Mehmed Said Halim Pasha (Ottoman Turkish: سعيد حليم پاشا; Turkish: Sait Halim Paşa; 18 or 28 January 1865 or 19 February 1864 – 6 December 1921) was a writer and statesman who served as the Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire from 1913 to 1917.
Born~Died Feb 19, 1864 ~ Dec 5, 1921Last edited Oct 15, 2026, 3:30 PM
Mehmed Said Halim Pasha (Ottoman Turkish: سعيد حليم پاشا; Turkish: Sait Halim Paşa; 18 or 28 January 1865 or 19 February 18641 – 6 December 1921) was a writer and statesman who served as the Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire from 1913 to 1917. He is said to be one of the perpetrators of the Armenian genocide and he was later assassinated by Arshavir Shirakian as part of Operation Nemesis, a retribution campaign to kill genocidiers. It is unsure if he was actually involved, as he did not hold much political power and was kept in the dark on most matters of state by members of the Central Committee of the CUP.
Early life
Mehmed Said Halim was born at the palace of Shubra in Cairo, Egypt to Muhammad Abd al-Halim Pasha, one of the sons of Muhammed Ali Pasha, the founder of the Khedivet of Egypt. He was of Albanian origin.23 In 1870, he and his family settled in Istanbul.4 He was educated by private teachers, and learned Arabic, Persian, English, and French. He later studied political science in Switzerland.5
In 18905 or 1895,6 he married Emine İnci Tosun, daughter of Mehmed Tosun Pasha.
This page is based on “Said Halim Pasha” from English Wikipedia, (r1370289223) CC BY-SA 4.0 used under the license. The original authors are listed in its page history.
In the late 1890s the Prince Said Halim Pasha Palace in Downtown Cairo was built for him by the Italian architect Antonio Lasciac.
Political career
In 1888, Said Halim was appointed a member of the Council of State with the rank of Mir-i Mîran, making him a civil Pasha. In 1900 he became Beylerbeyi of Rumeli. During this time he had good relations with Sultan Abdul Hamid II. Jealous courtiers spread rumors of Halim's disloyalty and propensity to read dangerous literature. Falling out of favor, he retired to his mansion, though his position in the Council of State was never officially terminated,4 only being dismissed from the council in September 1908. In 1903, he was exiled from the capital for establishing relations with the Young Turks. He went first to Egypt and then to Europe and established direct relations with the Young Turks, giving them material and intellectual support. In 1906, he was appointed a leading role in the Committee of Progress and Union. Following the 1908 revolution, he returned to Istanbul.4
He was appointed as the chief of the Yeniköy city council after its municipal election. He later became the Second Chief of the General Association of Municipalities (Cemiyet-i Umumiye-i Belediye İkinci Reisliği), and in 1908 he was appointed a member of the Ottoman Senate. He was made a member of the administrative council of the Darüşşafaka. From January to July 1912, he was President of Council of State in Said Pasha's cabinet. Halim was sent to Lausanne to negotiate a peace treaty to end the Italo-Turkish War in July 1912, but the change in government spelled his fall from cabinet and he had to return home.4
Following his resignation, he was elected as the General Secretary of the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), and was appointed to the Council of State for the second time in 1913 during Mahmud Şevket Pasha's viziership, and to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs three days later. After the assassination of Şevket Pasha on 11 June 1913, he was first given the rank of vizier and was appointed to the Grand Vizier's Office, and the next day (12 June 1913) to the office of the Grand Vizier (Prime Minister). He was a compromise candidate for the CUP; Said Halim was more conservative and Islamist than the central committee would have wanted, however the prestige of his ancestry and his lack of agency made him an acceptable Grand Vizier to the CUP.
He lost his Foreign Ministry to Halil Menteşe in 1915. Said Halim's premiership lasted until 1917, cut short because of continuous clashes between him and the CUP. Talaat, who was Interior Minister, succeeded him.
