Malta exiles (between March 1919 October 1920) is the term for politicians, high ranking soldiers (mainly), administrators and intellectuals of the
Ottoman EmpireThe Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
who were sent into exile on
MaltaMalta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
after the
armistice of MudrosThe Armistice of Moudros , concluded on 30 October 1918, ended the hostilities in the Middle Eastern theatre between the Ottoman Empire and the Allies of World War I...
during the
Occupation of İstanbulThe Occupation of Constantinople was the occupation of the capital of the Ottoman Empire by the Triple Entente, following the Armistice of Mudros which ended Ottoman participation in the First World War. The first French troops entered the city on November 12, 1918, followed by British troops the...
by the
AlliedThe Entente Powers were the countries at war with the Central Powers during World War I. The members of the Triple Entente were the United Kingdom, France, and the Russian Empire; Italy entered the war on their side in 1915...
forces. Malta exiles become inmates in a British prison where various
Committee of Union and ProgressThe Committee of Union and Progress began as a secret society established as the "Committee of Ottoman Union" in 1889 by the medical students İbrahim Temo, Abdullah Cevdet, İshak Sükuti and Ali Hüseyinzade...
(
CUPThe Committee of Union and Progress began as a secret society established as the "Committee of Ottoman Union" in 1889 by the medical students İbrahim Temo, Abdullah Cevdet, İshak Sükuti and Ali Hüseyinzade...
) officials were held in the hopes that Malta Tribunals would be held at a future date.
These Ottoman politicians, generals, and intellectuals were taken out of Istanbul jails and deported to Malta, where they were held for some three years, while searches were made of archives in Istanbul, London, Paris and Washington to find proof of their guilt.. Cooperation of the Sultan was seen necessary to prevent a harsher peace settlement for the Ottoman Empire (partition of territories).
At that time Turkey had two competing governments in Istanbul and Ankara.The government in Istanbul supported the inquiries with more or less seriousness depending on the current government. While grand vizir Damad Ferid Pasha (4 March - 2 October 1919 and again 5 April - 21 October 1920) stood behind the prosecuting body the government of grand vizir Ahmed Riza Pasha (2 October 1919 - 2 March 1920) made barely a mention of the legal proceedings against the war criminals. The trials helped the
Liberal UnionLiberal Union was the second biggest party in the Ottoman parliament of 1909. It had managed to organize covering most of the provinces of the Ottoman Empire...
party to expel the
Committee of Union and ProgressThe Committee of Union and Progress began as a secret society established as the "Committee of Ottoman Union" in 1889 by the medical students İbrahim Temo, Abdullah Cevdet, İshak Sükuti and Ali Hüseyinzade...
from the political arena.
The competing Ankara government was strictly opposed to trials against war criminals.
Mustafa KemalMustafa Kemal Atatürk was an Ottoman and Turkish army officer, revolutionary statesman, writer, and the first President of Turkey. He is credited with being the founder of the Republic of Turkey....
reasoned about the detainees in Malta on the occasion of the congress in Sivas 4 September 1919: "...should any of the detainees either already brought or yet to be brought to Istanbul be executed, even at the order of the vile Istanbul government, we would seriously consider executing all British prisoners in our custody." From February 1921 the military court in Istanbul begun releasing prisoners without trials.
Process of roundups
The first to be exiled was Ali İhsan Pasha, the successful commander at the
Iraq frontThe Mesopotamian campaign was a campaign in the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I fought between the Allies represented by the British Empire, mostly troops from the Indian Empire, and the Central Powers, mostly of the Ottoman Empire.- Background :...
during the First World War. Ali Ihsan Pasha organized mass killings of unarmed Christians soldiers in the Ottoman army as well as Christian civilians in the Iranian-Ottoman border region (Lake Urmiyeh). His orderly accompanied him to exile voluntarily. Both departed on 29 March 1919.
On 28 May 1919 was a large round-up of about thirty persons also covering,
in absentiaIn absentia is Latin for "in the absence". In legal use, it usually means a trial at which the defendant is not physically present. The phrase is not ordinarily a mere observation, but suggests recognition of violation to a defendant's right to be present in court proceedings in a criminal trial.In...
, Mustafa Kemal Pasha.
