 1922) and Abdülhalik Renda (future acting President of Turkey) who died in 1957. Assassinations performed under Operation Nemesis include: On April 25, 2023 a monument was unveiled in Yerevan dedicated to the Armenians who participated in Operation Nemesis. The Foreign Ministries of Turkey and Azerbaijan immediately condemned it. On May 3, 2023, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu announced that Turkey had closed its airspace to Armenian airlines in response to

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9610-405: The Sultan's absolute power. The CUP once again assembled a force in Macedonia to march on the capital and restored parliamentary rule after crushing the uprising on 24 April 1909. The deposition of Abdul Hamid II in favor of Mehmed V followed, and the palace ceased to be a significant player in Ottoman politics. These developments caused the gradual creation of a new governing elite. No longer

9765-419: The Turkish nationalist movement invaded Armenia . Tehlirian received the photographs of seven leading CUP leaders, whose whereabouts Nemesis was tracking, and departed for Europe, going first to Paris. In Geneva , he obtained a visa to go to Berlin as a mechanical engineering student, leaving on 2 December. The conspirators plotting assassinations met at the residence of Libarit Nazariants, vice-consul of

9920-551: The Unionist's organization, intrigues within the military, discontent with Abdul Hamid's autocratic rule, and a desire for the Constitution meant the sultan and his ministers were compelled to capitulate. Under pressure of being deposed, on the night of 23–24 July 1908, Abdul Hamid II issued the İrade-i Hürriyet , reinstating the Constitution and calling an election to great jubilation. Celebrations were held intercommunally, as Muslims and Christians attended celebrations together in both churches and mosques. Parades were held throughout

10075-418: The Young Turks lead to disagreements on what liberty meant. Among these the CUP and the Liberty Party and later on Freedom and Accord Party , were the major ones. There were smaller parties such as Ottoman Socialist Party and the Democratic Party . On the other end of the spectrum were the ethnic parties which included the People's Federative Party (Bulgarian Section) , the Bulgarian Constitutional Clubs ,

10230-505: The act before he came to Germany, but told police he acted alone. At his trial, Tehlirian denied the assassination was premeditated; the interpreter had refused to sign the document of interrogation on the grounds that Tehlirian's injuries incapacitated him. The preliminary investigation was concluded by 21 March. The Dashnaktsutyun raised between 100,000 and 300,000 marks for his legal defense, mostly from Armenian Americans . Zakariants translated Tehlirian's words into German during

10385-401: The assassination and fled via Fasanenstraße, where he was apprehended by shop assistant Nikolaus Jessen. People in the crowd beat him severely; Tehlirian exclaimed in broken German something to the effect of, "It's ok. I am a foreigner and he is a foreigner!" Shortly afterwards, he told police, "I am not the murderer; he was." Police cordoned off the body. Fellow CUP exile Nazım Bey arrived at

10540-450: The assassination as part of a conspiracy. Had the court known that the assassination was part of a premeditated conspiracy, Hosfeld argues, Tehlirian would not have been acquitted. The court then heard from the police officers and the coroner as witnesses to the assassination and its aftermath, as well as Tehlirian's two landladies, before calling upon Armenians who had interacted with Tehlirian in Berlin. These witnesses gave information on

10695-439: The attempt to complete the trial quickly and positively portray Germany's actions during the war "inadvertently transformed Tehlirian into a symbol of human conscience tragically compelled to gun down a murderer for want of justice." Ihrig and other historians have argued the prosecutor's strategy was deeply flawed, indicating either his incompetence or a lack of motivation to achieve a conviction. Gollnick insisted that events in

10850-568: The body using his authority as a Foreign Office official, but they refused to do so before the homicide squad arrived. Jäckh complained the "Turkish Bismarck " could not remain outside in such a state for passersby to gawk at. Eventually, they received permission to transport the body, which was sent to Charlottenburg mortuary in a Red Cross vehicle. Immediately after the assassination, Şakir and Nazım received police protection. Other CUP exiles worried they would be next. Initially, Talaat's friends hoped he could be buried in Anatolia , but neither

11005-441: The burgeoning world of party politics. Political clubs, committees, and parties were now the main actors in politics. Though these non-Turkish nationalists cooperated with the Young Turks against the sultan, they would turn on each other during the Second Constitutional Era over the question of Ottomanism, and ultimately autonomy and separatism. The memory is so intense that to this day, I cannot think of it unmoved. I think of it as

