1918-10-22-DK-001

1918-10-22-DK-001

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Source: DK/RA-UM/Gruppeordnede sager 1909-1945. 139. D. 1, ”Tyrkiet - Indre Forhold”. Pakke 2, fra Jan. 1917 – 1. Jan. 1919
Edition: Danish diplomatic sources
Departure of telegram: 10/22/1918
Embassy/consular serial number: Nr. 91
Translated by: Matthias Bjørnlund
Last updated: 03/27/2012

The minister in Constantinople (Carl Ellis Wandel) to the Foreign Minister (Erik Scavenius)

Report

No. 91
Constantinople, 22 October 1918. Copy No. LXXXXI [91]. 139. D. 1. [To] Mr. Foreign Minister Erik Scavenius, R. af Dbg. [Knight of Dannebrog].
Mr. Foreign Minister,
The situation in Constantinople developed so fast since my last dispatch that there was no longer any possibility for me to predict events, but only to record them.

Censorship suppressed all political press reports that were not edited in Berlin, Constantinople, or Vienna, and no mail arrived here from abroad.

Talaat Pasha was on his way home from Berlin, and the papers dwelt, as ordered, on his accomplishments in the Caucasus when the English grew tired of his duplicity and suddenly broke the negotiations which they long had conducted in secret with the Turks as they handed his official negotiator, the governor of Smyrna, Rahmi Bey, an ultimatum of sorts.

At the same time the first, very much distorted, reports about the Bulgarian collapse reached Constantinople.

Talaat Pasha who, judging from the papers, had left Berlin officially determined to continue the war on the side of Germany, had a conversation on the railway station in Sofia with Malinoff [Bulgarian Prime Minister Aleksandar Malinov] that lasted an hour and a half, and he then requested to speak to the king [Ferdinand I], but to no avail.

King Ferdinand answered that he had nothing to add to what his Prime Minister had said. He no longer had a functioning army at his disposal, and his decision was irrevocable.

When the Grand Vizier arrived in Constantinople 27 September his government was thus in a difficult position.

Bulgaria's defection, the defeat in Syria, and the consequences these event had in Germany compromised the Committee's policy, and the dissatisfaction in Stamboul with the Unionist government was so widespread that a Cabinet crisis immediately commenced.

The Sultan [Mehmed VI] wanted peace and wished to leave the formation of a new government to the old Tewfik Pasha [Ahmet Tevfik Pasha], while the Pashas Talaat and Enver sought to buy time until the initial shock would pass, and they managed to claim that the danger for Turkey was not as imminent as was first believed.

The Committee was not summoned until 30 September to consider the situation, and with a tiny majority it decided to continue the war.

It did, however, become clear on this occasion that the Committee was divided into two groups, of which one - Talaat's and Enver's - was still the largest, while the other - the defeatists and the least compromised of its members - gathered around Fethy Bey [Ali Fethi Bey(Okyar)], until recently the Turkish envoy at Sofia, whom the German ambassador had attempted in vain to win over and who had predicted what would happen.

Fethy Bey quickly organized his party and demanded that the Committee was summoned to a new meeting 7 October when Prince Max of Baden's [Maximillian Alexander Friedrich Wilhelm von Baden] nomination for Chancellor and Germany's application to President Wilson had strengthened his position to such a degree that he did not fear a test of strength with Talaat and Enver.

The pressure which Fethy Bey and his supporters at this meeting succeeded in putting on the Committee's right [wing] was so strong that Talaat and his friends agreed to ostensibly withdraw and allow the formation of a new government, but this did not satisfy Fethy Bey, and a conflict between the two Committee groups became inevitable.

Fethy Bey wanted to neutralize Talaat's influence and present a new government to the Entente that was completely independent of the old one which the Entente did not want to negotiate with, while Talaat only wanted to withdraw on the condition that he kept the power and the access to secretly control his successors' actions.

In other words, once again Talaat wanted to have two governments, an official one for show, and a secret one that has the power.

Talaat Pasha controlled the majority in the Chamber of Deputies, whose members are simply 'appointed' by the Committee, and when he had handed in his letter of resignation he was therefore capable of putting serious obstacles in the way of Tewfik Pasha whom the Sultan had entrusted with the formation of a new government.