On 2 June 1919 came the turn of the members of the Council of Kars (
Kars Surası) The exiles from Kars to Malta comprised 11 persons, eight Turks, including the Republic's president
Cihangirzade Ibrahim BeyCihangirzade İbrahim Bey was a Turkish military officer, statesman and administrator who served the Ottoman Empire and after its defeat in the World War I, became the leader of the Turkish revolutionaries in his native Kars and...
, two ethnic Greeks and one
RussianThe Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....
, all members of the Council.
On 21 September 1919, a dozen personalities who had been in utmost prominence during the Second Constitutional Era in the Ottoman Empire were also exiled. The names included the former
grand vizierGrand Vizier, in Turkish Vezir-i Azam or Sadr-ı Azam , deriving from the Arabic word vizier , was the greatest minister of the Sultan, with absolute power of attorney and, in principle, dismissable only by the Sultan himself...
Said Halim PashaSaid Halim Pasha , Ottoman Empire Grand Vizier from 1913-17. Born in Cairo, Egypt, he was the grandson of Muhammad Ali of Egypt, "founder of modern Egypt". The "Pasha" in his name is an honorific that translates in English to "Lord", or "Lord Said Halim".He was one of the signers in Ottoman-German...
(who was at first sent to
MoudrosMoudros is a town and a former municipality on the island of Lemnos, North Aegean, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Lemnos, of which it is a municipal unit. It covers the entire eastern peninsula of the island, with a land area of 185.127 km²,...
), his brother Abbas Halim Pasha, the writer-ideologue
Ziya GökalpZiya Gökalp was a Turkish sociologist, writer, poet, and political activist. In 1908, after the Young Turk revolution, he adopted the pen name Gökalp , which he retained for the rest of his life...
and others.
Reasons for roundups
The 145 personalities arrested and exiled included people from with different backgrounds and causes. Some of the decisions for arrests involved personalities who were outside the reach of Allied authorities and were physically absent.
Some of the arrests were directly related to British policy between 1918–1920 to become an effective force in
CaucasiaThe Caucasus, also Caucas or Caucasia , is a geopolitical region at the border of Europe and Asia, and situated between the Black and the Caspian sea...
. Besides the British military existence in the strategic points, it was necessary that 9th Ottoman Army was discharged/disarmed and the military and civil servants were to be taken away from their duties. Roundups connected to this policy were
Yakup Sevki SubasıYakup Şevki Subaşı, also known as Yakub Shevki Pasha was a general of the Ottoman Army and the Turkish Army.-Sources:...
(# 120), Mehmet Rıfat (# 129),
Mürsel BakûMürsel Bakû was an officer of the Ottoman Army and the general of the Turkish Army.-Sources:...
(# 137), from the 9th Army and Council of Kars of Provisional National Government of the Southwestern Caucasus (# 60-70).
Government
The party
Committee of Union and ProgressThe Committee of Union and Progress began as a secret society established as the "Committee of Ottoman Union" in 1889 by the medical students İbrahim Temo, Abdullah Cevdet, İshak Sükuti and Ali Hüseyinzade...
was in the government. There were
Committee of Union and ProgressThe Committee of Union and Progress began as a secret society established as the "Committee of Ottoman Union" in 1889 by the medical students İbrahim Temo, Abdullah Cevdet, İshak Sükuti and Ali Hüseyinzade...
secretary (#18) members (#40, #58, #75, #111)
House of Osman
There were members of the Ottoman
DivanA divan was a high governmental body in a number of Islamic states, or its chief official .-Etymology:...
which was linked to dynasty;
VizierA vizier or in Arabic script ; ; sometimes spelled vazir, vizir, vasir, wazir, vesir, or vezir) is a high-ranking political advisor or minister in a Muslim government....
(#80), bookkeeper (#34).
Council of Kars
Members of the Council of Kars (
Kars Surası) who had set up the South West Caucasian Republic (
Cenubî Garbî Kafkas Hükümet-i Cumhuriyesi) in
KarsKars is a city in northeast Turkey and the capital of Kars Province. The population of the city is 73,826 as of 2010.-Etymology:As Chorzene, the town appears in Roman historiography as part of ancient Armenia...
following the departure of Ottoman troops from that city after the
Armistice of MudrosThe Armistice of Moudros , concluded on 30 October 1918, ended the hostilities in the Middle Eastern theatre between the Ottoman Empire and the Allies of World War I...
