Talaat Pasha
Mehmed Talat Pasha (Turkish: Mehmet Talat Paşa) (1872-1921) was one of leaders of the Young Turks, Ottoman statesman, grand vizier (1917), and leading member of the Sublime Porte from 1913 until 1918. One of the architects of the Armenian Genocide.
Soghomon Tehlirian, whose family had been killed in the Armenian genocide, assassinated the exiled Talat in Berlin in March 1921 and was subsequently acquitted after a jury trial.
Talaat was buried into the Turkish Cemetery in Berlin. In 1943, his remains were taken to Istanbul and reburied in Şişli. His war memories were published after his death. A Black Book kept by Talaat detailing numbers of Armenian deportees was recently released by Talaat's relatives and has become a major source of proof of the Armenian Genocide.
Quotes
In a conversation with Dr. Mordtmann of the German Embassy in June 1915...
- Turkey is taking advantage of the war in order to thoroughly liquidate (grundlich aufzaumen) its internal foes, i.e., the indigenous Christians, without being thereby disturbed by foreign intervention.
After the German Ambassador persistently brought up the Armenian question in 1918, Talat said "with a smile"...
- What on earth do you want? The question is settled. There are no more Armenians.