7. Sycophants of the British Deep State

Throughout its history, the British deep state has seen hypocrites as its most effective tool in its never-ending quest of gaining control over different regions, of inciting riots, staging coups, of overthrowing governments and spreading perverted ideologies. After identifying a country as a target, the British deep state actively seeks out greedy individuals with self-esteem problems for its following of sycophants. These people, due to their inferiority complex, are usually ready to adopt an anglophile character to the extent of obsequiousness. Most of the time, promises of insignificant positions, money or other assurances to be later forgotten, are enough to convince these people to do anything. These people are hypocrites, who sell their countries, abandon their religion and are capable of committing inconceivable evil for personal gains.

In the process of gaining control over India and provoking Arabs against the Ottoman administration, these minions proved most useful for the British deep state. Not surprisingly, they played an important role in the fall of the Ottoman Empire. However, the threat of traitorous hypocrites didn’t end with the fall of the Empire. On the contrary, such hypocrites are still present today and continue to be handpicked by the British deep state for their greedy, impressionable and obsequious characters. These people are the main reason behind the horrible developments that took place in countries like Iraq and Syria. It should be remembered that Turkey is certainly not immune to this threat. There are many hypocrites in Turkey that seek to build ties with and serve the British deep state, at the expense of their countries. Therefore, it is crucial to take lessons from the past and correctly identify people with such traitorous characters.

The Ottoman Admirers of England

The British deep state has actively supported the movements in the Empire that it believed could weaken the unity of the Ottoman society. For instance, it set up and supported the famous ‘Young Turks’ and ‘Committee of Union and Progress’. In addition, many destructive developments in the Empire, such as the uprising of Ali Pasha of Ioannina designed to weaken the central government, and the coup staged by Midhat Pasha on March 31, were also planned and directed by the British deep state.

The British deep state has used local elements as well. Certain ‘anglophile’ Ottomans considered their personal interests above those of the Islamic world and the Empire, and turned into implementers of sly British deep state plots concocted in dark London dungeons and cisterns. Throughout its history, the British deep state has never encountered any difficulty sourcing such traitorous hypocrites in the targeted countries and then manipulating them. The situation was no different in the Ottoman Empire.

Let’s have a look at some spies that worked for the British deep state in the Ottoman Empire:

‘English’ Said Pasha

Known as ‘English’ Said Pasha for his deep admiration for everything English, Said Pasha played significant roles in wars that proved devastating for the Empire in the 19th century.

After returning from his navy training in Britain, he rose through the ranks quickly and became the Minister of Navy. He was responsible for the Ottoman navy during the Russo-Turkish War (1877-78). However, because of gross negligence by the command of the navy, the capital came face to face with the risk of invasion in only five months. The war ended with disastrous results for the Ottomans, who had to cede Bulgaria, North Greece, Macedonia and Serbia to Russia and its allies.

Major mistakes made by the Turkish fleet in the Danube River also played a role in the Ottoman defeat. Interestingly, a British officer, Hobart Pasha, was in charge of the fleet at the time, while ‘English’ Said Pasha was the vizier. The Danube stretch was the only defensive line that could stop the Russian army from getting to Istanbul. However, the Ottoman army in Danube was heavily defeated because the British admiral was serving not the Ottoman Empire but the British deep state.

As a result, the Russian army reached Yeşilköy (San Stefano), coming very close to capturing Istanbul. In the meantime, Romania and Serbia declared their independence and the kingdom of Bulgaria was founded. The Russians annexed Kars, Ardahan and Batum, which brought the Turkish rule in Caucasus to a definitive end. As a result, some 1.5 million Circassians had to flee to Turkey. Britain also secured Cyprus as a protectorate, which later would be used as a logistics hub for the Armenian riots.

English Said Pasha was also assigned the task of reconstructing the region following the Zeitun (Armenian) rebellion. The developments in the region will be explained in more detail in the chapter on the British deep state and the Armenians.