But Tewfik Pasha would not accept to include in his government the members of the Committee which the Committee wanted to force upon him, so the Sultan had to give up on his unequivocal peace policy for the time being and approach his aide-de-camp, General Izzet Pasha, who did not shy away from cooperating with the Unionists, and who formed the present administration which is a coalition administration of sorts wherein he included Fethy Bey as Minister of Interior and kept Talaat's Minister of Finance, Djavid Bey.

Izzet Pasha's cabinet has to lean on the Committee which has the majority in the Chamber, although the cabinet must be regarded as close to being anti-Unionist.

Halil Bey, Talaat's Foreign Minister and Minister of Justice, is still Chairman of the Chamber of Deputies, and Talaat himself is Chairman of the Chamber's Commission for Foreign Affairs.

In order to seek to counter the danger for the new regime which is connected to this lack of consistency, Fethy Bey has formed a party which calls itself the Progressives [Teceddut Firkasi; 'Renovation Party' or 'Reform Party'], and several other so-called political parties are in the making.

But it is obvious that a truly independent government will not be able to stay in power until the Chamber is dissolved and new elections take place.

The latest domestic political events seem, however, when compared with Talaat's despotism under Mehmed V, to have led to tentative efforts at parliamentarism following a European pattern, but political parties, consisting of men whose common opinions, common goals, and mutual respect for each
other unite them, such parties do not yet exist in Turkey.

Instead of political parties that try through constitutional means to realize a program which they openly and honestly acknowledge, there are here only unprincipled rivals and their adherents who strive for honor and power or wealth rather than care for the actual welfare of the country.

The new government which came to power 15 October seems, though, to have concentrated on several worthy tasks. It appears, at least, that the personal qualities of the new Grand Vizier guarantees this.

General Izzet Pasha is undoubtedly a well-meaning and unselfish patriot, but his government is still extremely weak when compared to Talaat's energetic regime, and as he in himself is an exception he will hardly gain many supporters in the long run.

As far as I can tell his endeavors are focused on rehabilitating Turkey in the eyes of the foreign countries before the peace settlement. He tries the best he can to neutralize the effects of the Committee's many injustices during the last 4 years.

To wit, amnesty has been granted what were political offenses during the reign of Talaat and Enver, and the deported Arabs, Armenians, and Greeks have been allowed to return home and make claims regarding the material damage they have suffered.

The officials who carry the responsibility for the Armenian massacres are being removed and indicted.

I have already kept Mr. Foreign Minister informed through telegraph about the semi-official peace negotiations, or, rather, the temporary negotiations about a separate ceasefire for Turkey which have been resumed with the Entente Powers in Smyrna and elsewhere, and as soon as the conditions allow it they will likely be resumed officially, because there can no longer be any talk of a continuation of the war when it comes to Turkey.

The collapse of Turkey, which was predicted in my reports long ago, has long been a fact which only became obvious much later than I expected because the English have acted much slower and more careful than necessary at the Turkish fronts since the defeat at Kut-el-Amara.

Apparently, the English thought that Turkey still had a little military staying power left, and they did not want to strike the final blow until they were sure of victory.

In any case, they would have easily achieved victory long ago because they would not have met any resistance worth mentioning.

That this is the case is being admitted without reservations by the German and Austrian military officials here as the game is lost for them and they prepare to leave Turkey.

However, there is still some doubt here whether Izzet Pasha's mixed government will be Turkey's final peace administration as is still not free but is only able to negotiate, while the Entente Powers may demand that Turkey shall surrender like Bulgaria.

If the Entente will not officially negotiate with Izzet Pasha, then it is possible that Tewfik Pasha comes to power, but he is unlikely to agree to form a government unless the Chambers are dissolved, and in that case the development is likely to once again take a reactionary turn.

The question concerning the large amount of money the Committee has embezzled during the war, and which it probably owes the nation, might therefore also soon arise.

With the highest esteem I remain, Mr. Minister, yours faithfully,
(sign.) C. E. Wandel