Second part of The Three Pashas series:

Djemal Pasha (1872 –1922)

Ahmed Djemal Pasha (in Turkish: Ahmet Cemal Paşa), was one of the “Three Pashas”, a triumvirate of senior officials who ruled the Ottoman Empire during World War I, and also Minister of the Navy and the Mayor of Istanbul. In 1911, he was appointed Governor of Baghdad and promoted to colonel in 1912, playing a significant role in the Second Balkan War, becoming commander of Constantinople and minister of public works. At the beginning of WWI, he was promoted to Minister of the Navy. After trying to create a failed alliance with France, sided with the other Pashas, Enver and Talaat, that favoured the German side, taking full control of the Empire in 1913. Promoted Governor of Syria in 1915, he commanded the Fourth Army, and seemingly tried to make peace with France. Within the end of the war, Djemal fled to Germany, and then Switzerland. A military court in Turkey accused Djemal of persecuting Arab subjects of the Empire, and sentenced him to death in absentia. Due to the success of the Bolshevik Revolution, Djemal travelled to Tiflis to act as a military liaison officer to negotiate over Afghanistan with the Soviets. Together with his secretary he was assassinated on 21 July 1922 by three men as part of Operation Nemesis, in retribution for his role in the Armenian Genocide. Djemal’s involvement in the Armenian Genocide is still a subject of controversy.