Abdullah Cevdet

Abdullah Cevdet was possibly the most ardent supporter of Darwinism and its promulgation in the Empire. Although religious when he was young, he was introduced to materialist-Darwinist ideology at the Medical School. During those days, biologic materialism was spreading fast among the medical students, and affected Cevdet as well. With his articles, he tried to prove his erroneous idea that ‘biologic materialism would in time take the place of religion’.

Cevdet was also one of the founders of the ‘Society of the Friends of England’. During the years when Istanbul was under occupation, he informed on many patriots involved in the independence movement and led to their arrest by the British. He also played a significant role in the Society for the Rise of Kurdistan, which worked closely with the British authorities. Abdullah Cevdet maintained that Kurdish people should have seceded from the Ottoman Empire, and is therefore usually considered as one of the architects of the idea of ‘autonomy for the Southeastern Anatolia’. He was manipulated by the British deep state for its plans to divide the Ottoman Empire and create conflict between Kurds and Turks.

It was Abdullah Cevdet who started the practice of giving license to women to work as prostitutes in brothels. About the Battle of Gallipoli, he shockingly said, ‘civilization came to our doorstep, but we turned it back’.143

During his education at the medical school, following the advice of Ibrahim Temo and acting together with Hikmet Emin of Konya, İshak Sükuti of Diyarbakır and Mehmet Reşid of Caucasus, Abdullah Cevdet founded the Committee of Ottoman Union, which would later transform into the Committee of Union and Progress. In 1908, he translated and published Reinhart Dozy’s two-volume book entitled Essai sur l’Histoire de l’Islamisme in Egypt, which was then under the control of the British evolutionist Lord Cromer. This book, which was full of slanders about our religion and our beloved Prophet (pbuh), caused a huge uproar in the Ottoman society [our beloved Prophet (pbuh) is above such slanders]. In the articles he wrote in the early 1900s, he maintained that the Ottoman Empire should be ruled by the British and claimed that Britain had the world’s most civil and honest government.144

Journalist and publisher Zekeriya Sertel said that Abdullah Cevdet was a British spy and he once informed on Sertel and his friends due to a meeting they had.

Abdullah Cevdet, citing the relationship of British imperialism with Spain, said: ‘since it is going to be inevitable to be incorporated by spheres of influence that great states are trying to create, it will be expedient to choose British among the options’.145

Furthermore, he propagandized the Bahá’í faith supported by the British (the Kurdistan newspaper was being printed in a Bahá’í printing house supported by certain circles in Cairo).

Midhat Pasha, influenced by the British deep state, plunged the Ottoman Empire in a war with Russia. He was also one of the three plotters of the coup that dethroned and caused the martyrdom of Sultan Abdülaziz. Interestingly, he was also behind the riot that led to the coup. It is also known that he had planned the coup with the British ambassador Elliot.146

Kamil Pasha

During his first term as the grand vizier, he signed a decree that allowed Egypt to receive foreign loans, which ultimately caused Egypt to come under British rule. Ármin Vámbéry, known as a British spy of the Abdul Hamid II era, was the French tutor of Midhat Pasha.

It is also known that during his time as the governor of Baghdad, he sought to bring the Kuwait Emirate under British rule.

Having spent 9 years as grand vizier, Kamil Pasha was another Ottoman officer that was called ‘English’ for his anglophile nature. His visit to London in 1851 for an exhibition left him with a lifelong admiration for England. This admiration was such common knowledge, from spies’ reports to embassy notes, that the matter was discussed everywhere. When he was assigned to Rhodes while he was the governor of Izmir, he sought refuge in the British Consulate. Only after the Sultan gave a personal assurance, he returned to Istanbul.

When he was the Izmir governor, Kamil Pasha worked with the British to create an autonomous region in Izmir, just as in Egypt. Many historians believe that Abdul Hamid II secretly supported him in this endeavor.

His final term as the Grand Vizier ended when he had to resign at gunpoint by Enver Pasha. He then sought refuge with his close friend Lord Kitchener, British Consul-General in charge of Egypt at the time.

