Reshid Akif Pasha

{{Infobox person

| name = Reşid Akif Paşa

| image = Resitakif.jpg

| caption =

| birth_date = 1863

| birth_place = Ioannina, Ioannina Eyalet

| death_date = {{Death date|df=yes|1920|4|15}} (aged 56-57)

| death_place = Constantinople (now Istanbul), Ottoman Empire

| occupation = Statesman

| known_for = Testimony about the Armenian genocide

| movement =

| signature =

| website =

}}

Reshid Akif Pasha ({{langx|tr|Reşit Akif Paşa}}, {{langx|sq|Reshid Aqif Pasha}}; 1863 – 15 April 1920), was an Ottoman statesman of Albanian descent during the last decades of the Ottoman Empire. Throughout his career as a politician, Reshid Akif Paşa served as governor, minister of the interior, and in the Council of State. He is also noted for providing important testimony in the aftermath of the Armenian genocide.

Life and career

Reshid Akif was born in Ioannina, today's Greece, in 1863{{cite book|last1=Polat|first1=Nâzım H.|title=Eski ile yeni arasında Mütevelli-zâde Ömer İhyâ|date=2005|publisher=T.C. Niğde Üniversitesi|location=Niğde|isbn=9758062247|page=29|edition=1.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IxhkAAAAMAAJ|language=tr}} and was of Albanian ethnicity.{{citation|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ItUWAQAAIAAJ&q=reshid+aqif+pasha&pg=PA196| page=196| journal=Missionary Herald| volume=105|title=A Turkish reformer| author=Ernest C. Partridge| date=January 1909 | publisher=American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions|location=Boston, MA|issn=1079-9036| oclc= 1758344|quote=Reshid Akif Bey, a young Albanian chief, wealthy and of a good family, being considered too liberal to make his stay in the capital longer desirable, was politely but firmly persuaded to accept appointment as governor general of Sivas.}}{{citation| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aYe4AAAAIAAJ&q=reshid+aqif+pasha| page=141| title=Ismail Qemali: përmbledhje dokumentesh, 1888-1919|trans-title=Ismail Qemali: summary of documents, 1888-1919| author=Teuta Hoxha (Directorate of Albanian National Archives)| publisher=8 Nëntori| year=1982|language=sq| oclc=21764918|quote=translated
Yesterday, Friday, in Pera-Palace, the elite of Albanian leadership were gathered, thinking about protesting against the ones who oppose these writings [Albanian]. Participants in this meeting between others were Ferid Pasha Vlora, Reshid Akif Pasha, Ismail Kemal Bey, Myfid Bey, Aziz Pasha, Essad Pasha, etc}} He was the son of Mehmet Ali Pasha, an Ottoman statesman and governor. Akif then moved to Constantinople (now Istanbul) to study at Galatasaray High School. He became a politician and the governor of Sivas in 1901.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YWZqaIWuBvsC|title=Divan ṣiiri xx. yüzyil|last1=Gölpınarlı|first1=Abdülbākī|date=1955|publisher=Varlik Yayinevi|page=12|language=tr|author-link=Abdülbaki Gölpınarlı}} He served as governor until 1908.{{cite book|author1=Türk Tarih Kurumu|title=38. Uluslararası tıp tarihi kongresi bildiri kitabı|date=2005|publisher=Türk tarih kurumu|location=Ankara|isbn=9751618258|page=416|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v_DaAAAAMAAJ|language=tr}} He eventually moved to Istanbul where he was appointed as minister of the interior on 6 August 1909{{citation|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=lq8_AQAAMAAJ&q=reshid+aqif+pasha&pg=RA1-PA146| page=146|title= The new Turkish ministry| journal=The Hellenic Herald| volume=1-2| year=1909|publisher=Cravon House| location=London}} for a few months, but resigned on health grounds;{{cite book|title=Missionary Herald|date=1909|publisher=American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions|page=196|edition=Volume 105|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ItUWAQAAIAAJ}} in the same year he became a member of the Senate of the Ottoman Empire.{{cite book|last1=Cunbur|first1=Müjgan|title=Türk dünyası edebiyatçıları ansiklopedisi: O. Cihat-Süyinşialiyev|date=2007|publisher=Atatürk Kültür Merkezi Başkanlığı|page=333|isbn=9789751612816|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CFwLAQAAMAAJ|language=tr}}

After Talat Pasha's resignation in 1918, Reşid Akif was appointed to the Council of State under Ahmed Izzet Pasha's government. However, Izzet Pasha's cabinet was dissolved, and Akif Pasha again resigned a few weeks after appointment.{{cite web|last1=Aras|first1=Oktay|title=Reşit Akif Paşa|url=http://www.siradisihayatlar.net/resit-akif-pasa.html|publisher=Galatasaray Lisesi Sıradışı Hayatlar|language=tr|date=20 July 2015}}{{dead link|date=April 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} He was then appointed to the new Council of Ministers in 1918 by the government of Damat Ferid Pasha.

