Enver Pasha

Ottoman politician and general (1881–1922)

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Lived 1881–1922, aged 41Turkey

Turkey PoliticiansPolitician

Wikipedia
64 languages
Cross-language footprint
Rank in Turkey
#201
Politicians
Era
1881–1922
Aged 41
Awards
9
recognised works

Summary

Updated 2026-08-31

An Ottoman military officer who helped topple a sultan and restore parliamentary rule in 1908, only to become part of a dictatorial triumvirate that orchestrated the Armenian, Assyrian, and Greek genocides during World War I — killing between 800,000 and 1,500,000 Armenians alone.

Biography

About

İsmail Enver joined the Committee of Union and Progress while stationed in Ottoman Macedonia and became a key leader of the 1908 Young Turk Revolution, hailed as "hero of the revolution" for reestablishing constitutional democracy. A series of crises left him disillusioned with liberal Ottomanism, and after the 1913 coup brought the CUP directly to power, he became War Minister and de facto Commander-in-Chief. He forged an alliance with Germany and brought the Ottoman Empire into World War I, then led a disastrous attack at the Battle of Sarikamish and blamed Armenians for the defeat. Along wi…

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In their own words

Sourced, dated quotes from Enver Pasha

Enver Pasha

said1915

Ah, my brave Arabs! If I could only gather them in from all their desert ways, and arm them properly... But I fear it cannot be.

— Quoted in "The American Review of Reviews" - Page 184 - by Albert Shaw – 1915.

Enver Pasha

said1915

The plans of all of the powers have always been entirely selfish as far as Turkey was concerned.

— Quoted in "The American Review of Reviews" - Page 184 - by Albert Shaw – 1915.

Enver Pasha

said1915

Real Turkish unification is my dearest wish, and any international political arrangement which will leave me a free hand to work for that, I will subscribe to.

— Quoted in "The American Review of Reviews" - Page 184 - by Albert Shaw – 1915.

Enver Pasha

said1915

We are taking care of our troops today, hence their loyalty. Formerly a rifle was given to a man and he had to shift for himself.

— Quoted in "The Armenian Genocide: News Accounts from the American Press, 1915-1922" - Page 7 - by Richard Diran Kloian - History – 1985.

Enver Pasha

said19 Aug 1914

The transformation of the Islamic world into one of revolution, as His Majesty has desired, had been in preparation for some time and had now been put into action.

— August 19, 1914. Quoted in "A Shameful Act: The Armenian Genocide and the Question of Turkish Responsibility" - by Taner Akcam - History -

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