Arrest and assassination
Said Halim was accused of treason during the court martial trials after World War I in the Ottoman Empire for his role in deporting Armenian civilians and signing a secret alliance with Germany. He was exiled on 29 May 1919 to a prison on Malta.8 He was acquitted from the accusations and set free in 1921, and he moved to Sicily. He wanted to return to Istanbul, the capital of the Ottoman Empire, but this request was rejected. He was assassinated soon after in Rome by Arshavir Shirakian, an agent of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, for his role in the Armenian genocide.7 According to Eşref Kuşçubaşı, who was involved in the planning of the Armenian death marches, Said Halim Pasha knew nothing of the genocide.9
Political writings and views
Under the nom de plume "Mehmed", Said Halim Pasha wrote several works of social commentary, comparative politics, and political philosophy during the Hamidian Era and Second Constitutional Era.5 He was a frequent contributor to Sebîlürreşâd, a pro-CUP Islamist journal.
As a social scientist
In a historical analysis, he claimed Islam was appropriate in the Western world's movement for equality due to (Sunni) Islam's lack of clergy and aristocracy, therefore in a civilizational sense, Islamic civilization was more egalitarian than the West. Indeed, he believed the West suffered from inherent inequalities inherent to their social structure, while Islamic civilization suffered from too much equality, leading to an Islamic civilization turning increasingly elitist and exclusive. He identified the origin of materialism emerged from the gap between the Church and the new discoveries of science and technology. The idea that Islam essentially discouraged technological innovation was refuted by Halim, though he did identify western materialism for having destroyed family values. Using the framework of historical materialism, he identified the cause of feminism appropriate among bourgeois women in developed Western-European societies, in contrast to upper-class Ottoman women which he believed were uninterested in further rights.5
In 1916 he published Buhrân-ı İçtimaîmiz, where he castigates Ottoman society for leaving behind their past religion and culture.5
While Western nation-states feature homogeneous societies of different classes that are always in conflict with each other, the Ottoman Empire's heterogeneity meant an Ottoman nationalism did not exist.5
As a commentator
In the 1911 essay Meşrutiyet, he gave a retrospective analysis of the failures of the First Constitutional Era, particularly blaming the lack of a civic political culture developed by many peoples in the Empire. A desire among the Tanzimat statesmen for westernization for the sake of westernization veiled the fact that the Empire didn't much resemble France, Turkey's model. Despite the modern cosmopolitanism of the cities like Constantinople, Smyrna, or Salonica, much of the empire was still in a socio-economic state of feudalism, and not sufficiently "enlightened" for representative and constitutional government.5
He was skeptical of the CUP's governance following the 31 March Incident, noting that the people toppling a dictator does not guarantee freedom.
Any administration is not the product of one person or even party; rather, it is almost the product of a particular generation. The sultan Abdulhamid was not the founder of the harsh rule that went by the name of the 'Hamidian' administration. Even if sultan Hamid had never been born, conditions would have been such that that generation would have produced another such sultan. The National Assembly, filled by members of the Committee of Union and Progress, was fired by patriotic zeal and revolutionary dreams, which foundered on the rocks of ignorance and inexperience.
İnhitât-i Islam Hakkinda bir Tecrübe-i Kalemiyye – 1917
İslâmlaşmak – 1918
İslâm da Teşkîlât-ı Siyâsiyye/Les Institutions politiques dans la société musulmane/The Reform of Muslim Society – 1921
Other
Buhranlarımız ve Son Eserleri – İz Yayıncılık
Said Halim Paşa – Bütün Eserleri Anka Yayınları 2003
Literature
Düzdağ, M. Ertuğrul (1991), Said Halim Paşa - Buhranlarımız ve Son Eserleri [Said Halim Pasha - Our Crises and Last Works] (in Turkish), Istanbul: İz Yayıncılık, WikidataQ109923853
Şeyhun 2014, p. 147 gives 28 January; Wasti 2008, p. 86 gives 18 January and in endnote 20, p. 102 states that Düzdağ 1991, p. xiii gives 19 February 1864. ↩
Arshavir Shirakian (2013). Arshavir Shiragian - The Legacy: Memoirs of an Armenian Patriot. Translated by Sonia Shiragian. Watertown, Massachusetts: Hairenik Association. ↩↩2
Sukran Vahide (2005). Islam in Modern Turkey. State University of New York Press. ↩
Akçam, Taner (2006). A Shameful Act. New York: Henry Holt and Company. p. 157. ↩
Mehmed Said Halim Pasha (Ottoman Turkish: سعيد حليم پاشا; Turkish: Sait Halim Paşa; 18 or 28 January 1865 or 19 February 18641 – 6 December 1921) was a writer and statesman who served as the Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire from 1913 to 1917. He is said to be one of the perpetrators of the Armenian genocide and he was later assassinated by Arshavir Shirakian as part of Operation Nemesis, a retribution campaign to kill genocidiers. It is unsure if he was actually involved, as he did not hold much political power and was kept in the dark on most matters of state by members of the Central Committee of the CUP.
