Chapter 31: Talnted

In Salonika, this ideal was shared by an important part of the population, and they welcomed the 1908 revolution with enthusiasm. The Committee of Union and Progress, to which the rebels belonged, was far better established in that city than in the rest of the empire. Indeed, among its members were Sabbataists, but also “normal” Jews, city residents of Italian nationality, Bulgarians, Albanian Muslims—such as Niyazi—Circassians, and a great number of Turks, such as Enver, the leading rebel officer. It was easy for the sultan and his circle to point to the foreign elements and to ask their people by what right these foreigners, who had always been under the authority of the sultan-caliph, dared to meddle in the affairs of the empire. As for the brotherhood’s Muslim members, the traditionalist insinuated that they were all Freemasons, hence atheists and renegades.

There again, this was a mixture of truth and falsehood The Salonika Masonic lodges had played a significant role in developing and promulgating revolutionary ideas, but their role should not be overestimated. The desire for change, liberation, and a galvanizing force for the “awakening of the Orient” had been budding for decades in many provinces throughout the empire—even as far as my village. It didn’t have to be “invented” one evening in Salonika in a meeting of Italian Freemasons.

But the work of sabotage by the sultan’s agents had its effect on the population, and the climate deteriorated so much that by April 1909, eight months after having yielded to the rebels, Abdul Hamid decided that the time had come to take matters firmly in hand again. It was then that a growing number of suspicious incidents occurred everywhere in the empire, attributed at the time to the monarch’s henchmen. Though this is not inconceivable, we can’t be certain of anything. The worst unrest took place in Southeast Anatolia, particularly in the town of Adana, where riots broke out; these took a violently anti-Armenian turn, ending in a massacre—the first big massacre, but unfortunately not the last.

Several days later, there were demonstrations by soldiers and religious traditionalists in Constantinople, at the gates of the imperial palace, demanding a “return to true values.” A few prominent reformists were lynched in the street; others—ministers, for the most part—were forced to go underground. Noting that the government of the Young Turks had ceased to exist, the sultan announced his compliance with the will of his people and the suspension of the constitution. We can rightly assume that compliance, in this case, did not go against his grain.

But, as in July 1908, no one foresaw the events that occurred next. Several army units, led by Enver and Niyazi, left Salonika and marched on Constantinople. They crushed the counterrevolution with minimal combat and seized the imperial palace. The country’s highest religious authority, the sheikh-ul-islam, a man receptive to reformist ideas, immediately issued a fatwa calling for the deposition of Abdul Hamid “for tyranny, murder, armed rebellion, and violation of the sharia,” thereby fighting fire with fire, so to speak. The parliament met the same day, and when the text of the fatwa was read to them, they approved it overwhelmingly.

The assembly sent the sovereign a delegation of four deputies to notify him of his deposition: two Muslims, one Armenian Christian, and one Jew, Emmanuel Carasso—a significant choice because Carasso was also a high dignitary in the Salonika Freemasonry. It was in that city, I might add, that the deposed sovereign was locked up under guard—in a sumptuous residence, but a prisoner nonetheless.

One of his brothers, whose given name was Rashad, replaced him on the throne, taking the name of Mehemet V. He was said to be in sympathy with the Young Turks, or at least unwilling to oppose them.

Botros celebrated his accession with a poem that created a sensation that year.

I salute the era of Rashad, for he will restore what was destroyed in our building!

I salute Niyazi’s and Enver’s swords, I salute the brotherhood that unsheathed them, I salute free men from all communities …

Apparently, proud partisans of the revolution declaimed these verses, not just in Zahlé, but also in Beirut, Damascus, Aleppo, and even Constantinople, though they didn’t always know who was the author.

If there is some form of life after death and my grandfather were in this room, next to me, right now, watching me rummage through his archives, he would probably want me to stop quoting here and go on to another chapter. For I am approaching a territory that he would have preferred not to broach. In fact, I would prefer not to as well. But if I am to focus a beam of light on my forgotten grandfather, this is the price that must be paid: the truth cannot be controlled like a dog on a leash. I can’t avoid pointing out that before hailing those who deposed Abdul Hamid, my grandfather’s notebooks show that he had frequently sung the praises of that same sultan.

For the sake of accuracy, let me count … I have found at least eight laudatory, or at least deferential, mentions. If I really scoured his notebooks, I would find more. I won’t quote them all, but I feel I should reproduce the following one, excerpted from a speech given in Zahlé:

Of course, our first and last words of praise must be addressed to the person who is behind all beneficent actions, His Majesty Abdul Hamid Khan, our venerated sovereign, sultan, and son of sultan, may God extend his flourishing reign …

A bit further along, these few verses:

If you want to know what metal virtue is made of,

Look to the Ottoman family.

Destiny, which is often cruel, has shown its benevolence

By giving us Abdul Hamid as sovereign …

On the opposite page, Botros penciled in the following words:

This verse must be changed.

In another notebook, my grandfather writes that he was attending the performance of a play titled Saladin when he heard the news of Abdul Hamid’s deposition and the accession of Mehemet Rashad. He mounted the stage to say a few words about the deposed monarch, “on behalf of the Ottoman people”:

People trusted him with their lives, their honor, and their property, but he sold it all at a giveaway price. His name will be forever tainted, for instead of eradicating treason and corruption from the kingdom, he sent his agents out to spread hatred and sedition. This is why I say to this arrogant person …