Kamil Pasha, known as English Kamil, is visiting the King of the UK George V and Queen Mary before they travel to India.

Damad Ferid Pasha

Damad Ferid Pasha rose through the ranks very quickly, and secured a post in the Ottoman Embassy in London despite his relatively insignificant previous positions in the Foreign Office. As one of the signatories of the Treaty of Sèvres on behalf of the Ottoman Empire, he ordered the destruction of 90,000 containers of ammunition kept in Ottoman military warehouses in Istanbul, in line with the instructions of the British. He then sent an army of thugs consisting of people like Ahmet Anzavur to Anatolia to fight the Nationalist Forces of the Ankara government.

One of the co-founders of the Society of the Friends of England, he had Dürrizade Abdullah Efendi issue a fatwa for the execution of Mustafa Kemal and his comrades on April 11, 1920.147

According to the last grand vizier Tewfik Pasha, Ferid Pasha was more loyal to Western world then the Westerners themselves. An article in the daily Tevhid-i Efkâr described him as follows:

After he returned from London, he became a Westerner and almost turned hostile to Islam. He would always quote Greek and Latin proverbs, superstitions and mythology in his speeches, lectures and writings. (…) To sum it up, he turned completely Western, but remained a cosmopolite man devoid of any sense of patriotism.148

He was the first diplomat to serve as chief clerk in the Ottoman Embassy in London. Due to his anglophilia, he gained the nickname ‘English Mahmut’. He instigated the Kabakçı Mustafa Rebellion of 1808, which brought death to him as well. This rebellion caused the deposing and subsequent murder of Sultan Selim III, after which Istanbul became a lawless city controlled by thugs for almost one and a half years. During this time, the Wahhabi riot broke out in Arabia but the Ottomans failed to quickly suppress it because of its domestic problems. The effects of this rebellion are felt to this day. Raif Efendi’s book on his trip to Britain clearly demonstrates his deep admiration of that country.

Sultan Abdülaziz’s opponents organized as Young Ottomans, under the leadership of Midhat Pasha, who was behind the coup of 1876. Ali Suavi, who attempted another coup a couple of years later, did so with his wife, who was also a British spy. This group was the beginning of Young Turks and the Committee of Union and Progress. Young Ottomans believed that the Ottoman Empire could only be saved with the help of the British.

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk warned pro-British Damad Ferid on many occasions and made it clear that British mandate would not be accepted

As a continuation of Young Ottomans, this group later turned into the Committee of Union and Progress. Most Young Turks were supported by the British deep state. When in 1899, İsmail Kemal Bey, Damad Mahmud Celaleddin Pasha and their sons fled to Europe, the Young Turk movement began to assume a pro-British stance. Those Young Turks that believed in the necessity of British intervention in Ottoman lands later split from the core society and founded the ‘Ottoman Society of Promoters of Freedom’, and tried to stage a coup with the help of the British, but failed.

A poster of the Young Turks, who were used by the British deep state.

A picture from the 1st Young Turks Congress held in Paris.

Prince Sabahaddin, who was considered one of the names behind the 31 March Incident, was the son of Damad Mahmud Celaleddin Pasha. He argued that the Ottoman state system should be modeled on the British system. Another Young Turk, Ahmed Rıza, who was the son of ‘English’ Ali Rıza Bey, one day came across a British ambassador who was going to Sarayburnu; he untied the horses drawing the ambassador’s cart and tied himself in their place. That was the shocking extent of the anglophilia of those sycophants.

Nevertheless, when the Committee of Union and Progress finally came into power, it failed to secure the support it expected from Britain. Because the real intent of the British had been supporting the opposition and radical anti-state movements to create an atmosphere of conflict around the empire, which, to a large extent, it achieved.

