MEMOIR SUBMITTED BY PRINCE SABAHERRIN# OF THE TURKISH LIBERAL OPPOSITION
TO HIS IAJESTY *S GOVERNMENT
AND TO TT:AT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AT
ERICA-( T ra n slate d from the French o r i g i n a l )
. In talcing the l i b e r t y of a d d re ssin g t h i s appeal to y o u ,I have
an ardent d e s ir e to he enabled to serve the f o l l o w i n g dual aim:
1 . - To shorten the d u ra tio n o f the war by the p as sin g over of
Turkey to the A l l i e d s i d e .
2 . - The.honour and s a l v a t i o n of my own country which n e c e s s it a t e
the triumph of the world cause f o r the independence of a l l peoples i n c l u - ding those of the C en tral Powers.
THE CAPITAL UTILITY OF TURKEY TO TIIE ALLIES
I do not b e li e v e that anyone can to-day deny the c a p i t a l s e r v ic e ^that
¡,»1« ottoman Empire Kis rendered to Germany in t h is war. I f 'the A l l i e s
had known how to r e t a in Turkey on t h e i r sid e the double Russian—Roumanian
catastrophe could have been lim ited . I t is evident that a separate peace
with the Turkish P e o p le , represented by t h e i r best elements(and not with the union and P r o g r e s s ) would produce in the fu tu re a s i m i l a r r e s u l t -
Independently of i t s d i r e c t e f f e c t s upon the war, i t would have in d ir e c t
repercussions of an in c a l c u la b l e v a lu el I t would notably and in the high
est degree strengthen the p a c i f i c a t o r y r o le of Vienna towards B e r lin ,a n d would c o n trib u te more than any other f a c t o r to prove to the German peop le, as w e ll as to t h e i r Government,the n e c e s s it y of secu rin g peace by some
other manner than that of arms. I mention t h i s p o s s i b i l i t y with increased
serenltu de ,as the noble and l o y a l d e c la r a t i o n s of President '7l l s o n , s u p ported and confirmed by those of the eminent lea d ers of the En gllsh and French Governments, have e s t a b lis h e d a righ teou s d i s t i n c t i o n between the
an act of treason towards a people who are a c t u a l l y a l l i e d to Turkey,we have on the c on trary the f e e l i n g o f b e in g w is h fu l to hasten t h e i r d e l i v e r « ance..Bu t :
IS THE TURKISH OPPOSITION ABLE TO ATTAIN
THIS RESULT ?
Such is the problem now r e q u i r in g s o l u t i o n . The best r e p ly that can be
given to t h is qu estion i s to a llo w f a c t s to speak f o r themselves: the r e a l fo rc e of the O pposition i s not in the e x t e r i o r , b u t in the very in t e r i o r of the c o u n t r y ( I ) ;and t h i s force has a lr e a d y manifested i t s e l f b e fo re the eyes of a l l i n once p r e v io u s ly overthrowing the a c t u a l Govern— m-ent of Turkey » In 1912 I took the i n i t i a t i v e in su pporting and d i r e c t
ing a group of o f f i c e r s c a l l e d H a la s k a r .and i t was t h is group that suc ceeded in deposing the usurpers o f the Power. As soon as t h i s aim was a t tained we r e t i r e d »w h ilst a d v is in g the Sultan to entru st the Government to Kamil pacha who was then very p o p u lar because he was considered by the Turkish people as b ein g the ottoman Statesman en jo y in g the most esteem in England. The famous telegram addressed by King Edward V I I to the Sultan Abdul-Hamid at the time of the promulgation o f the second C o n stitu tio n In Turkey had,not by us at l e a s t , been f o r g o t t e n , f o r in the sa id telegram the King of England warmly recommended Kamil to the g o o d - w i l l and c o n f i dence of h is Sovereign..
( I ) c e r t a i n person s»h avin g no a u t h o r it y whatever among t h e i r Turkish fellow -cou ntrym en,are endeavouring to pose in the eyes of the Entente
Legations in Sw itzerland and elsewhere as d is p o s in g of a c e r t a i n in flu e n c e in Turkey. These people have not even h e s it a t e d to have recourse to the most odious calumnies with the so le o b je c t of a t t r a c t i n g a t t e n t i o n to
t h e i r p e r s o n a l i t i e s , i make h e r e in a s p e c i a l point of c a t e g o r i c a l l y de c l a r i n g that we d e c lin e a l l and any r e s p o n s i b i l i t y which may a r i s e from tiiBir ricts*.
