Mustafa Suphi or Mustafa Subhi (1883 – 28 January 1921) was a

Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

revolutionary and

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

during the period of

dissolution of the Ottoman Empire The dissolution of the Ottoman Empire (1908–1922) began with the Young Turk Revolution which restored the constitution of 1876 and brought in multi-party politics with a two-stage electoral system for the Ottoman parliament. At the same tim ...

Early life

Suphi was born in 1883 in

Giresun Province Giresun Province ( tr, ) is a province of Turkey on the Black Sea coast. Its adjacent provinces are Trabzon to the east, Gümüşhane to the southeast, Erzincan to the south, Sivas to the southwest, and Ordu to the west. Its license-plate cod ...

, in the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

, now located in

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

. He was educated in

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

Damascus )), is an adjective which means "spacious". , motto = , image_flag = Flag of Damascus.svg , image_seal = Emblem of Damascus.svg , seal_type = Seal , map_caption = , ...

and

Erzurum Erzurum (; ) is a city in eastern Anatolia, Turkey. It is the largest city and capital of Erzurum Province and is 1,900 meters (6,233 feet) above sea level. Erzurum had a population of 367,250 in 2010. The city uses the double-headed eagle as ...

before he attended

Galatasaray High School Galatasaray High School ( tr, Galatasaray Lisesi, french: Lycée de Galatasaray), established in what was then Constantinople and is now Istanbul, in 1481, is the oldest high school in Turkey. It is also the second-oldest Turkish educational in ...

. He studied political science in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, where he was also a correspondent of the Turkish newspaper '' Tanin''. He returned to Turkey in 1910, where he edited the newspaper ''Ifham''. He also gave lectures on

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

and

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

. In 1913 he was accused of involvement in the assassination of Mahmud Şevket Pasha and sentenced to fifteen years of exile in

Sinop Sinop can refer to: * Sinop, Turkey, a city on the Black Sea ** Sinop Nuclear Power Plant, was planned in 2013, but cancelled in 2018 ** Battle of Sinop, 1853 naval battle in the Sinop port *** Russian ship ''Sinop'', Russian ships named after the ...

. There, he contributed articles about western philosophy to the periodicals ''Ictiha'' and ''Hak''. However, in 1914 he escaped from Sinop and fled to Russia, where, following the outbreak of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Russian authorities regarded him as a prisoner of war and sent him into exile in the

Ural Ural may refer to: *Ural (region), in Russia and Kazakhstan *Ural Mountains, in Russia and Kazakhstan *Ural (river), in Russia and Kazakhstan * Ual (tool), a mortar tool used by the Bodo people of India *Ural Federal District, in Russia *Ural econ ...

region.

Communist activism

Manifesto of the Communist Party, translated to Turkish language by Mustafa Suphi (unfinished)

In 1915, he was in the Urals, where he joined the

Bolshevik The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...

Party. In July 1918, he helped organise the

Congress of the Turkish Left Socialists A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ad ...

, held in Moscow, and in November, he became involved in

Muskom Muskom was the ''Central Commissariat of Muslim affairs in Inner Russia and Siberia'' set up by the Bolsheviks in January 1918 as part of Narkomnats. Mullanur Waxitov was appointed as chair, although he was not a member of the Communist Party. Mirs� ...

. He was also elected to the ''Central Committee of the All Russia Muslim Workers'' section of

Narkomnats The People's Commissariat of Nationalities of the RSFSR (, ''Narodny komissariat po delam natsional'nostey RSFSR''), abbreviated NKNats () or Narkomnats (), an organisation functioning from 1917 to 1924 in the early Soviet period of Russian and Sov ...

. He acted as

Mirsäyet Soltanğäliev Mirsaid Sultan-Galiev ( tt-Cyrl, Мирсәет Хәйдәргали улы Солтангалиев, ''Mirsäyet Xäydärğäli ulı Soltanğäliev'', pronounced ; russian: Мирсаид Хайдаргалиевич Султан-Галиев ''M ...

's secretary. In 1918 he founded ''

Yeni Dünya ''Yeni Dünya'' (Ottoman Turkish: ''New World'') was an Ottoman Turkish language communist journal which existed between 1918 and 1921 in Soviet Russia and Transcaucasia. It is known for its founder and editor, Mustafa Subhi. The journal was inst ...

'' (New World) in Moscow and used it to popularise the foundations of scientific socialism to Turkish prisoners-of-war. He was chairperson of the Turkish Section of Eastern Publicity Bureau, and in 1919 attended the First Congress of the

Third International The Communist International (Comintern), also known as the Third International, was a Soviet-controlled international organization founded in 1919 that advocated world communism. The Comintern resolved at its Second Congress to "struggle by a ...

as the delegate for Turkey. At the First Congress of Communist Party of Turkey, held in

Baku Baku (, ; az, Bakı ) is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. Baku is located below sea level, which makes it the lowest lying national capital in the world a ...

on 10 September 1920, Suphi was elected its chairman and went to

Anatolia Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...

. He was one of the 15 communists who went to Turkey to join the

Turkish War of Independence The Turkish War of Independence "War of Liberation", also known figuratively as ''İstiklâl Harbi'' "Independence War" or ''Millî Mücadele'' "National Struggle" (19 May 1919 – 24 July 1923) was a series of military campaigns waged by th ...

. After encountering hostility in

, the communists tried to return to Baku. However, they were murdered by Sailor Yahya after they had set sail from

Trabzon Trabzon (; Ancient Greek: Tραπεζοῦς (''Trapezous''), Ophitic Pontic Greek: Τραπεζούντα (''Trapezounta''); Georgian: ტრაპიზონი (''Trapizoni'')), historically known as Trebizond in English, is a city on the Bl ...

on the night of 28 January 1921. He was possibly murdered by a group of supporters of

Enver Pasha İsmail Enver, better known as Enver Pasha ( ota, اسماعیل انور پاشا; tr, İsmail Enver Paşa; 22 November 1881 – 4 August 1922) was an Ottoman military officer, revolutionary, and convicted war criminal who formed one-third ...

from Trabzon, apparently because of the fear that Suphi might expose Enver Pasha's plans of political activities in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

and his ultimate intention of using the Bolsheviks to regain power in Turkey once the

Turkish National Movement The Turkish National Movement ( tr, Türk Ulusal Hareketi) encompasses the political and military activities of the Turkish revolutionaries that resulted in the creation and shaping of the modern Republic of Turkey, as a consequence of the defe ...

were defeated. :''There is need to provide army service area in order to establish links between the partisan troops in various locations of Anatolia and there is need to establish Military-Revolution Committee so as to strengthen this movement. This organization is going to be independent; but our organization will guide it. All the mission of Military-Revolution Committee of Turkey will concentrate on the direction of progression and preservation of the movement of social revolution both in Soviet Russia and worldwide. It will prove useful for Anatolian movement against English – French occupiers, for the spread of this movement throughout the Caucasus and for the organization of Soviet power in those places. Military-Revolution Committee of Turkey taking control of all the duties in Anatolia by means of making use of the first opportunity, will build Socialist Turkey and run towards the aim of joining hands with neighbour Soviet Russia.'' (M. Suphi; Moscow, 28 October 1919)

Assassination

Suphi was killed by Sailor Yahya together with his communist comrades while traveling to

Batumi Batumi (; ka, ბათუმი ) is the second largest city of Georgia and the capital of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara, located on the coast of the Black Sea in Georgia's southwest. It is situated in a subtropical zone at the foot of th ...

in the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Roma ...

on 28 January 1921.

Sources

Biography
a
Marxists Internet Archive

References

External links