11160-461: The capital's networks to pursue his political agitation. The CUP-initiated resistance movement eventually led to the Turkish War of Independence . Talaat initially hoped to use Turkish politician Mustafa Kemal as a puppet and directly issued orders to Turkish generals from Berlin. Talaat had influential German friends from the beginning of his exile and acquired status over time as he was seen as

11315-634: The citizens. That day Grand Vizier Mehmed Ferid Pasha was sacked for Said Pasha . Elsewhere, Hayri Pasha, field marshal of the Third Army , was threatened by the committee into a passive cooperation. At this point, the mutiny which originated in the Third Army in Salonica took hold of the Second Army based in Adrianople ( Edirne ) as well as Anatolian troops sent from Smyrna ( Izmir ). The rapid momentum of

11470-579: The conservative politics of Abdul Hamid II 's reign was the amount of social reform that occurred during this time period. The development of educational institutions in the Ottoman Empire also established the background for political opposition. Abdul Hamid's political circle was close-knit and ever-changing. The origins of the revolution lie within the Young Turk movement , an opposition movement which wished to see Abdul Hamid II's authoritarianism regime dismantled. Being imperialists, they believed Abdul Hamid

11625-687: The constitution would bring about equality between Christians and Muslims, and was able to recruit Bulgarians into his force. Other Unionists, following Niyazi's example, took to the mountains of Macedonia: Ismail Enver Bey in Tikveş , Eyub Sabri in Ohri ( Ohrid ), Bekir Fikri in Grebene ( Grevena ), and Salahaddin Bey and Hasan Bey in Kırçova ( Kičevo ). In each post office the rebels came across, they transmitted their demands to

11780-442: The coordination of the central government. Furthermore, the defense noted that "deliberation" ( Überlegung ) in German case law refers to the time at which the decision to kill is made, excluding other preparations. A planned act cannot be murder if at the moment of its execution there was no deliberation. Werthauer said that Talaat served in a " militarist cabinet"; defining "militarist" as one who opposes justice and ignores

11935-595: The corpse and surrender to the police, who will come and handcuff you." After the Sovietisation of Armenia , many of the First Armenian Republic 's expatriate revolutionary activists did not hesitate to collaborate with Azeri and Turk Armenophobe activists to regain governmental control. This policy was contrary to Shahan Natalie's conviction that "Over and above the Turk, the Armenian has no enemy, and Armenian revenge

12090-534: The corpses of other Armenians who had been killed earlier. She testified that after they had reached Erzindjan the men were separated from the rest of the deportees, tied together and thrown into the river. She explained the rest of the men were axed to death in the mountains above Malatia and thrown in the water. Afterwards, Terzibashian recalled, "the gendarmes came and picked out the most beautiful women and girls" and that any who refused were "impaled with bayonets and their legs were ripped apart". She recalled that

12245-420: The crime. Tehlirian plotted the killing long in advance, traveling from the Ottoman Empire to Berlin, renting a room across the street from his intended victim, carefully observing Talaat, and finally killing him. He emphasized Liman von Sanders' evidence, arguing he was more reliable than Lepsius, and distorting what the German general actually said. Appealing to the stab-in-the-back myth about German defeat in

12400-477: The defendant carry out this killing with reflection? ... Thirdly, are there any mitigating circumstances?" Gollnick gave only a brief closing argument; his speech took up six pages in the trial transcript compared to thirty-five for the defense. He argued Tehlirian was guilty of premeditated murder (as opposed to manslaughter , which carried a lesser sentence) and demanded the death penalty . Political hatred and vindictiveness, Gollnick argued, fully explained

12555-562: The delegation into a smaller and more cohesive group of 60 MPs. The Senate of the Ottoman Empire reconvened for the first time in over 30 years on 17 December 1908 with the living members like Hasan Fehmi Pasha from the First Constitutional Era . While the Young Turk Revolution had promised organizational improvement, once instituted, the government at first proved itself rather disorganized and ineffectual. Although these working-class citizens had little knowledge of how to control

12710-464: The deportation was ordered by the "Young Turk Committee", including Talaat Pasha. Lepsius quoted from an original document from Talaat regarding Armenian deportations: "the destination of the deportations is nothingness" ( Das Verschickungsziel ist das Nichts ) and gave details about how this was carried out in practice. Lepsius noted that, despite the official excuse of "preventative measures", "authoritative figures openly admitted in private that this

12865-493: The deportation, claiming it occurred because of military necessity and the advice of the "highest military authorities"; he did not acknowledge that these high-ranking military officers were mostly Germans. Unlike other witnesses, Liman von Sanders said he did not know if Talaat was personally responsible for the genocide. Next to testify was the Armenian priest Grigoris Balakian , one of those deported on 24 April, who had come from Manchester , England. He described how most of

