Halil Rifat Pasha

{{Short description|Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire from 1895 to 1901}}

{{nofootnote|date=September 2011}}

{{family name hatnote|Halil Rifat|Pasha||lang=Ottoman Turkish}}

{{Infobox Officeholder

|honorific-prefix =

|name = Halil Rifat Pasha
خلیل رفعت پاشا

|honorific-suffix = Pasha

|image = File:Halil rifat.jpg

|imagesize =

|nationality = Ottoman

|caption =

|office1 = Mutasarrıf of Vidin

|term_start1 = 1882

|term_end1 = 1886

|office2 = Governor of Sivas Vilayet

|term_start2 = 1886

|term_end2 = 1889

|office3 = Governor of Aidin Vilayet

|term_start3 = 1889

|term_end3 = 1891

|predecessor3 = Nafiz Pasha

|successor3 = Abdurrahman Nurettin Pasha

|office4 = Governor of Manastir Vilayet

|term_start4 = 1891

|term_end4 = 1893

|office5 = Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire

|monarch5 = Abdul Hamid II

|term_start5 = 7 November 1895

|term_end5 = 9 November 1901

|predecessor5 = Kâmil Pasha

|successor5 = Mehmed Said Pasha

|birth_date = 1820

|birth_place = Serres, Sanjak of Serres, Salonica Vilayet, Ottoman Empire

|death_date = 9 November 1901

|death_place = Istanbul, Ottoman Empire

|party =

|spouse =

}}

Halil Rifat Pasha ({{langx|ota|خلیل رفعت پاشا}}) (Modern Turkish: Halil Rıfat Paşa; 1820According to the obituary in The Times, he was born about 1807. This would make him almost 95 years old at the time of his death. Other sources give 1820.–9 November 1901) was an Ottoman parliamentarian and statesman during the First Constitutional Era. He furthermore served as the Grand Vizier for six years between 1895 until his death in 1901, during the late Abdul Hamid II era.

Education

He was born in Serres (Serez) and received education in an Islamic type parish school in Selanik (Thessaloniki), then continued to Mekteb-i Mülkiye in Constantinople.

Life and career

After his education years, he started to work as a mailing clerk in Vidin, then worked as secretary in the office of the Governor of Salonika.{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Obituary - Turkish Grand Vizier |date=11 November 1901 |page=10 |issue=36609}} He advanced by degrees and was appointed to higher official positions by passage of time, including at Rustchuk. In 1882 he was appointed as mutasarrıf of Vidin, then in 1886 he was appointed as governor of Sivas, where he started a road-building programme. He was subsequently appointed governor of Aidin (1889) and later of Monastir, where he fought brigandage units which was rife in the province. He was appointed as minister of internal affairs in 1893. Then he was appointed as grand vizier in November 1895. The most important events in his era as grand vizier were the riots of Sason (in 1895) and in Crete (in 1897), as well as the Greco-Turkish War of 1897 which ended with Ottoman victory.

Trivia

His motto in the road building campaign was "Any place where you can't go is not yours" ({{langx|tr|Gidemediğin yer senin değildir.}})

Notes and references

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See also