CEMAL PASHA (1872 – 1922)
 

Ahmet Cemal Pasha was born in Midilli, on 6 May 1872. He finished the Military College, in 1890 and The Academy of War, in 1893. He joined the army with staff captain rank.

Cemal Pasha was assigned to the Second Army Corps, in 1896. Two years later, he became the staff commander of Novice Division, in Salonica. There he joined to the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP). He organised the military wing of the committee.

It was in 1905, when Cemal became a major and designated as the Inspector of Roumelia Railways. During this duty, he highly dealt with the committees propaganda. He designed the units of CUP, called as company. He became a member of Board of the Third Army Corps, in 1907. Here, he worked with Major Fethi (Okyar) and Mustafa Kemal.

When the Ottoman Empire entered the First World War, Cemal Pasha was the Minister of the Marine. Between 1908-1918, Cemal Pasha was one of the most important administrators of the government. He played a very significant role during the period of Government of Three Pashas (1913-1918). He was one of the designers of the government’s internal and foreign policies.