13020-628: The desert. Shukri said he had ordered that 40,000 Armenians be clubbed to death. After a while, Gordon interrupted, asking Balakian about telegrams from Talaat. Balakian said he had seen such a telegram sent to Asaf Bey, vice-governor of Osmaniye in Cilicia, which read: "Please telegraph us promptly how many of the Armenians are already dead and how many still alive. Minister of the Interior, Talât". Asaf told Balakian that it meant, "What are you waiting for? Begin

13175-497: The end of October 1919, the ARF's 9th General Congress convened. The issue of justice against those responsible for the Armenian genocide was on the agenda of the congress. Over many of the Russian Armenian delegates' vociferous objections, it was decided to mete out justice through armed force. ARF Bureau members, specifically Simon Vratsyan , Ruben Ter Minasian , and Ruben Darbinian, opposed Shahan Natalie's operation. However,

13330-399: The extermination of Armenians was justified to advance Turkish national interests and that, "I am ready to die for what I have done, and I know that I shall die for it." In August 1915, after learning about the Armenian massacres, CUP former finance minister Cavid Bey predicted Talaat would be assassinated by an Armenian. During World War I , Imperial Germany was a military ally of

13485-475: The far right, viewed Turkey as innocent and wronged, comparing the Treaty of Sèvres to the Treaty of Versailles and seeing a "community of destiny" between Germany and Turkey. Talaat wrote a memoir, focused primarily on defending his decision to order a genocide and absolving the CUP from any guilt. Talaat and other CUP exiles were convicted and sentenced to death in absentia for the "massacre and annihilation of

13640-437: The genocide as vice-consul in Erzurum. Five expert witnesses testified about Tehlirian's mental state and whether it absolved him from criminal responsibility for his actions according to German law; all agreed that he suffered from regular bouts of "epilepsy" due to what he experienced in 1915. According to Ihrig, none of the doctors had a clear understanding of Tehlirian's condition, but their understanding sounded similar to

13795-429: The genocide were killed. Christine Terzibashian, the tobacconist's wife, said she knew nothing of the assassination. The defense asked her to testify about the Armenian genocide, and the judge allowed this. She was also from Erzurum and said that of her twenty-one relatives, only three survived. She said Armenians were forced to leave Erzurum toward Erzindjan in four groups of five hundred families. They had to walk over

13950-465: The genocide, which revealed the judge's knowledge of the genocide and Turkish and German narratives about it. He asked Tehlirian to recount what he witnessed during the events. Tehlirian said that after the outbreak of war, most Armenian men in Erzindjan were conscripted into the army . In early 1915, some Armenian community leaders were arrested and reports of their massacre reached the city. In June 1915,

14105-435: The genocide. At the request of the defense lawyers, Rössler examined Andonian's telegrams and concluded that they were most likely authentic. Andonian did not testify, and his telegrams were not entered into evidence, because the prosecutor objected on the grounds that there was no doubt that Tehlirian held Talaat responsible. Eventually, the defense withdrew its request to present more evidence on Talaat's guilt; by this time,

14260-468: The genocide. Other newspapers suggested Talaat was the wrong target for Armenian revenge. The Deutsche Allgemeine Zeitung launched an anti-Armenian campaign claiming that backstabbing and murder such as Tehlirian had carried out was "the true Armenian manner". One of the only newspapers initially sympathetic to the assassin was the Communist Freiheit . Coverage of the trial was widespread for

14415-423: The genocide. Tehlirian suffered from regular fainting spells and other nervous system disorders that possibly resulted from what is now called post-traumatic stress disorder ; during his trial, he said they were related to his experiences during the genocide. After the war, Tehlirian went to Constantinople, where he assassinated Harutiun Mgrditichian, who had worked for the Ottoman secret police and helped compile

14570-413: The government in Constantinople ( Istanbul ): reinstate the constitution and reconvene the parliament otherwise the rebels would march on the capital. On 7 July, Şemsi Pasha arrived at Monastir. Abdul Hamid II dispatched him from Mitroviçe ( Mitrovica ) with two battalions to suppress the revolt in Macedonia. An ethnic Albanian, he also recruited a pro-government band of Albanians on the way. He informed

14725-408: The government's (not the sultan) weakness and corruption as the reason for this crisis, and that a constitutional framework would deliver the systematic reform necessary to negate Western intervention. Niyazi's Muslim Albanian heritage worked to his advantage in this propaganda campaign which also involved settling clan rivalries. When touring Christian Bulgarian and Serbian villages, he highlighted that