Dervish Vahdeti

Dervish Vahdeti, who was one of the significant leaders of the 31 March Incident, was in truth a Cypriot spy working for the British. Prior to the riot, he was making provocative claims like ‘religion was being lost’ in his newspaper Volkan. It should be noted that Grand Vizier ‘English’ Kamil Pasha was also a writer at the same paper. During the riot, Vahdeti gave long, fiery speeches to provoke people in the Sultanahmet Square. Chanting the slogan ‘we want sharia’, Vahdeti split the country into two and caused a military coup. The truth is, he had never been a religious person.

In his newspaper, he frequently spoke of his fondness of the British and said that Cyprus under British rule had become a little Switzerland.

Ahmet Yemin (Yalman), a young Turkish journalist back then, wrote about Dervish Vahdeti’s relations with the British and the role Britain played in the 31 March Incident:

… The Cypriot petitioner named Dervish Vahdeti was in truth handpicked by the British intelligence service, was trained as a riot agent and was tasked with founding Volkan Newspaper, the Committee of Union of Mohammedians and provoking people. Although Volkan seemed to pursue an Islamist, liberal, humanist policy, it was a front to conceal its pro-British line, which had been its main task all along. That was a classical method used by the British spies. 149

Vahdeti was, in truth, a Darwinist who wasn’t religious at all. However, he had a duty given to him by the British deep state and, true to his duty, he managed to gain influence using religion, led a pro-sharia movement and incited a wide-scaled riot. Author Sina Akşin explains the basic qualities of Vahdeti with the following words:

Islamist qualities, liberal views, pro-constitution approach, humanist and Western-leaning opinions… Vahdeti was knowledgeable about Western scholars to the extent of quoting Dreyfus, Zola and Darwin in his pieces. He was protective of old fugitives and exiles, was vehemently against the civilian leaders of the Committee of Union and Progress, most notably Ahmed Rıza. Nevertheless, he was supporting Sabahaddin Bey and Kamil Pasha. Therefore, he had a pro-British stance. Dervish believed that the best policy would be the British policy. 150

People gathered in front of the Palace during the 31 March Incident

The 31 March Movement Army

The 31 March Incident was co-planned by Vahdeti and his British allies. The true goal was creating turmoil in the country in an attempt to further weaken the Ottomans. One account of British agents’ support to Vahdeti can be found below:

Dervish Vahdeti, who played an active role in starting the riot, did everything in his power to inflame the rising, and his Committee of Union of Mohammedians and its publication Volkan newspaper, acting together with other opposition parties, managed to provoke the media against the Committee of Union and Progress. In his sedition, he enjoyed support from Cypriot Kamil Pasha and British spies. 151

The 31 March Incident was co-planned by Dervish Vahdeti and the British deep state.

The Society of the Friends of England represented the zenith of the pro-British attitude some Ottoman statesmen adopted. This organization was founded while Istanbul and Anatolia were under occupation and helped the British efforts against the independence movement. The book will examine later the particular activities of this society. However, for now, let’s see the politicians that were members of this group and the roles they played in the political arena of ‘occupied Istanbul’.

Tewfik Pasha, who succeeded another co-founder, Damad Ferid Pasha, as a grand vizier, was also an anglophile. In his first remark in office, he made it clear that his goal was ‘rebuilding our old friendship with Britain’.

On November 22, 1919, when he was in London as the Ottoman Ambassador, he explained his plan to build an Ottoman-British alliance on defense issues and continued saying that, ‘Turkish nation, from the Sultan to the people trust Great Britain and wouldn’t be able to show that trust to any other nation.’ As he was uttering these words, Britain was drawing up the Treaty of Sèvres at the Paris Peace Conference and making plans to share the Ottoman lands.

Tewfik Pasha even once said to Lord Curzon, the British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, “His Imperial Majesty [the Sultan] was deeply convinced that the only hope for his country and his throne lay in a revival of the old relations between Turkey and Great Britain, to which he was ready to agree in any manner that might be thought best….”152

The Society of the Friends of England– 1919, Istanbul Founders and Executives: Memduh Pasha, Former Minister of Internal Affairs, Şehremini Cemil Pasha, Ahmet Zülüfkül Pasha, Ali Rüştü Efendi	Membership card for the Society of the Friends of England

Tewfik Pasha’s peace offer was as follows:

Britain and the Ottoman Empire will sign a treaty, according to which, Ottomans will leave the protection of the freedom of the Straits to Britain, to be in

favor of all nations. For this purpose, Britain might use her own soldiers or Turkish security forces. Turkish government will put the Turkish gendarme at British disposal. Furthermore, it will transfer the management of the required land strip for the protection of the freedom of the Straits, to Britain.