Early life
Mehmed Said Halim was born at the palace of Shubra in Cairo, Egypt to Muhammad Abd al-Halim Pasha, one of the sons of Muhammed Ali Pasha, the founder of the Khedivet of Egypt. He was of Albanian origin.23 In 1870, he and his family settled in Istanbul.4 He was educated by private teachers, and learned Arabic, Persian, English, and French. He later studied political science in Switzerland.5
In 18905 or 1895, he married Emine İnci Tosun, daughter of Mehmed Tosun Pasha.
In the late 1890s the Prince Said Halim Pasha Palace in Downtown Cairo was built for him by the Italian architect Antonio Lasciac.
Political career
In 1888, Said Halim was appointed a member of the Council of State with the rank of Mir-i Mîran, making him a civil Pasha. In 1900 he became Beylerbeyi of Rumeli. During this time he had good relations with Sultan Abdul Hamid II. Jealous courtiers spread rumors of Halim's disloyalty and propensity to read dangerous literature. Falling out of favor, he retired to his mansion, though his position in the Council of State was never officially terminated,4 only being dismissed from the council in September 1908. In 1903, he was exiled from the capital for establishing relations with the Young Turks. He went first to Egypt and then to Europe and established direct relations with the Young Turks, giving them material and intellectual support. In 1906, he was appointed a leading role in the Committee of Progress and Union. Following the 1908 revolution, he returned to Istanbul.4
He was appointed as the chief of the Yeniköy city council after its municipal election. He later became the Second Chief of the General Association of Municipalities (Cemiyet-i Umumiye-i Belediye İkinci Reisliği), and in 1908 he was appointed a member of the Ottoman Senate. He was made a member of the administrative council of the Darüşşafaka. From January to July 1912, he was President of Council of State in Said Pasha's cabinet. Halim was sent to Lausanne to negotiate a peace treaty to end the Italo-Turkish War in July 1912, but the change in government spelled his fall from cabinet and he had to return home.4
Following his resignation, he was elected as the General Secretary of the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), and was appointed to the Council of State for the second time in 1913 during Mahmud Şevket Pasha's viziership, and to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs three days later. After the assassination of Şevket Pasha on 11 June 1913, he was first given the rank of vizier and was appointed to the Grand Vizier's Office, and the next day (12 June 1913) to the office of the Grand Vizier (Prime Minister). He was a compromise candidate for the CUP; Said Halim was more conservative and Islamist than the central committee would have wanted, however the prestige of his ancestry and his lack of agency made him an acceptable Grand Vizier to the CUP.
He lost his Foreign Ministry to Halil Menteşe in 1915. Said Halim's premiership lasted until 1917, cut short because of continuous clashes between him and the CUP. Talaat, who was Interior Minister, succeeded him.