14880-479: The headlines of many German newspapers on the day it occurred, most coverage being sympathetic to Talaat. The next day, most newspapers in Germany reported on the assassination, and many printed obituaries. A typical example of coverage was in Vossische Zeitung , which acknowledged Talaat's role in attempting to "exterminat[e] all reachable members of the [Armenian] tribe", but advanced several justifications for

15035-419: The judge, he recalled how he witnessed the murder of his mother and brother and was then knocked unconscious, awaking underneath his brother's corpse. He never saw his sister again. After this, Tehlirian said, he found shelter with several Kurds before escaping into Persia with other survivors. Tehlirian was asked whom he held responsible for instigating the massacres and about historical precedents such as

15190-444: The jurors had already become focused on Talaat's guilt rather than Tehlirian's. Talaat's telegrams were discussed in press coverage, including that by The New York Times . Other witnesses who had been called but were not heard included Bronsart von Schellendorff, soldiers Ernst Paraquin  [ de ] and Franz Carl Endres  [ de ] , medic Armin T. Wegner , and Max Erwin von Scheubner-Richter , who witnessed

15345-512: The killers would cut open pregnant women to kill their children. This caused great stir in the courtroom. She stated that her brother was killed and her mother immediately died. When she refused to marry one of the Turks, "he took my child and threw it away". After recounting more gruesome details, she said the truth was even worse than she could relate. Asked whom she held responsible for these massacres, she stated, "It happened on Enver Pasha's orders and

15500-409: The killing, he had a vision: "the images from the massacre came in front of my eyes again and again. I saw the corpse of my mother. This corpse stood up and came up to me and said: 'You saw that Talât is here and you are totally indifferent? You are no longer my son! ' " At this point, he said that he "suddenly woke up and decided to kill" Talaat. After further questioning, he denied knowing that Talaat

15655-537: The lack of courage needed to order a genocide from one's desk. Young Turk Revolution Young Turks victory The Young Turk Revolution (July 1908; Turkish : Jön Türk Devrimi ) was a constitutionalist revolution in the Ottoman Empire . Revolutionaries belonging to the Internal Committee of Union and Progress , an organization of the Young Turks movement, forced Sultan Abdul Hamid II to restore

15810-460: The later disease of post-traumatic stress disorder. Dr. Robert Stoermer testified first, stating that in his opinion, Tehlirian's crime was a deliberate, premeditated killing and did not stem from his mental state. According to Hugo Liepmann , Tehlirian had become a "psychopath" because of what he witnessed in 1915 and therefore was not fully responsible for his actions. Neurologist and professor Richard Cassirer testified that "emotional turbulence

15965-471: The law defined that they would be allocated property belonging to "fugitive Armenians". MP Recep Zühtü Soyak, a loyal follower and private secretary of Atatürk mentioned this new law was a strong "warning message to assassins: you may execute a Turk through an assassination! But, we will raise his offspring with your money so that tomorrow, he will gouge out your eye and break your head." Among those marked for assassination were Enver Pasha (killed in battle with

16120-615: The law where it cannot be "brought into 'harmony' with 'military necessities ' ". Werthauer declared the Allied occupation of the Rhineland and the Bolsheviks were also "militarist" governments. He drew a dramatic contrast between these "militarists", and Tehlirian, a noble figure whom he compared to William Tell : "Of all the juries in the world, which one would have condemned Tell if he had shot his arrow at [the tyrant Albrecht] Gessler ? Is there

16275-575: The list of Armenian intellectuals who were deported on 24 April 1915 . This killing convinced the Nemesis operatives to entrust him with the assassination of Talaat Pasha. In mid-1920, the Nemesis organization paid for Tehlirian to travel to the United States, where Garo briefed him that the death sentences pronounced against the major perpetrators had not been carried out, and that the killers continued their anti-Armenian activities from exile. That fall,

16430-407: The list. There was no shortage of volunteers to carry out the assassinations, mainly young men who survived the genocide or lost their families. Nemesis operatives did not carry out assassinations without confirming the identity of the target and were careful to avoid accidentally killing the innocent. One of these volunteers was Soghomon Tehlirian (1896–1960) from Erzindjan , Erzurum Vilayet ,

16585-577: The many ethnic committee of the volatile melting pot that was Macedonia. With the conclusion of the IMRO 's left-wing congress in May–June 1908, the CUP reached a deal for the left's support and neutrality from their right, but the Macedonian-Bulgarian committee's disunity and their late decision also meant no joint operations between the two groups during the revolution. The Unionists did not seriously court

