Tarih ve Gelecek Dergisi

Öz

Mahmut Şevket Pasha is the Ottoman Grand Vizier and the Minister of Military Affairs. Throughout history, he has been subjected to many criticisms from both military and political aspects. In terms of military aspect, his harsh stance during the Albanian revolts, the decisions he took during the Tripoli and Balkan Wars, and politically his relations with the Committee of Union and Progress were discussed. He also has a dominant personality over the parliament and the members of the parliament. He was perceived as a Unionist due to his close attitude to the Committee of Union and Progress and was assassinated on June 11th, 1913 while he was driving from to the Ministry of Military Affairs his post at Babiali and died after a while.
The assassination of Mahmut Şevket Pasha was considered as a political opportunity for the Party of Union and Progress. They punished some of their rivals by associating them with this assassination and removed them from Istanbul. Many people from different backgrounds and views participated in the assassination which can also be described as the first planned assassination attempt in terms of Ottoman history. In addition to many political and military people, it is understood that there were also those who supported this assassination for personal or family reasons as well as those whose requests were not realized during the period of the Union and Progress government. Important figures such as Prince Sabahattin, Şerif Pasha and Damat Salih Pasha cooperated financially with the assassins. The assassins also asked them to disembark their soldiers from the ships in Istanbul and intervene in the incident with the declarations sent to the other embassies in Austraia, one of the great states of the period, and Istanbul on the day of the assassination. This assassination can also be considered as a move against the Babiali raid by the Unionists. Many members of the Freedom and Alliance Party, which opposed the Unionists, also supported the assassination. The execution of Damat Salih Pasha as a result of this assassination caused reactions in the family of the dynasty. Regardless of what happened, the Unionists showed their harsh attitude demonstrating that they will not make concessions to such attempts against them. Many people associated with the assassination were sentenced to death, punished by crowd, or exiled.
The assassination of Mahmut Şevket Pasha occupies an important place in our political history in terms of its results. In fact, it is understood from police reports and witness statements that not only Mahmut Şevket Pasha but also people such as Talat and Cemal Pashas, Azmi Bey, Emmanuel Karasu and Nesim Boso were planned to be killed. However, politically, with the change of power in 1918, Vahdeddin and his supporters, especially Freedom and Alliancists, who were forced to leave Istanbul and punished as a result of the assassination of Mahmut Şevket Pasha, did not forget their troubles and implemented a harsh policy against the Unionists. The assassination of Mahmut Şevket Pasha was previously investigated on the basis of newspapers. The aim of the study is to determine why, when, where and how the assassination of Mahmut Şevket Pasha took place in the light of documents and to evaluate the results