Mehmet Cavit Bey, Mehmed Cavid Bey or Mehmed Djavid Bey ( ota, محمد جاوید بك; 1875 – 26 August 1926) was an Ottoman

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...

, newspaper

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, photographic, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, or ...

and leading

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, ...

during the dissolution period of 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 ...

. A founding member of the

Committee of Union and Progress The Committee of Union and Progress (CUP) ( ota, اتحاد و ترقى جمعيتی, translit=İttihad ve Terakki Cemiyeti, script=Arab), later the Union and Progress Party ( ota, اتحاد و ترقى فرقه‌سی, translit=İttihad ve Tera ...

(CUP), he was part of the Young Turks and had positions in government after the constitution was re-established. In the beginning of the Republican period, he was executed for alleged involvement in an assassination attempt against

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, or Mustafa Kemal Pasha until 1921, and Ghazi Mustafa Kemal from 1921 Surname Law (Turkey), until 1934 ( 1881 – 10 November 1938) was a Turkish Mareşal (Turkey), field marshal, Turkish National Movement, re ...

Early years and career

Cavit was born in the

Salonica Vilayet The Vilayet of Salonica ( ota, ولايت سلانيك, Vilâyet-i Selânik) was a first-level administrative division ( vilayet) of the Ottoman Empire from 1867 to 1912. In the late 19th century it reportedly had an area of .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 ...

(modern day

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area, and the capital of the geographic region of ...

). His father was Naim, a merchant, and his mother was Pakize; they were cousins. His family had links to followers of

Sabbatai Zevi Sabbatai Zevi (; August 1, 1626 – c. September 17, 1676), also spelled Shabbetai Ẓevi, Shabbeṯāy Ṣeḇī, Shabsai Tzvi, Sabbatai Zvi, and ''Sabetay Sevi'' in Turkish, was a Jewish mystic and ordained rabbi from Smyrna (now İzmir, Turk ...

, and he was a Dönme. He learnt

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

and

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

, attending the progressive Şemsi Efendi School, the same school as

Mustafa Kemal Pasha Mustafa ( ar, مصطفى , Muṣṭafā) is one of the names of Prophet Muhammad, and the name means "chosen, selected, appointed, preferred", used as an Arabic given name and surname. Mustafa is a common name in the Muslim world. Given name Mou ...

. He attended Mülkiye academy in

Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...

for civil servants, and upon graduation he secured employment with a state bank, and at the same time taught economics and worked within the Ministry of Education.Dawn: Turkey in the Age of Atatürk
by Ryan Gingeras Cavit was more successful than the average state employee in Istanbul, but for unknown reasons he decided to leave his budding career and move back to Salonica. As fears of collapse grew in Salonica amidst the spreading insurrections and violence of the Balkans and the autocratic rule and inaction of Abdülhamid II, foreign influence over the Ottoman state also grew (along with the nation's debt). Cavid and other supporters of the Ottoman nation came to believe that the sultan had to step aside for the good of the empire. This core group founded the

(CUP), called the Young Turks by foreign press. After the proclamation of the Second Constitution in 1908, he was elected deputy of Salonica and Kale-i Sultaniye ( Çanakkale) into the parliament in Constantinople. Following the

31 March Incident The 31 March Incident ( tr, 31 Mart Vakası, , , or ) was a political crisis within the Ottoman Empire in April 1909, during the Second Constitutional Era. Occurring soon after the 1908 Young Turk Revolution, in which the Committee of Union and Pr ...

in 1909, Cavit Bey was appointed

minister of finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", ...

in the cabinet of

Grand Vizier Grand vizier ( fa, وزيرِ اعظم, vazîr-i aʾzam; ota, صدر اعظم, sadr-ı aʾzam; tr, sadrazam) was the title of the effective head of government of many sovereign states in the Islamic world. The office of Grand Vizier was first ...