16740-531: The massacres [immediately]!" Balakian said that Germans working for the Baghdad railway saved his life. He said Armenians, correctly, held Talaat responsible for the massacres. The defense wanted to read into evidence several of the Talaat Pasha telegrams collected by Armenian journalist Aram Andonian to prove Talaat's culpability for the genocide. Andonian came to Berlin prepared to testify and brought several of

16895-462: The members of his convoy were beaten to death in Ankara. "The official name was 'deportation,' but in reality it was a systematic policy of annihilation", he stated, explaining: Getting near to Yozgad about four hours from the town, we saw, in a valley hundreds of heads with long hair, heads of women and girls. The chief of the gendarmes in our escort was named Shukri. I said to him, "I thought that only

17050-441: The memorial. Assassination of Talaat Pasha On 15 March 1921, Armenian student Soghomon Tehlirian assassinated Talaat Pasha —former grand vizier of the Ottoman Empire and the main architect of the Armenian genocide —in Berlin. At his trial, Tehlirian argued, "I have killed a man, but I am not a murderer"; the jury acquitted him. Tehlirian came from Erzindjan in the Ottoman Empire but moved to Serbia before

17205-537: The men were killed." No, he said, "if we killed only the men, but not the women and girls, in fifty years, there would again be several million Armenians. We must therefore eliminate the women and children in order to settle it once and for all, at home and abroad." Shukri explained that, unlike in the Hamidian massacres, this time the Ottomans took steps that "no witness would ever reach any court". He said he could speak freely to Balakian because he would die of starvation in

17360-506: The military meant the army was in constant pay arrears. The Sultan was weary of having the army train with live ammunition anyway, lest an uprising against the order occurred. This sentiment especially applied to the Ottoman navy ; once the third largest fleet in 19th century Europe, it was rotting away locked inside the Golden Horn . The defense of their empire was a matter of great honor within

17515-404: The misconception the world has of us" that Germany was responsible for the genocide. After the closing arguments were delivered, the judge asked Tehlirian if he had anything to add; he declined. The jury deliberated for an hour before answering the question of whether Tehlirian was guilty of deliberately killing Talaat with one word: "No". A unanimous verdict, it left no possibility of appeal by

17670-402: The most spectacular trials of the twentieth century", according to Stefan Ihrig . Tehlirian claimed he had acted alone and that the killing was not premeditated, telling a dramatic and realistic, but untrue, story of surviving the genocide and witnessing the deaths of his family members. The international media widely reported on the trial, which brought attention and recognition of the facts of

17825-444: The nape of his neck outside Hardenbergstraße 17, on a busy street corner, causing instant death. The bullet went through his spinal cord and exited above Talaat's left eye, having destroyed his brain; he fell forward and lay in a pool of his blood. At first Tehlirian stood over the corpse, but after onlookers shouted, he forgot his instructions and ran away. He threw away the caliber 9 mm Parabellum pistol that he used for

17980-423: The next ten years, save for brief interruption from 1912 to 1913. 5 of these years would be a dictatorship established in the aftermath of the 1913 coup and Mahmud Shevket Pasha 's assassination, during which they drove the empire to fight alongside Germany during World War I and commit genocide against Ottoman Christians . The revolution also served as a downfall for the non-Muslim elites which benefited from

18135-606: The next year . In 1908, workers began to strike in the capital, which kept the authorities on edge. There were also rumors that the Sultan was in poor health on the eve of the revolution. Starting in the 1890s, chronic intercommunal violence took hold of Ottoman Macedonia in what came known as the Macedonian struggle , as well as in Eastern Anatolia. Terrorist attacks by national liberation groups were regular occurrences. In response to

18290-486: The night of November 1-2. Except for Djemal, all were major perpetrators of the genocide; they left to evade punishment for their crimes and to organize a resistance movement. German foreign minister Wilhelm Solf had instructed the embassy in Constantinople to aid Talaat and refused the Ottoman government's request to extradite him, on the grounds that "Talaat has been loyal to us, and our country remains open to him." Arriving in Berlin on 10 November, Talaat stayed in

18445-561: The original telegrams, which have since been lost. The defense asked the former German consul in Aleppo , Walter Rössler  [ de ] , to testify, but his superiors in the Foreign Office prevented him from doing so after he told them he would testify that he believed Talaat had "wanted and systematically carried out the annihilation of the Armenians". The Foreign Office worried Rössler would expose German knowledge of, and complicity in,