At the present tim e,the fo rc e s of the L i b e r a l Opposition are united around t h e i r three well-known le a d e r s who are :
General C h 4 r if,
R4chid B e y ,fo rm e rly M in is t e r of the I n t e r i o r , i n the A n g lo p h ile Cabinet o f Kamil pacha,and m y self.
Already two years ago a complete accord was e s t a b lis h e d between Ch4 rif pacha and m yself,and l a t e l y a s i m i l a r accord has been concluded between t h is eminent statesman and u s . I f the A l l i e s honour us by an i n v i t a t i o n to c o l l a b o r a t e with them f o r the s a l v a t i o n of our c o u n t r y ,I hope that the fo r c e s of the L i b e r a l O p p osition ,both in the i n t e r i o r and e x t e r i o r . w i l l
THE ABANDONMENT OE TEE TURKISH LIBERALS BY ENGLAND AND ITS CONSEQUENCES
Meanwhile the Balkan war was in course o f p r e p a r a t io n . In the name of
l i b e r t y and j u s t i c e the Balkan States had hound themselves to g e t h e r f o r the purpose of f i r s t a t t a c k in g Turkey--- a fte rw a rd s they commenced to
f i g h t with one an o th er. A l l the attempts made by the Sublime Porte with
the Eurpcean Powers,and n o ta b ly the Foreign O f f i c e , to prevent the i l l -omened Balkan war— which has p r e c i p i t a t e d the present one---remained s t e r i l e . S i r Edward Grey,who had d e c la r e d at the outset of the Balkan drama that the Powers would not a llo w the v i c t o r s to take advantage of t h e i r v i c t o r y wished some months l a t e r to impose upon Turkey the Mldia— Enos li n e as her European f r o n t i e r , a n d a l l the attempts made by Kamil and h is c o lle a g u e s to save at l e a s t Adrianople ( a.n e s s e n t i a l l y Turkish town and province ) proved f u t i l e . This a t t it u d e of England created amongst the Turkish people an impression rendered doubly p a i n f u l by the xact that they knew by experience i f Turkey had been v i c t o r i o u s the de c l a r a t i o n of the Powers would have been i n t e g r a l l y executed— as Indeed it was in a p recedin g war that Greece had s t i r r e d up a g a in st Turkey.. Thus Kamil and h is A n g lo p h ile f r ie n d s were com pletely abandoned by Eng land— as we are to -d a y — and in the midst of the n a t i o n a l con stern ation
the Germanophile U n ion ists alone triumphed! A v a i l i n g themselves o f these
circum stances,the l a t t e r s h o r t ly a f t e r attacked the Sublime P o r t e ,a s s
a ssin a te d Nazin pacha and compelled Kamil to r e s i g n . The g r e a t m a jo rity
of the Ottoman L i b e r a l s who were your most sin cere f r ie n d s were ob lig e d to choose between p ris o n and e x i l e .
IF YOUR REPRESENTATIVES IN CONSTANTINOPLE HAD NOT MADE A
POINT OF IGNORING US TO SUCH AN EXTENT !
In the meantime the tra g ed y of the sublime Porte had thrown such enormous d i s c r e d i t upon the le a d e r s o f the Union and Progress that T a la a t pacha,although the triumpher of the day,ju dged i t necessary to
to propose an agreement.
But w h ils t knowing the danger I courted in d e c l i n i n g such propo s a l , ! did not however wish ( d »a c c e p t e r l a p a lx dans l e mal ) and I r e f u sed the hand stretched out to me ( I ) . i f , a t t h i s moment,the r e p r e s e n t a t i ves o f England at Constantinople had se t an example to t h e i r c o lle a g u e s fcy r e f u s i n g to recognise the le g itim a c y of a government - the issue o f a common murder - the Young-Turklsh Government would not have "been a b le to remain in power more than a few days. This i s p r e c i s e l y what I should have lik e d to e x p la in to your r e p r e s e n t a t iv e s in Constantinople i f only these gentlemen had dared to have a t l e a s t courteous r e l a t i o n s with us who yet w ish e d ,a t the p e r i l of our l i v e s , to make the f r i e n d s h i p o f t h e i r c o u n tri triumph w ith in our own.However,strange to sa y ,w ith the exception o f Mon s i e u r de G ie r s ,t h e Russian Ambassador,they only knew and only wished to know in Turkey the Germanophile U n ion ists alone !