Such an alliance will dispel for good any thoughts prevalent in India and in other regions that Britain is hostile to the caliphate and that it wishes to destroy Turkey. The agreement will be strong proof that the opposite is true and will show to the whole Islamic world that Britain is the defender and ally of the caliphate.153

Ahmed Izzet Pasha, who formed the first government in Istanbul after the Armistice of Mudros, couldn’t provide necessary support to the Nationalist Forces, and despite his previous promises to Ankara government, he continued to serve in the Istanbul government. During his meeting with John Godolphin Bennett, one of the officers of the British occupying forces in Istanbul, he said that if he was convinced that Britain had friendly intentions towards Turkey, he could make Mustafa Kemal meet with the British commander in chief and would do everything in his power to find a common ground regarding the evacuation of Anatolia by the Greeks and that he would try to persuade Mustafa Kemal. It is clear that the occupation of Anatolia by the Greeks was a plan of the British deep state, and its members could have stopped it if they wished. This fact will be examined in greater detail in the chapters regarding the Treaty of Sèvres and the Treaty of Lausanne.

During the years leading up to the fall of the Ottoman Empire, the Istanbul government consisted mainly of politicians that thought salvation lay in an alliance with Britain. These people believed that their future depended on the mercy of the British imperialism. For instance:

◉ Mustafa Resid Pasha, who was the Minister of Foreign Affairs, claimed that he was speaking not only for himself, but also for his colleagues in the government, the Sultan and most of the people, and told the British High Commissioner Webb that the general desire was towards a British rule.154

◉ Ali Kemal, the Minister of Internal Affairs, said to British Admiral Calthorpe that he believed that salvation lay in British rule, regardless of how it happened.

◉ Ahmed Reşid (Rey), who briefly served as the Minister of Internal Affairs as well as a member of the Peace Committee, wished for the acceptance of the British leadership on behalf of Damad Ferid Pasha and said that the policy of the current government was based on the trust of Turkish government in the British support.

Ali Kemal, who served as the Minister of Education and Minister of Internal Affairs in Damad Ferid Pasha government, was the great-grandfather of Boris Johnson, the incumbent UK Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. Ali Kemal was being paid by Abdul Hamid II to spy on the Young Turks. Clearly, it wasn’t enough to stop him from conspiring the 31 March Incident, which led to the deposition of Abdul Hamid II.

Ali Kemal argued that Turkey should have accepted a British mandate. A sworn enemy of Atatürk, he also actively worked to stop the Nationalist Forces. Some of the remarks he uttered about Atatürk and the Nationalist Forces were as follows:

Shaking hands with Mustafa Kemal is tantamount to reaching out to thugs. They keep fighting with a makeshift army [referring to Nationalist forces]. These crazies keep saying they want independence. Remember that old Arab proverb: ‘What the victor wants, what the victor gets’. That’s it.

[Referring to the Turkish army fighting the war of independence] They are being blocked in every way, they have low spirits, most of them are barefooted, they lack weapons, they have a couple of trucks but all of them are useless. They have neither fuel nor spare parts. They only have oxen for transportation. [People like] Mustafa Kemal never do anything useful. Thankfully, they are rare. They should be cut off like sick limbs.155 (Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and his brave companions are above such remarks)

Ali Kemal was also a founder of the Society of the Friends of England.