Arrest and assassination
Said Halim was accused of treason during the court martial trials after World War I in the Ottoman Empire for his role in deporting Armenian civilians and signing a secret alliance with Germany. He was exiled on 29 May 1919 to a prison on Malta.8 He was acquitted from the accusations and set free in 1921, and he moved to Sicily. He wanted to return to Istanbul, the capital of the Ottoman Empire, but this request was rejected. He was assassinated soon after in Rome by Arshavir Shirakian, an agent of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, for his role in the Armenian genocide.7 According to Eşref Kuşçubaşı, who was involved in the planning of the Armenian death marches, Said Halim Pasha knew nothing of the genocide.9
Political writings and views
Under the nom de plume "Mehmed", Said Halim Pasha wrote several works of social commentary, comparative politics, and political philosophy during the Hamidian Era and Second Constitutional Era.5 He was a frequent contributor to Sebîlürreşâd, a pro-CUP Islamist journal.
As a social scientist
In a historical analysis, he claimed Islam was appropriate in the Western world's movement for equality due to (Sunni) Islam's lack of clergy and aristocracy, therefore in a civilizational sense, Islamic civilization was more egalitarian than the West. Indeed, he believed the West suffered from inherent inequalities inherent to their social structure, while Islamic civilization suffered from too much equality, leading to an Islamic civilization turning increasingly elitist and exclusive. He identified the origin of materialism emerged from the gap between the Church and the new discoveries of science and technology. The idea that Islam essentially discouraged technological innovation was refuted by Halim, though he did identify western materialism for having destroyed family values. Using the framework of historical materialism, he identified the cause of feminism appropriate among bourgeois women in developed Western-European societies, in contrast to upper-class Ottoman women which he believed were uninterested in further rights.5
In 1916 he published Buhrân-ı İçtimaîmiz, where he castigates Ottoman society for leaving behind their past religion and culture.5
While Western nation-states feature homogeneous societies of different classes that are always in conflict with each other, the Ottoman Empire's heterogeneity meant an Ottoman nationalism did not exist.5
As a commentator
In the 1911 essay Meşrutiyet, he gave a retrospective analysis of the failures of the First Constitutional Era, particularly blaming the lack of a civic political culture developed by many peoples in the Empire. A desire among the Tanzimat statesmen for westernization for the sake of westernization veiled the fact that the Empire didn't much resemble France, Turkey's model. Despite the modern cosmopolitanism of the cities like Constantinople, Smyrna, or Salonica, much of the empire was still in a socio-economic state of feudalism, and not sufficiently "enlightened" for representative and constitutional government.5
He was skeptical of the CUP's governance following the 31 March Incident, noting that the people toppling a dictator does not guarantee freedom.
Any administration is not the product of one person or even party; rather, it is almost the product of a particular generation. The sultan Abdulhamid was not the founder of the harsh rule that went by the name of the 'Hamidian' administration. Even if sultan Hamid had never been born, conditions would have been such that that generation would have produced another such sultan. The National Assembly, filled by members of the Committee of Union and Progress, was fired by patriotic zeal and revolutionary dreams, which foundered on the rocks of ignorance and inexperience.
İnhitât-i Islam Hakkinda bir Tecrübe-i Kalemiyye – 1917
İslâmlaşmak – 1918
İslâm da Teşkîlât-ı Siyâsiyye/Les Institutions politiques dans la société musulmane/The Reform of Muslim Society – 1921
Other
Buhranlarımız ve Son Eserleri – İz Yayıncılık
Said Halim Paşa – Bütün Eserleri Anka Yayınları 2003
Literature
Düzdağ, M. Ertuğrul (1991), Said Halim Paşa - Buhranlarımız ve Son Eserleri [Said Halim Pasha - Our Crises and Last Works] (in Turkish), Istanbul: İz Yayıncılık, WikidataQ109923853
Şeyhun 2014, p. 147 gives 28 January; Wasti 2008, p. 86 gives 18 January and in endnote 20, p. 102 states that Düzdağ 1991, p. xiii gives 19 February 1864. ↩
Arshavir Shirakian (2013). Arshavir Shiragian - The Legacy: Memoirs of an Armenian Patriot. Translated by Sonia Shiragian. Watertown, Massachusetts: Hairenik Association. ↩↩2
Sukran Vahide (2005). Islam in Modern Turkey. State University of New York Press. ↩
Akçam, Taner (2006). A Shameful Act. New York: Henry Holt and Company. p. 157. ↩