Talat Paşa Tomb
About the Person:
- Talat Paşa was born on September 1, 1874, in Edirne. Due to financial hardship at a young age, he began working early, serving in the Edirne Post and Telegraph Office, where he learned French and Greek. He became involved in the Young Turk movement, was arrested in 1896 for ties to the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), and imprisoned for three years. After his release in 1898, he was exiled to Thessaloniki. There, he worked as a low-ranking clerk, became active in Masonic and Bektashi circles, co-founded the Ottoman Liberty Society in 1906, and helped merge it in 1907 with the Paris-based Committee of Union and Progress.
- He played a crucial role in the proclamation of the Second Constitutional Era in 1908, was elected deputy of Edirne, and became deputy speaker of the Ottoman Parliament. He served as Minister of the Interior in 1909. He was a key figure in the 1913 Bâbıâli Raid that brought the CUP to power, returning to the Ministry of the Interior. During World War I, he was one of the main leaders overseeing the war effort and was directly involved in drafting and implementing the 1915 Deportation Law.
- Appointed Grand Vizier on February 3, 1917, he led the Ottoman delegation at the Brest-Litovsk Peace Talks. After Sultan Reşad’s death in 1918, he resigned briefly, returned to office, and eventually resigned again on October 8, 1918, after the Ottoman defeat in the war. He chaired the last CUP congress, which decided to dissolve the party, then fled abroad with Enver and Cemal Paşa.
- While in Berlin, he continued CUP-related activities until his assassination on March 15, 1921, by Soghomon Tehliryan, who claimed revenge for the events of 1915. Tehliryan was acquitted by a German court. Talat Paşa’s remains were returned to Turkey in 1943 and interred on the Hill of Eternal Liberty (Hürriyet-i Ebediyye Tepesi).
About the Tomb:
Construction Year: 1943
Ordered by: Turkish Republic
Architect: Unknown
Prominent Features:
- Talat Paşa’s grave is a simple monumental tomb.
- Inscriptions on the monument indicate his identity and death.
- The area surrounding the tomb includes the graves of other prominent members of the Committee of Union and Progress and key figures from the Second Constitutional Era.
- The monument holds symbolic importance in Turkish political history, especially as it relates to the legacy of the CUP.