18600-442: The pacifist magazine Die Weltbühne noted, "Only when a society of nations has organized itself as the protector of international order will no Armenian killer remain unpunished, because no Turkish Pasha has the right to send a nation into the desert." A few months after the trial, Wegner published the full transcript. In the preface, he praised Tehlirian's "heroic readiness to sacrifice himself for his people", contrasting this with

18755-410: The palace of his arrival in the city at the local telegraph station, and as he walked out of the building he was assassinated by a Unionist fedai , Âtıf Kamçıl . His Albanian bodyguards and the pasha's aide de camp , who was his son, were also CUP members. Tatar Osman Pasha, Şemsi's replacement, was captured soon after. On July 22, Monastir fell to the rebels, and Niyazi proclaimed the constitution to

18910-460: The possession of Weismann, the head of Berlin's Public Security Office; his memoirs were given to Şakir who had them published. At the beginning of the police investigation, Tehlirian was offered a Turkish-speaking interpreter, but he refused to speak Turkish . On 16 March, the police recruited an Armenian interpreter, Kevork Kaloustian, who was part of the Nemesis operation. Tehlirian admitted he had killed Talaat out of vengeance and planned

19065-500: The possibility that Tehlirian was able to formulate the action of his own free will. All the witnesses were heard on the first day. At 9:15 a.m. on the second day, the judge addressed the jury, stating they needed to answer the following questions: "[First, is] the defendant, Soghomon Tehlirian, guilty of having killed, with premeditation, another human being, Talât Pasha, on 15 March 1921, in Charlottenburg?... Secondly, did

19220-505: The previous communal domination by pro-imperialist Armenians. The elite Bulgarian community of Istanbul were similarly displaced by a youthful nationalist-intellectual class involved with IMRO , as was the Albanian Hamidian elite. Arab and Albanian elites, which were favored under the Hamidian regime, found many privileges lost under the CUP. The revolution continued to destabilize the subservient Sharifate of Mecca as several claimed

19375-477: The primary target was Talaat Pasha, whom Shahan called "Number One". The mission to kill Talaat was entrusted to Soghomon Tehlirian . Natalie's aim was to turn Tehlirian's trial into the political trial of those responsible for the Armenian genocide. In his memoirs, Natalie revealed his orders to Tehlirian: "you blow up the skull of the Number One nation-murderer and you don't try to flee. You stand there, your foot on

19530-434: The prosecution. The audience burst into applause. The state treasury bore the cost of the proceedings—306,484 marks. Gollnick said that the acquittal was based on temporary insanity. Ihrig says "the jury did not necessarily find Tehlirian innocent because of 'temporary insanity ' "; he notes that the defense focused more on the political rather than medical aspects of Tehlirian's act. Following his acquittal, Tehlirian

19685-430: The prosecutor's office intensely. Although he had access to Talaat Pasha's memoirs, the prosecutor did not enter them into evidence at the trial. Ihrig speculates Gollnick was disgusted by Humann's lobbying and perhaps even sympathized with the defendant. After the trial, Gollnick was appointed to the editorial board of Deutsche Allgemeine Zeitung . The trial opened with the judge asking Tehlirian many questions about

19840-504: The revolution and the 31 March Incident , the CUP's emerged victorious in a power struggle between the palace (Abdul Hamid II) and the liberated Sublime Porte . Until the December election , the CUP dominated the empire in what Şükrü Hanioğlu deemed a Comité de salut public . Following the revolution, many organizations, some of them previously underground, established political parties . The several political currents expressed amongst

19995-407: The scene shortly afterwards and went to Talaat's apartment at Hardenbergstraße 4, where Ernst Jäckh , a Foreign Office official and pro-Turkish activist who often met with Talaat, arrived at 11:30 a.m. Şakir also learned of the assassination and identified the body for the police. Jäckh and Nazım returned to the scene of the assassination. Jäckh attempted to convince the police to surrender

20150-543: The severity applied" during the Armenian deportation and, "I absolutely don't regret my deed." When United States ambassador Henry Morgenthau tried to persuade Talaat to discontinue the atrocities, he interrupted, saying he would not reconsider because most of the Armenians were already dead: "The hatred between the Turks and the Armenians is now so intense that we have got to finish with them. If we don't, they will plan their revenge." Talaat told Turkish writer Halide Edib that

20305-401: The soldiers forced the deportees to kneel and shout: 'Long live the pasha! ' " The defense said that other witnesses, including two German nurses in Erzindjan, corroborated her account. Thus, Gordon argued, Tehlirian's account was also "true to the core". Two expert witnesses were heard on the veracity of the previous testimony, which the prosecutor also agreed to hear. Lepsius testified that