THE LAST TURKISH LOAN IN PRANCE AND THE EFFORTS OP THE TURKISH LIBERAL OPPOSITION IN RELATION THERETO :
This tim e,the Ottoman L i t e r a l s , i n the person o f our fr ie n d C h ^ r lf pacha l e f t no stone unturned to prevent the accomplishment o f t h is loan knowing w e l l , t h a t , f a r from being of any p r o f i t to Turkey or to France , i t would only serve to strengthen the p o s i t i o n of the e x p l o i t e r s o f the Turkish p e o p le . B u t»o n c e^ a ga in ,o u r voice was s t i f l e d and the loan agreed t o . 'When,a few months l a t e r , t h e a c t u a l war broke out our people were g r o u n d le s s ly taxed with i n g r a t i t u d e by French p u b lic op in io n ,th e l a t t e r being n a t u r a l l y in e n t i r e Ignorance o f our e f f o r t s to oppose t h is lo a n .
A very t y p i c a l f a c t : The o b s tin a t e z e a l which General C h e r if had shown
in t h is l o a n - a f f a i r had exasperated the U n io n ists to such a degree that they had formed the p r o je c t o f having us a l l murdered openly in P a r i s .
( l > . - . T a l a a t h im se lf confirmed my r e f u s a l in an in te rv ie w which he
granted l a t e r to a correspondent o f the Journal " Le
rat
in " , P a r i s , andTills experiment was t r i e d on the General whose apartment was rid d le d with b u l l e t s . T h e i n s t i g a t o r o f t h is crim e,the famous Gkender,who was a r r e s t e d by the French A u t h o r it i e s and a fte rw a rd s set at l i b e r t y , f e l t h im self en couraged to such an extent by h is r e l e a s e that he had the astounding au d a c i t y to b r in g an a c t io n a g a in s t h is own v ictim !! would i t be generous to s t i l l say that Turkey is alone g u i l t y of a llo w in g h e r s e l f to be drag ged into t h i s war on the s id e o f Germany,whilst the voice o f h er most s i n cere r e p r e s e n t a t iv e s has not even encountered one s i n g l e echo in the c o n s cience o f t h e i r Anglo-French f r ie n d s ?
MY PROPOSAL FOR COLLABORATION TO THE GOVERNMENT OF THE FRENCH REPUBLIC BEFORE THE ATTACK ON THE DARDANELLES !
I am profou ndly g r a t e f u l to the French Government f o r the f a c i l i t i e s granted me at the time o f my journey to Athens at the beginning
o f 1915.But how deeply 1 d ep lo re that the t h e s is I had so a r d e n t ly main
tained at that time was in no way accepted. I strove to prove that the most rapid and e f f i c a c i o u s a ctio n ,a n d a ls o the most e q u i t a b l e » n e c e s s i t a ted then as now a d i r e c t in t e r v e n t io n on the p art of the Entente a g a in st the Union and Progress ;but an in te rv e n tio n based upon the support o f the Turkish people who a r e , i n the g r e a t e s t d e g re e ,th e v ictim s o f t h e i r own
Government.In consequence, instead o f f o r c i n g the g ates o f Constantinople
as enemies,you should have presented y o u rs e lv e s there as sin c e re f r ie n d s and l i b e r a t o r s as was so a r d e n t ly expected o f you by the s o c i a l é l i t e of Turkey.
I t i s obvious that i t was n e c e s sa ry »b e fo re attem pting to f o r ce the D a r d a n e l l e s , to commence by o r g a n isin g a se c re t fo rc e in Turkey i t s e l f l i k e that which we had o u rse lv es c o n s t it u t e d in I9 I2 ,an d which ena b led us at that time to overthrow the usurpers o f the Power.Thus we should have been a b l e , a s we are s t i l l a b le t o - d a y , to form a l i n k between the En tente and Turkey.Ee have always considered such e f f o r t on our part not on l y as our n a t u r a l r ô l e , but a l s o as our most sacred duty !
fh e r e fo r e »with what jo y we should have served the supreme cause o f Peace and the Independence o f t * e world i f you had only lis t e n e d t o our r e i t erated appeal and decided to pass through the D ard anelles as p e r sp ic a c io u s f r ie n d s of a people who,at the bottom o f t h e i r h e a r t , have always c h e r is h ed and esteemed you.
