A TURKISH CABINET—THE THREE BEST-KNOWN MINISTERS—A CABINET OF YOUNG MEN
UNLIKE the European type to which we are accustomed, the Cabinet of the
Assembly is almost exclusively composed of very young men, possessed,
however, of the strong determination to serve their country.
Mustapha Kemal Pasha has great faith in youth, and his oldest minister
is probably no more than forty-two. “Youth,” he said, “makes mistakes
that can be corrected; age and experience make the mistakes of routine.”
Fethi Bey, who is the chief’s right hand, also believes in youth, and
was himself a minister at thirty-two.
[Illustration:
RAUF BEY—PRIME MINISTER.
EX-NAVAL OFFICER.
He speaks perfect English and knows England better than any other
Turk.
p. 192
]
Here, again, the Prime Minister and his Cabinet are independent, the one
of the other. One may fall, while the other remains. I am inclined to
think, on closer examination, that the Ministers are seldom entrusted
with the initiative and responsibility which _our_ Ministers, in theory
at least, enjoy; although for them all criticism and supervision comes,
as it were, from below. They might, perhaps, be best described as Heads
of Departments, whose every action is open to all eyes in the Assembly,
submitted to the keenest scrutiny, and freely discussed. Sometimes they
seem able to keep their position after heated discussions and
interpolations, but, on the other hand, they may fall in consequence of
some detail which, with us, would pass unnoticed—such as the nomination
of an unsatisfactory functionary. They are all, certainly, very able
men; with extraordinary energy, enthusiasm, and devotion. Although not
constituted as a formal Cabinet, they meet to consider the most
important questions that will come before the Assembly. Mustapha Kemal
Pasha is entitled to preside at these meetings whenever he desires to be
present; but, as a rule, the Chair is taken by Rauf Bey, Prime Minister
without a Portfolio. They are not appointed by the President or the
Prime Minister, but _elected_ by the whole Assembly.
I have discussed this system with many of our European statesmen, who,
one and all—including Lord Curzon—do not consider that it could
permanently work well or be successfully applied to any stable,
important State.
The Turks, however, maintain that a Minister should only be elected to
watch, as it were, the special interests and concerns of his Department,
and that the _People_ themselves should be _responsible_, through their
representatives in Parliament, for _all_ legislation. The Assembly
controls both law-making and administration.
For them, of course, we of the West cannot decide, or, perhaps, judge.
We have scarcely of late years earned the right to criticise!
Rauf Bey is a man of about forty, a gentleman as we understand the word,
who has travelled among the best intellects of Europe, and had the
courage and energy to adapt many ideals thus acquired to the needs of
his own country. His brilliance and his devotion are universally
acknowledged.
Formerly a Naval officer, he distinguished himself in all the wars of
the last twenty-five years; and his command of the _Hamidieh_ in the
Balkan War, against the whole of the Greek Fleet, is not yet forgotten.
As Marine Minister in Izzet Pasha’s Cabinet he accompanied General
Townshend and Admiral Calthorpe to Mudros, and signed the Armistice with
the Allies. In the Chamber of Deputies at Constantinople he did not
hesitate to avow his allegiance to Mustapha Kemal, and was consequently
one of the first to be arrested by the English and sent to Malta.
Handsome, intelligent, a hard worker, subtle and liberal-minded, he very
soon came to the front. He was the first Vice-President of the Assembly,
and became Prime Minister last May. During the absence of Ismet Pasha at
Lausanne, he also acted as Minister of Foreign Affairs.
I heard him several times during my stay in Angora, and his fearless
speeches were not only a political event, but always caused something of
a sensation outside the capital.
He has never disguised his love for England, nor what he owes to her
education. The disillusion after Mudros and at Malta was hard to bear.
He had not only to mourn for a shattered idol, but to suffer abuse from
his fellow-countrymen for a trust of which he had been so proud.
He is, however, far too intelligent to quarrel with a whole nation for
the errors of its Government. “The future depends on England,” he said;
“we can do nothing to improve relations until peace is signed; but there
will be abundant opportunities in the future, and, if England is
willing, she can come to us then.”