20460-562: The title until November 1908, when the CUP recognized Hussein bin Ali Pasha as Emir. In some communities, such as the Jews (cf. Jews in Islamic Europe and North Africa and Jews in Turkey ), reformist groups emulating the Young Turks ousted the conservative ruling elite and replaced them with a new reformist one. Social institutions like notable families and houses of worship lost influence to

20615-508: The trial and was involved in paying bills, organizing the defense, and relaying the Dashnak Central Committee of America's instructions to Tehlirian. Kaloustian interpreted from German to Armenian. Three German lawyers— Adolf von Gordon , Johannes Werthauer  [ de ] , and Theodor Niemeyer  [ de ] , who were paid 75,000 marks each—represented Tehlirian; their prominence resulted in even more publicity for

20770-421: The trial in the news and was inspired to conceptualize the crime of genocide in international law . As the leader of the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), Talaat Pasha (1874–1921) was the last powerful grand vizier of the Ottoman Empire during World War I . Considered the primary architect of the Armenian genocide , he ordered the deportation of nearly all of the empire's Armenian population to

20925-608: The trial. The state prosecutor was Gollnick and the judge was Erich Lemberg; twelve jurors heard the case. The trial was held at the Moabit Criminal Court on 2–3 June. The courtroom was completely full. Many Armenians in Germany attended the trial as did some Turks, including Talaat's wife. Journalists for German and international newspapers were in attendance; the Daily Telegraph , the Chicago Daily News , and

21080-459: The tribunal that had sentenced Talaat to death. At the end of his speech, he emphasized Talaat Pasha's patriotism and honor. Of the defense attorneys, Gordon spoke first, accusing Gollnick of being "a defense attorney for Talât Pasha". He argued in favor of the evidence linking Talaat to the commission of the genocide, particularly telegrams. Such a large-scale extermination of one million Armenians, he maintained, could not have taken place without

21235-429: The various small groups in the empire who advocated for reform and a certain degree of autonomy within the empire. ARF members formed fedayi guerrilla groups that helped organise the self-defence of Armenian civilians. In July–August 1914, the 8th congress of the ARF was a watershed event. Members of the Committee of Union and Progress requested assistance from the party in the conquest of Transcaucasia by inciting

21390-461: The war, Gollnick argued that the "dislocation" of Armenians was carried out because they "conspired with the Entente and were determined, as soon as the war situation allowed, to stab the Turks in the back and to achieve their independence". Arguing there was no evidence of Talaat's responsibility in the massacres, he questioned the reliability of the documents presented at the trial and the objectivity of

21545-629: The war. He served in the Armenian volunteer units of the Russian army and lost most of his family in the genocide. Deciding to take revenge, he assassinated Harutiun Mgrditichian, who helped the Ottoman secret police, in Constantinople . Tehlirian joined Operation Nemesis , a clandestine program carried out by the Dashnaktsutyun (the Armenian Revolutionary Federation); he was chosen for the mission to assassinate Talaat due to his previous success. Talaat had already been convicted and sentenced to death by an Ottoman court-martial , but

21700-428: The world, were sold to recoup the cost of Tehlirian's defense and raise money for the Nemesis operation. The assassination and trial received widespread international press coverage and brought attention and recognition to the facts of the genocide. Contemporaries understood the trial to be more about the Armenian genocide than Tehlirian's personal guilt. News coverage reflected the tension between public sympathy for

21855-531: Was "the consequence of imperialist politics against the Islamic nations ". In late April, national-liberal politician Gustav Stresemann of the German People's Party proposed a public commemoration to honor Talaat. The German-Turkish Association  [ de ] declined. Stresemann was well aware of the genocide and believed at least one million Armenians had been killed. Talaat's belongings ended up in

22010-604: Was a meeting in the Baltic port of Reval between Edward VII of the United Kingdom and Nicholas II of Russia on 9–12 June 1908. While " the Great Game ", had created a rivalry between the two powers, a resolution to their relationship was sought after. The Anglo-Russian Convention of 1907 brought shaky British-Russian relations to the forefront by solidifying boundaries that identified their respective control in Persia (eastern border of

22165-454: Was about the annihilation of the Armenian people". Mentioning the collection of Foreign Office documents he edited, Germany and Armenia , Lepsius stated that hundreds more similar testimonies existed like those heard by the court; he estimated one million Armenians were killed overall. German general Otto Liman von Sanders acknowledged that the CUP government ordered the Armenian deportations, but also offered excuses and justifications for