. After the
BritishThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....
occupation of Kars, the formation, in several stages and under successive names, of this short-lived republic, although viewed at first rather benignly by the British, had been discontinued abruptly in April 1919, and its prominent members were arrested, and sent to İstanbul and then to Malta, while the region of Kars was handed over to the First Republic of Armenia.
The resistance
Turkish National Movement was a threat to the allied administration. A large round-up of about thirty persons included,
in absentiaIn absentia is Latin for "in the absence". In legal use, it usually means a trial at which the defendant is not physically present. The phrase is not ordinarily a mere observation, but suggests recognition of violation to a defendant's right to be present in court proceedings in a criminal trial.In...
, Mustafa Kemal Pasha or
Yunus Nadi AbalıoğluYunus Nadi Abalıoğlu was a renowned Turkish journalist and founder of the newspaper Cumhuriyet.Yunus Nadi was born in 1879 in the Seydiler village of the south Aegean town Fethiye. After primary school in Fethiye, he was schooled on Rhodes. Later on, Yunus Nadi moved to Istanbul, where he...
. The trials had blurred the crime of participation in the National Movement with the crime of the
genocideThe Armenian Genocide—also known as the Armenian Holocaust, the Armenian Massacres and, by Armenians, as the Great Crime—refers to the deliberate and systematic destruction of the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire during and just after World War I...
and resulted in increasing support for Atatürk.
Outpost was mainly a resistance organization against the occupation forces. Most of the Outpost members belonged to or would in time turn to
Turkish national movementThe Turkish National Movement encompasses the political and military activities of the Turkish revolutionaries which resulted in the creation and shaping of the Republic of Turkey, as a consequence of the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in World War I....
. However, at the initial stage, or during the establishment of Turkish national movement Outpost members were not members of this movement. Outpost members were ideologically connected to the Sultan rather than a national movement.
Khilafat Movement
The
Khilafat movement (1919-1924) was a political campaign launched mainly by Muslims in British India to influence the British government and to protect the
Ottoman EmpireThe Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
during the
aftermathThe fighting in World War I ended in western Europe when the Armistice took effect at 11:00 am GMT on November 11, 1918, and in eastern Europe by the early 1920s. During and in the aftermath of the war the political, cultural, and social order was drastically changed in Europe, Asia and Africa,...
of
World War IWorld War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
.
Maulana Mehmud HasanShaykh-ul-Hind Maulana Mehmud Al-Hasan was an eminent Islamic Scholar who made tireless efforts in the freedom struggle during the British Rule in India. He was conferred upon by the title 'Shaykh-ul-Hind' which means the leading scholar of India. -Early life:Mehmud Hasan was born in the town of...
was arrested in Makkah when details of
Khilafat MovementThe Khilafat movement was a pan-Islamic, political campaign launched by Muslims in British India to influence the British government and to protect the Ottoman Empire during the aftermath of World War I...
leaked. He was imprisoned for more than three years before his release in 1920.
Exiles
The Malta exiles include the following people:
! style="text-align: left; background: #aabccc;"|Name
! style="text-align: left; background: #aabccc;"|Roundup date
! style="text-align: left; background: #aabccc;"|Roundup ID
! style="text-align: left; background: #aabccc;"|Function in the Ottoman EmpireThe Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
! style="text-align: left; background: #aabccc;"|Aftermath
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|Mustafa Kemal Pasha (in his absence)
|May 28, 1919
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|Ali Fethi BeyAli Fethi Okyar was a Turkish diplomat and politician who also served as a military officer and as a diplomat during the last decade of the Ottoman Empire...
|May 28, 1919
|26 80
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|Hasan Fehmi BeyHasan Fehmi Bey was the editor-in-chief of Serbestî, an Ottoman newspaper, in which he wrote articles against the Committee of Union and Progress...
|May 28, 1919
|26 88
|SinopSinop is a city with a population of 36,734 on İnce Burun , by its Cape Sinop which is situated on the most northern edge of the Turkish side of Black Sea coast, in the ancient region of Paphlagonia, in modern-day northern Turkey, historically known as Sinope...
deputy
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|Şükrü BeyŞükrü Kaya was an Ottoman civil servant and Turkish politician, who served as government minister, Minister of Interior and Minister of Foreign affairs in several governments....