1. Boris Johnson, the incumbent UK Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, is the great-grandson of Ali Kemal (2).	3. Ali Kemal and his Anglo-Swiss wife Winifred Brun

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, in his famous Nutuk (The Great Speech), wrote the following about the Society of the Friends of England that had Shaykh al-Islam Mustafa Sabri Efendi, who was opposed to the nationalist movement, as their Honorary President:

One of the most important of these, the ‘Society of the Friends of England’ is worthy of special mention. It does not follow from its name that its members were necessarily friends of England. In my opinion, the founders of this society were people who thought, before anything else, of their own safety and their own particular interests, and who tried to secure both by inducing Lloyd George’s Government to afford them English protection. I wonder whether these misguided persons really imagined for a moment that the English Government had any idea at all of maintaining and preserving the Ottoman State in its integrity?

At the head of this Society were Vahdettin, who bore the title of Ottoman Sultan and Caliph, Damat Ferit Pasha, Ali Kemal, Minister of the Interior, Adil Bey, Mehmet Ali Bey and Sait Molla. Certain English adventurers, for instance a clergyman named Frew, also belonged to this Society. To judge from the energy the latter displayed, he was practically its chairman.156

Clearly, Atatürk was keenly aware of the British deep state spies and anglophiles within the Ottoman Empire and immediately recognized their true aim as dismembering the Empire. Realizing the magnitude of the danger, Atatürk began to build his plans to defend and save the country together with true patriots, and launched the war of independence.

Footnotes:

143. Bekir Hazar, “Aramızda Çok Cevdet Var” [A Lot of Cevdet Among Us], Takvim, November 12, 2015, http://www.takvim.com.tr/yazarlar/bekirhazar/2015/11/12/aramizda-cok-cevdet-var

144. Sinan Tavukçu, “Dr. Abdullah Cevdet’le İstiklal Harbi Üzerine 1922 Yılında Yapılan İlginç Bir Mülakat” [An Interesting Interview with Dr. Abdullah Cevdet on Turkish War of Independence in 1922], SDE, February 6, 2012, http://www.sde.org.tr/tr/authordetail/dr-abdullah-cevdetle-istiklal-harbi-uzerine-1922-yilinda-yapilan-ilginc-bir-mulakat/1043

145. “Çok Okunanlar” [Popular Pages], Açık İstihbarat, 12 October 2011, http://www.acikistihbarat.com/Sayfalar/haberdetay.aspx?id=9783

146. George Washburn, Fifty Years in Constantinople and Recollections of Robert College, 1909, p. 106

147. Baki Öz, Atatürk’ün Anadolu’ya Gönderiliş Olayının İç Yüzü [Low-Down on Ataturk’s Being Sent to Anatolia], Can Press (Ali Adil Atalay), 1995

148. “Damat Ferit Paşa”, Wikipedia, https://tr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damat_Ferit_Pa%C5%9Fa#cite_note-8

149. “Derviş Vahdeti”, Wikipedia, https://tr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dervi%C5%9F_Vahdeti

150. Cihan Dura, “Bir Dincinin Portresi: Derviş Vahdetî” [Portrait of a Religionist: Derviş Vahdeti], March 1st, 2011, http://www.cihandura.com/tr/makale/-BIR-DINCININ-PORTRESI-DERVIS-VAHDET

151. Cihan Dura, “Bir Dincinin Portresi: Derviş Vahdetî”

152. Gotthard Jaeschke, Kurtuluş Savaşı ile ilgili İngiliz Belgeleri I [British Documents regarding Turkish War of Independence I], Yeni Gün Haber Ajansı Basın ve Yayıncılık, April 2001, p. 95

153. Baki Öz, Atatürk’ün Anadolu’ya Gönderiliş Olayının İç Yüzü

154. Baki Öz, Atatürk’ün Anadolu’ya Gönderiliş Olayının İç Yüzü

155. Yılmaz Özdil, “Ali Kemal’in Oğlu Boris” [Boris, the son of Ali Kemal], Sözcü, July 15, 2016, http://www.sozcu.com.tr/2016/yazarlar/yilmaz-ozdil/ali-kemalin-torunu-boris-1314618/

156. Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, Nutuk [The Great Speech], Istanbul: Yapı Kredi Yayınları, 2015