22320-475: Was an illegitimate sultan for giving away territories in the Berlin Treaty and for not being confrontational enough to the Great Powers. In addition to a return to rule of law instead of royal arbitrary rule, they believed that a constitution would negate any motivation for non-Muslim subjects to join nationalist separatist organizations, and therefore negate any justification by the Great Powers to intervene in

22475-436: Was declared "father of liberty". 24 July 1908 started the Ottoman Empire's Second Constitution Era . There after, a number of decrees are issued, which defined freedom of speech, press and organizations, the dismantlement of intelligence agencies, and a general amnesty to political prisoners. Importantly, the CUP did not overthrow the government and nominally committed itself to democratic ideals and constitutionalism. Between

22630-449: Was deported from Germany. He went to Manchester with Balakian, and then to the United States under the false name "Saro Melikian", where the editorial board of Hairenik honored him. He continued to be ill and needed medical treatment for his stress disorder. He settled in Belgrade , Serbia, where he lived until 1950. Transcripts of the trial, which were purchased by many Armenians around

22785-610: Was discredited. By the 20th century, the Hamidian system seemed bankrupt. Crop failures caused a famine in 1905, and wage hikes could not keep up with inflation. This led to civil unrest in Eastern Anatolia, which the CUP and the Dashnak Committee took advantage of. In December 1907 the government put down the Erzurum Revolt . Constitutionalist revolutions occurred in neighbors of the Ottoman Empire, in Russia in 1905 , and in Persia

22940-423: Was highly believable. Historian Tessa Hofmann says that, while false, Tehlirian's testimony featured "extremely typical and essential elements of the collective fate of his compatriots". The prosecution did not challenge the veracity of the testimony, and the truth was not uncovered until decades later. During the trial, Tehlirian was never asked if he belonged to an Armenian revolutionary group or if he committed

23095-535: Was in Berlin and reiterated that he had no plan to kill the Ottoman official, appearing confused. The judge intervened in favor of Tehlirian after further probing from the prosecutor, saying that "there had been changes in his [Tehlirian's] resolve". The testimony was false: Tehlirian was actually fighting with the Armenian volunteers in the Russian army at the time his family was killed. Historian Rolf Hosfeld says Tehlirian "was extremely well groomed" and his testimony

23250-525: Was living in Berlin with the permission of the Government of Germany . Many prominent Germans attended Talaat's funeral; the German Foreign Office sent a wreath saying, "To a great statesman and a faithful friend." Tehlirian's trial was held 2–3 June 1921, and the defense strategy was to put Talaat on trial for the Armenian genocide. Extensive evidence on the genocide was heard, resulting in "one of

23405-621: Was once again the leading Young Turk current. In 1907 a new anti-Hamidian secret society was founded in Salonica known as the Ottoman Freedom Committee , founded by figures which achieved prominence post-revolution: Mehmed Talaat , Bahaeddin Şakir , and Doctor Nazım . Following its merger with the CUP, the former became the Internal Headquarters of the CUP, while Rıza's Paris branch became the External Headquarters of

23560-434: Was power exercised by a small governing elite surrounding the Sultan, the Sublime Porte's independence was restored and a new young clique of bureaucrats and officers gradually took control of politics for the CUP. The parliament confirmed through popular sovereignty both old elites as well as new ones. In 1909 a purge in the army demoted many "Old Turks" while elevating "Young Turk" officers. The post-revolution CUP undertook

23715-528: Was successful, as the social-democratic newspaper Vorwärts noted: "In reality it was the blood-stained shadow of Talât Pasha who was sitting on the defendant's bench; and the true charge was the ghastly Armenian Horrors, not his execution by one of the few victims left alive." To maximize the probability of acquittal, the defense presented Tehlirian as a lone vigilante, rather than an avenger of his entire nation. German police looked for Tehlirian's associates but did not uncover them. The defense tried to forge

23870-408: Was the root cause of his condition", and that "affect epilepsy" completely changed his personality. Edmund Forster  [ de ] said that traumatic experiences during the war did not cause new pathologies, merely revealed those that already existed, but agreed Tehlirian was not responsible for his action. The last expert, Bruno Haake, also diagnosed "affect epilepsy" and completely ruled out

24025-491: Was to depoliticize the proceedings and avoid a discussion of Germany's role in the genocide . The trial was held in only one and a half days instead of the three requested by the defense, and six of the fifteen witnesses the defense called were not heard. The prosecution applied for the case to be heard in camera to minimize exposure, but the Foreign Office rejected this solution, fearing that secrecy would not improve Germany's reputation. Historian Carolyn Dean writes that

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