But the a t t i t u d e of "Russia at that time towards Turkey— so opposed as i t was to the most elementary f e e l i n g o f j u s t i c e — s u f f i c e d to f r u s t r a t e a l l the e f f o r t s which we had made with the French and English G overnm ents.... Long b e fo re t h i s war broke ou t,the F oreign O f fi c e had no h e s i t a t i o n in s a c r i f i c i n g Turkey to the growing ambitions o f Czarism in the E a s t . I t is f o r His M a je s t y 's Government to judge whether the present grave e v e n t s , so p r o v i d e n t i a l l y s i g n i f i c a n t , have j u s t i f i e d t h i s point o f v lew ..
CAN THE GERMAN GOVERNMENT PREVENT THE TURKS
FRO! SEPARATING FROM THEM ?
"Perhaps an o b je c t io n may be ra ise d that ,as the Turks are advised by the Germans,our a c t i o n in Turkey would be i l l u s o r y : t h i s is a great e r r o r in our opinion and f o r the f o l l o w i n g reasons:
The German elem ent,as everybody w e l l knows,is only rep resen t ted in the Turkish Empire by a minimal forc e : in e f f e c t , i t is not the German Army which has come to the aid o f Turkey,but on the c o n t r a r y , i t is the Turkish Army»which, up to the present at a l l e ven ts,h as gone to the succour o f t h e i r A l l i e s .
Therefore in case of even a p a r t i a l r e v o lt o f our Aray, but n e v e rth e le ss a r e v o lt capable of b r i n g i n g about the do'wnfall of the Union and P ro g r e s s,th e Germans could be reduced to impotence, in conse quence i t is a b s o l u t e l y necessary in the f i r s t instance that you should
a s s i s t us to organize ou rselves with the view of overthrowing the Union
a nd Prog re s s . which is ¿he s o le support of the German Government in Tur
key. i f a concerted a c t io n based upon a r e c i p r o c a l confidence could
be e s t a b lis h e d between you and o u r s e l v e s , i t would then be not only pos s i b l e but r e a l l y p robable f o r us to get r id o f these b a n e fu l men who have
not ceased to dishonor our countiy since they came Into power.
But t o a t t a i n t h i s r e s u l t , i t is a b s o lu t e ly necessary that we should he enabled to com pletely resaau re our f r i e n d s and p a r t is a n s in the
i n t e r i o r ,a n d above a l l the o f f i c e r s who would assume an e x c e p t io n a lly grave r e s p o n s i b i l i t y as to the fu tu re f a t e o f t h e i r own country. Herein I in no way mean a return to the old o r d e r o f things »which, i f i t became p o s s ib le »w o u ld be in no way,I am convinced from the bottom o f my h eart , d e s i r a b l e f o r us.But the admission in p r i n c i p l e to organise :
A NEW TURKEY AT THE SAKE TIME INDEPENDENT AND SOLIDARY WITH THE ANGLO-SAXON WORLD ( GREAT BRITAIN AND THE UNITED STATES OE AMERICA ) AND WILLINGLY RESPECTING THE RIGHTS OP ALL PEOPLES WHO INHABIT IT
i s rendered v i t a l l y necessary in the i n t e r e s t o f the whole w o r ld .T h is is the t h e s is that I have not ceased to maintain f o r many years past in my own coun try,as the c o rn e r -sto n e o f our i n t e r i o r and e x t e r i o r p o l i c y . I f a l l our e f f o r t s » w h i c h have up to the present made o f our l i v e s a martyr dom,had been in some degree seconded by England and Prance when we were
in open f i g h t a g a in st the a p p a l l i n g i n i q u i t i e s and the r e v o l t i n g i n j u s t i - oos o f the Hamidian régime at f i r s t , a n d a fte rw a rd s o f that o f the Union
and Progress »Turfcey would have had,from the outset of the w ar,the jo y
o f shedding the blood o f h er sons to d efe n d ,b y your s i d e ,t h e cause of the Future o f the world.And the war would p robably now have been ended ! But
i f , e v e n t o - d a y , a n immediate and a c t i v e c o l l a b o r a t i o n could be brought
about between you and u s , i t is p robable that such c o l l a b o r a t i o n would p o w e r fu lly c o n trib u t e to re d ress in the fu tu re the mortal e r r o r s o f the past by c o n s o lid a t in g the Justice o f your own cause - in t h is part of the world where i t le a v e s the most to be d e s ire d - and by sp a rin g f u r t h e r thousands o f l i v e s from u s e le s s s a c r i f i c e .
F i n a l l y , i n c o n sid é râ t ion o f the immense advantage that such a c o l l a b o r a t i o n can produce,what is the le g it i m a t e o b s ta c le which i s oppo sed to i t s accomplishment ?
Kişisel Arşivlerde Istanbul Belleği Taha Toros Arşivi