“In six months,” I replied, “we shall be as great friends as ever we
were.”
“That, again, depends entirely upon you.”
I asked him whether large concessions had been made to France in return
for her political support.
“As the first to understand the Nationalist movement,” he replied, “we
owe her a great moral debt; which I have myself acknowledged and called
on the world to witness. But for concessions, the field is open to all.
We shall, naturally, accept the most advantageous offer.”
* * * * *
Rauf Bey has strong theories about education; and has determined that it
shall be made to develop the new Ideal. He closed a school at Adalia
because the children had been taught that Smyrna is Greek and the
Eastern villayets are Armenian. “Every Turk should learn that Smyrna has
never been Greek; an alien minority, protected by foreign powers, has
been the cause of all our troubles.”
It is, obviously, of the first importance that Turkish children should
be inspired, from the beginning, with loyalty to the Fatherland by
knowing the fine story of its growth. “We need schools, and good foreign
schools,” said Rauf Bey, “but until they will work under our supervision
and control we show no favour to any offender, French, American or
Italian—we close all.”
I hear that in the American College at Broussa a Turkish woman has been
appointed to teach geography and history, a concession one hopes will
soon be generally adopted.
* * * * *
Rauf Bey had told me, on board the _Agamemnon_, what had been said to
Admiral Calthorpe when the Armistice was signed: “We are here to end the
terrible bloodshed of so many years. We accept these terms because we
know that the great English nation and the Allies will keep their
words.” Then, to his own officers: “Is it not true, gentlemen, England
always keeps her word?” and they all answered, “Yes.”
But we know what happened!
* * * * *
So much has been written about his unfortunate reception in London in
1922, that Fethi Bey, the Minister of the Interior, is well known to us.
Seeing that everyone is given a courteous hearing in Turkish Ministries,
one feels this unnecessary discourtesy the more. And Fethi Bey, like
Mustapha Kemal Pasha and Rauf Bey, was an ardent admirer of England,
cured for ever by the war of any affection for Germany.
As an Army officer, for two years military attaché in Paris, secretary
to the Committee of Union and Progress in Sofia, and Minister of the
Interior in Izzet Pasha’s Cabinet, Fethi Bey has had a varied and useful
career. During his stay in Sofia, Mustapha Kemal was his military
attaché, and they were both staff captains at Salonika. It was as a
prisoner in Malta that he learnt the fluent English he had so little
occasion to speak in London.
FETHI BEY, MINISTER OF THE INTERIOR OF NEW TURKEY.
No picture of Angora could be complete without a photo of Fethi Bey. As
this has not arrived in time, we leave his place empty, as one leaves
the place of the absent friend at the festive board—unfilled.
He is very observant and far-seeing, undemonstrative, and, despite his
charming smile, bitingly sarcastic; not, perhaps, quite so daring as
Rauf Bey, but more level-headed. In a country devastated from end to
end, and lacking in every necessity, he has shown marvellous skill as an
organiser. Very early each morning he leaves his simple villa at
Tchan-Kaya for the tiny primitive office in which he “handles” a
constant stream of callers, busy about every variety of concerns, with
an almost American speed. After a hasty lunch he goes to the Assembly,
and finally rides home, often through many inches of snow, in which no
car or carriage could make its way.
The last of the “three great men” of the Assembly, Ismet Pasha, is well
known and respected in Europe for his titanic duel with Lord Curzon.
Though now only thirty-eight, it was he who created, out of nothing, the
fine army which chased the Greeks out of Asia Minor. Victor at the two
In Eunus, it was he who won back all the enemy-occupied territory as far
as the Mediterranean. As victor also at Moudania, it was he who, with a
dignified courtesy that astonished the whole Conference, defended the
“Nationalist” interests at Lausanne.
Of the other personalities in the Cabinet one could write much. To
understand, and sum up, the strength and importance of the Assembly, one
must meet and know them all.
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