Special Organization (Ottoman Empire)

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For other uses of "Special Organization" under Ottoman Empire see Special Organization

"Special Organization" was the name given to a three member executive committee of "Ministry of the Interior" established by the Committee of Union and Progress of the Ottoman Empire. It is speculated that the organization was planned and created after the mobilization of July 21, 1914 with the co-operation of the "ministry for the Interior" (initiation of deportation, Tehcir Law) and "ministry for the Justice" (former prisoners in the prison of Çorum). The chief Ittihadists, members of Committee of Union and Progress, who closely collaborated with at the time interior minister Mehmed Talat, the special organization organized and implementing the massacres.[1]

Armenian Genocide
Background
Armenians in the Ottoman Empire · Armenian Question · Hamidian Massacres · Zeitun Resistance (1895) · 1896 Ottoman Bank Takeover · Yıldız Attempt · Adana Massacre · Young Turk Revolution
The Genocide

Armenian notables deported from the Ottoman capital · Tehcir Law · Armenian casualties of deportations · Ottoman Armenian casualties  · Labour battalion

Major extermination centers:
Bitlis · Deir ez-Zor · Diyarbakır · Erzurum · Kharput · Muş · Sivas · Trabzon

Resistance:
Zeitun  · Van · Musa Dagh · Urfa · Shabin-Karahisar  · Armenian militia  · Operation Nemesis

Foreign aid and relief:
American Committee for Relief in the Near East · National Armenian Relief Committee
Responsible parties

Young Turks:
Talat · Enver · Djemal · Behaeddin Shakir · Committee of Union and Progress · Teskilati Mahsusa · The Special Organization · Ottoman Army · Kurdish Irregulars · Reşit Bey · Cevdet Bey · Topal Osman
Trials
Courts-Martial  · Malta Tribunals  · Trial of Soghomon Tehlirian
Aftermath
Partitioning of the Ottoman Empire · Denial of the Genocide · Post-Genocide timeline
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Contents

[edit] Organizational structure

It has been speculated that the executive committee was in Constantinople and was formed by Doctor Nazim, Behaeddin Sakir, Atif Riza, and former Director of Public Security Aziz Bey which all or some can be part of this organization. In proving that this executive committee was working under the orders of Committee of Union and Progress, it was proposed that Midhat Sükrü was the connection.

From documentary perspective; its establishment or dismantling time, or even its existence is in question. Its full set of functions are unknown. The financial burden of this organization has not been established. There is no official document which can be validated from other sources, or linked to other official documents to prove its existence.

[edit] Activities

It has been suggested that this organization accepted the mission of liquidating or of decimating the convoys of Armenian deportees in precise places defined beforehand by the executive committee. The operational center was established in Erzeroum. The special organization had a specific mission set beyond the conditions of World War I. This information derives from the memoirs of the Armenian avengers who were assigned by the A.R.F. to carry out the executions with the Operation Nemesis[1]

Filibeli Hilmi was Dr. Behaeddin Shakir's right hand man, the chief of the Special Organization the Erzurum region. The deportation Erzurum province was supervised by him [1]. Halis Turgut was the chief of a Special Organization in Sivas province.[1] Ahmed Shükrü was wartime Minister of Education deported Armenian peasants.[1]

[edit] Other Uses

The term was used in this article is for "three member executive committee" established by the Committee of Union and Progress under "Ministry of the Interior" which links this organization to Talat Pasha. The term "Special Organization" was also used for another Ottoman Empire organization Teskilati Mahsusa (Ottoman: Teşkilat-i Mahsusa). This organization was an official Ottoman imperial government organization established under "War Department"[2] Teşkilat-i Mahsusa was linked to War Minister Enver Pasha[2]. It dealt with both Arab separatism and Western imperialism.[2]

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e Dadrian, Vahakn. The Executions of Some of the Arch-perpetrators of the Armenian Genocide by the Ittihadists and Kemalists, 1915-1926 (English). Zoryan Institute. Retrieved on 2008/01/01.
  2. ^ a b c Philip H. Stoddard, (1963) "The Ottoman Government and the Arabs, 1911 to 1918: A Study of the Teskilat-i Mahsusa," Princeton University

[edit] See also

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