|May 28, 1919
|27 38
|Civil inspector
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|Ağaoğlu Ahmed Bey
|September 21, 1919
|27 64
|Kara Hisar-i SâhibAfyonkarahisar is a city in western Turkey, the capital of Afyon Province. Afyon is in mountainous countryside inland from the Aegean coast, south-west of Ankara along the Akarçay River. Elevation...
deputy, ideologue of the Committee of Union and ProgressThe Committee of Union and Progress began as a secret society established as the "Committee of Ottoman Union" in 1889 by the medical students İbrahim Temo, Abdullah Cevdet, İshak Sükuti and Ali Hüseyinzade...
, author
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|Mahmud Kâmil Pasha
|September 21, 1919
|27 58
|Former Fifth Army commander
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|Ziya GökalpZiya Gökalp was a Turkish sociologist, writer, poet, and political activist. In 1908, after the Young Turk revolution, he adopted the pen name Gökalp , which he retained for the rest of his life...
|September 21, 1919
|27 59
|ErganiErgani, formerly known as Arghni or Arghana, is a district of Diyarbakır Province of Turkey. The mayor is Fesih Yalçın .-Çayönü:Near the village of Sesverenpınar, among the Hilar rocks Çayönü hill was first settled in c. 7500 BC, and was continuously inhabited until 5000 BC...
-MadenMaden is a town and district of Elâzığ Province of Turkey. The mayor is Musa Orhan . The population is 5164....
deputy, ideologue of the Committee of Union and ProgressThe Committee of Union and Progress began as a secret society established as the "Committee of Ottoman Union" in 1889 by the medical students İbrahim Temo, Abdullah Cevdet, İshak Sükuti and Ali Hüseyinzade...
,
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|Hussein Rauf BeyHüseyin Rauf Orbay was a Turkish naval officer and statesman, born in Istanbul.As an officer in the Ottoman Navy, he achieved fame for his actions as the captain of the cruiser Hamidiye during the First Balkan War...
|March 22, 1920
|27 76
|Former Minister of Navy, Sivas deputy
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|Djevat PashaCevat Çobanlı was a military commander of the Ottoman Army, War Minister of the Ottoman Empire and a general of Turkish Army.-Family and schools:...
|March 22, 1920
|27 73
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|"Kel" Ali BeyAli Çetinkaya, also known as "Kel" Ali Bey was an Ottoman Army officer and Turkish politician who served eight terms in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, including a period in 1939–40 as his country's first Minister of Transport.He was born in Kara Hisâr-i Sâhib as a son of Ahmed Efendi...
|27 March 1920
||27 87
|Former Afyon deputy
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|Süleyman NazifSüleyman Nazif was an eminent Ottoman Turkish poet. He mastered Arabic, Persian, and French languages and worked as a civil servant during the reign of Sultan Abdulhamid II...
|27 March 1920
|27 84
|Former MusulMosul , is a city in northern Iraq and the capital of the Ninawa Governorate, some northwest of Baghdad. The original city stands on the west bank of the Tigris River, opposite the ancient Assyrian city of Nineveh on the east bank, but the metropolitan area has now grown to encompass substantial...
and BaghdadBaghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...
governor
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|Mustafa Abdülhalik
|June 7, 1920
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|former BitlisBitlis is a town in eastern Turkey and the capital of Bitlis Province. The town is located at an elevation of 1,400 metres, 15 km from Lake Van, in the steep-sided valley of the Bitlis River, a tributary of the Tigris. The local economy is mainly based on agricultural products which include...
Governor
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|Kâzım BeyMehmet Kâzım Orbay was a Turkish general and senator. He served as the third Chief of the General Staff of the Turkish Armed Forces.-Biography:Kâzım Orbay was born in Smyrna , Ottoman Empire in 1887...
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|Colonel, Enver Pasha's brother-in-law
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|Yunus NadiYunus Nadi Abalıoğlu was a renowned Turkish journalist and founder of the newspaper Cumhuriyet.Yunus Nadi was born in 1879 in the Seydiler village of the south Aegean town Fethiye. After primary school in Fethiye, he was schooled on Rhodes. Later on, Yunus Nadi moved to Istanbul, where he...
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|JournalistA journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
, owner of Yeni Gün newspaper
|}