Tevfik Pasha Ahmet Tevfik Pasha ( ota, احمد توفیق پاشا‎; 11 February 1845 – 8 October 1936), later Ahmet Tevfik Okday after the Turkish Surname Law of 1934, was an Ottoman statesman of Crimean Tatar origin. He was the last Grand vizi ...

. In the aftermath of the Savior Officer insurrection and repression of the CUP, Cavit hid in a French battleship and escaped to

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Fra ...

s. Cavit would regain his position in the wake of Grand Vizier Mahmud Şevket Pasha's assassination. Following the orchestrated Black Sea Raid on Russian ports in 1914, Cavit resigned. For the next few weeks, central committee brother Dr. Mehmed Nazım himself also a Dönme would bully Cavit for being a "treacherous Jew". He remained an influential figure in the Empire's dealings with Germany until he returned to his post in February 1917. Up to the

Armistice of Mudros Concluded on 30 October 1918 and taking effect at noon the next day, the Armistice of Mudros ( tr, Mondros Mütarekesi) ended hostilities in the Middle Eastern theatre between the Ottoman Empire and the Allies of World War I. It was signed by th ...

in 1918 following the

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, Cavit Bey played an important role in the CUP. Cavit Bey represented the Ottoman Empire in postwar financial negotiations in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

and

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...

. During World War I, Cavid was not fully trusted by the CUP leadership. He did not find out about the

Armenian genocide The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), it was implemented primarily through t ...

until August 1915, and condemned it in his diary, writing "Ottoman history has never opened its pages, even during the time of the Middle Ages, onto such determined murder and large scale cruelty." He lamented, "With these acts we have uinedeverything. We put an irremovable stain on the current administration."

Republican period

In 1921, Mehmet Cavit Bey married Nazlıyar Hanım, the divorced wife of

Şehzade Mehmed Burhaneddin ''Şehzade'' ( fa, شهزاده) is the Ottoman form of the Persian title '' Shahzadeh'', and refers to the male descendants of an Ottoman sovereign in the male line. This title is equivalent to " prince of the blood imperial" in English. Origi ...

. In 1924, their son Osman Şiar was born. After Cavit Bey's execution, his son was raised by his close friend

Hüseyin Cahit Yalçın Hüseyin Cahit Yalçın (7 December 1874 – 18 October 1957) was a prominent Turkish theorist, writer and politician. He is famous for being a dissident journalist, who has been put on trial and punished due to his columns. His publications defe ...

. Following the enactment of the

Surname Law Surname law can refer to any law regulating the use of surnames. Canada From 1941 to 1978, the Government of Canada issued disc numbers to identify Inuit in their records. In the mid-1960s Project Surname began, and, headed by Abe Okpik, Inuit ...

in 1934, Osman Şiar adopted the surname Yalçın. In the early period of the Republican era, Mehmet Cavit Bey was charged with involvement in the assassination attempt in Izmir against

. After a widespread government investigation, Cavit Bey was convicted and later executed by hanging on August 26, 1926, in

Ankara Ankara ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and over 5.7 million in Ankara Province, maki ...

. Thirteen others, including other CUP members Ahmed Şükrü and , were found guilty of treason and hanged. The letters which Cavit Bey wrote to his wife Aliye Nazlı during his imprisonment were given to her only after his execution. She had the letters published later as a book entitled, ''Zindandan Mektuplar'' ("Letters from the Dungeon"). In 1950, Cavit Bey's remains were transferred and reinterred at the Cebeci Asri Cemetery in Ankara.

Bibliography

*''Zindandan Mektuplar'' (2005) Liberte Yayınları, 212 pp. *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cavit, Mehmet 1875 births 1926 deaths Writers from Thessaloniki People from Salonica vilayet Turkish non-fiction writers Turkish economists Turkish newspaper editors Government ministers of the Ottoman Empire Burials at Cebeci Asri Cemetery Committee of Union and Progress politicians People executed by Turkey by hanging 20th-century executions for treason People executed for treason against Turkey Sabbateans Politicians from Thessaloniki