Armenian Genocide testimony

File:Resit Akif Pasha Armenian Genocide testimony.jpg

Reshid Akif Pasha is known for providing important testimony on the Armenian genocide during a session of the Ottoman parliament on 21 November 1918.{{cite book|last=Akcam|first=Taner|author-link=Taner Akcam|title=A shameful act: the Armenian genocide and the question of Turkish responsibility|year=2007|publisher=Metropolitan Books/Holt|location=New York, NY|isbn=978-0-8050-8665-2|edition=1st Holt pbk.}} - [https://books.google.com/books?id=E-_XTh0M4swC&dq Profile at] Google Books Akif Pasha stated that during his short tenure as the president of the Council of State, he uncovered documents pertaining to the deportation of Armenians.{{cite book|last1=Winter|first1=Jay|title=America and the Armenian Genocide of 1915|date=2004|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=1139450182|page=92|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pnLSRXAXTfcC}} The documents displayed the process in which official statements made use of vague terminology when ordering deportation only to be clarified by special orders ordering "massacres" sent directly from the Committee of Union and Progress headquarters or often the residence of Talat Pasha himself.{{cite book|last=Dadrian|first=Vahakn N.|title=The history of the Armenian genocide : ethnic conflict from the Balkans to Anatolia to the Caucasus|year=2004|publisher=Berghahn Books|location=New York|isbn=1-57181-666-6|page=384|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZCVJMAVoMM0C|edition=6th rev.}}

He testified as follows:

{{quote|While humbly occupying my last post in the Cabinet, which barely lasted 25 to 30 days, I became cognizant of some secrets. I came across something strange in this respect. It was this official order for deportation, issued by the notorious Interior Ministry and relayed to the provinces. However, following [the issuance of] this official order, the Central Committee [of Union and Progress] undertook to send an ominous circular order to all points [in the provinces], urging the expediting of the execution of the accursed mission of the brigands. Thereupon, the brigands proceeded to act and the atrocious massacres were the result.{{cite journal|last1=Akçam|first1=Taner|title=The Ottoman Documents and the Genocidal Policies of the Committee for Union and Progress (Ittihat ve Terakki) towards the Armenians in 1915|journal=Genocide Studies and Prevention|date=2006|volume=1|issue=2|page=140|doi=10.3138/7087-4340-5H2X-7544|url=http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1243&context=gsp|issn=1911-0359}}{{#tag:ref|Original Turkish: 25–30 güne vasıl olmayan (İzzet Paşa) kabine(sin)deki yakın dönemdeki hizmetinde öğrendiğim bazı gizli şeyler vardır. Bu cümleden olmak üzere tuhaf bir şeye tesadüf ettim. Bu tehcir emri resmi olarak mahut Dahiliye Nazırı (Talat) tarafından verilmiş, vilayetlere tebliğ edilmiş. Bu resmi emri takiben ise çetelerin koşup melun vazifelerini yerine getirmeleri için Merkez-i Umumi (İttihat Terakki yönetimi) tarafından uğursuz emirler her yöne tamim (emir) olunmuştur. Binaenaleyh, çeteler meydan almış ve mukatale-i zalime (zalim katliam) yüz göstermiştir.|group="n"}}}}

He continued by saying: "I am ashamed as a Muslim, I am ashamed as an Ottoman statesman. What a stain on the reputation of the Ottoman Empire, these criminal people ..."{{cite news|last=Fisk|first=Robert|title=Let me denounce genocide from the dock|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/commentators/fisk/robert-fisk-let-me-denounce-genocide-from-the-dock-420011.html|newspaper=The Independent|date=14 October 2006}}

The testimony was considered "extremely remarkable and noteworthy" by the contemporaneous local press. It was published by many newspapers in its entirety due to its "special importance". Historian Vahakn Dadrian has concluded that his statements are the "most incriminating evidence" for the systematic killings of the Armenian Genocide.

Death and legacy

Reshid Akif Pasha died on 15 April 1920 in Constantinople. He is best remembered as an Ottoman politician who provided important testimony in the aftermath of the Armenian genocide. An elementary school in Zara, Turkey, is named after him.