THE LATE SHEFKET PASHA

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXV, Issue LXV, 18 June 1913, Page 2

THE LATE SHEFKET PASHA

HIS ASSASSINATION AND CAREER

Shefket Pasha (Prime Minister of Turkey;. wlio was shot dead at Constantinople on June'U, assumed of nee when his predecessor, Kiamil Pasha, was exiled by the Young Turks at the time of tne murder of Nazi in I'asha, Commander-\n-Chief of the Turkish Army. Kiainil's recent ret urn to xhe capital, coupled with an assurance to iNazira's widow that her husband's death would not long be unavenged, were indications of the disturbed state of Turkish affairs ,and bhefket must have recognised the danger under which he lived. He was a brave and fearless leader, however, and, in view of the chaotic, condition ot atiairs in Constantinople, no man could more ill be spared than the General who made possible the dethronement of Abdul Hamid. Shefket l'asha received his military education in Germany. As he returned I a well-trained soldier, the ex-Sultan j Abdul Hamid was afraid of him and determined ho should have uo position of trust. Abdul Hamid was always afraid of new ideas and foreign education, because they-caused people to criticise his proceedings. So Mahnioud bhefket Was sent into the province of Macedonia with nothing important to do, while men who had risen from the ranks and had had no more military education than a private, were put over his head. But. though virtually an exile in Macedonian villages, Shexket cud not let the grass grow under his feet. Is'ot only were his troops well trained, but he instilled in them much of the discipline •■•■ which -he liad learned iti ■Germany, laving with, soldier-like simplicity! himself. :h€ devoted the proceeds of a uite a large^fertttne.-to the-betterment of the troops ~'h& I*a4 v iider himtf The result "was that," 'in .a ■ f cdv. years, k.the '.men. of ihe : Salonika regiment &&& as 'different jfronv ihe-jQ^ier Turkish' troops, as day from night. "" - -^ •< . t : -. '\Vhen the revolution broke out in 1908. Shefket had the Macedonian, army ready to march on Constantinople and, if need be, enforce the constitution" with the sword. He is no believer in bloodless revolutions. "You cannot havea revolution without loss of life," he said, "because- you must make the reactionary part fear you, and the only way to do that is to show them howma ny more people you can kill than they. Of course, you • can act with humanity and kill a minimum of peoj pie." 80 when ho heard in the autumn that his arm.v was not wanted, he smiled and kept his men hard at work. When the constitution was established the Young Turks sent for him to be commander of the Yildiz Kiosk garrison. Had he remained there it is more than likely that the "mutiny" of 1908 would never have taken place. But. as the result of Palace intrigues, he had been sent back to Macedonia. When the reactionary revolt came, Shefket had his men in readiness —their arms were bought with his own fortune, which he has quite sacrificed to the cause —but his appeal was answered by men whom all Macedonia had learned to fear. Panitza, a notorious Comitadji, and Sandanski, another of the same kindney, marched up to Salonika with 15,000 men of their bands. Volunteers. poured in from all parts of Macedonia',- and begged to be "allowed , to march to Sbamboul under Shefket's orders. Had he taken them all, he would have had no less than 100,000 men —Turks, Greeks, Bulgars and Jews —under his standard. As it iv;:s, he started witn upwards of 45,000, all sworn to die rather than let ihe constitution be revoked, and all eager to dethrone the man who had played them ' false. ......... . . '-. :■ <;• ' -•■ .'; }*;■■■ < I ■ : : {It -was only after ■Shefketls .imperial prisoner was oii 'his ■wa.-xv--.t6 Salonika '■' thrrt'i3ie'Basha;told the"Young Turks what he hail done. Then lie sent a . message .down to the •■Chamber' of "•-BepTitieiS-s-sayirig-:-"HW 4iad ifotind it necessary to take the .ex-Sultan \ts> Salonika." Those present were too . ; astonished to speak when they heard it. • One-suggested putting it to the vote. " "What is the use of voting ■about an accomplished fact?" asked another. The rest agreed with him and passed a vote of thanks on Shefket's message. Some Young Turks asked him t6 delay the occupation of Constantinople for a day or two. "I occupy it on Saturday or. not at all," was the answer. They found out the reason afterwards. For on Saturday the reactionists, determined to make a final effort, had employed 500 Kurds to sack the shops and bazaars and bomb the inhabitants, massacring all Europeans without mercy.. When the first shots were fired, as if by magic, all the embassies, public buildings and hotels were surrounded by strong pickets commanded by officers who spoke French. This did much to calm the foreign element in the town. And it is to Shefket's credit that his army did not kill one civilian, that not one shop was touched, not one woman was molested. . After this Shefket undertook the work of army reorganisation, but the forces of corruption were too strong for him. and when the Balkan League attacked his country, the weakness of the Turkish position was revealed. Shefket was in command of one of the smaller armies, but he was able to achieve nothing, his most important movement, an attack on the Bulgarian left wins-from Midia, failing, ow-iiig to lack of efficiont transport and artillery. He was only 42 years of age, and was on© of the few . who could make the regeneration of Turkey possible. -