Rexhep Pasha Mati

Rexhep Pasha Mati (Turkish: Matlı Recep Paşa, Arabic: رجب باشا‎ Rajab Pasha; 1842 - 1908) was an Ottoman-Albanian Marshal, governor and war minister.[1][2]

Rexhep Pasha Mati

Pasha
Born1842
Mat region, Ottoman Empire (present-day Albania)
Died14 August 1908
Istanbul, Ottoman Empire (present-day Turkey)
CitizenshipOttoman
OccupationMarshal (müşir), governor (vali), war minister, revolutionary
MovementCommittee of Union and Progress

Biography

Rexhep Pasha Mati was an Albanian.[2]

While serving in Kerbela (modern Karbala, Iraq), Mati took action against an attack on a Bektashi convert in the town and his efforts were praised by Bektashis.[3]

Vali of Tripolitana

Abdul Hamid II was aware of Mati's animosity for his government and himself with the Pasha being politically suspect.[4][5] The sultan appointed Mati in the early 1900s as the Ottoman military commander of the garrison and vali (governor) of Tripoli, a place often reserved for Ottoman political exiles.[6][5][7] Mati allowed Ottoman exiles to operate and hold liberal views with the province of Tripolitana gaining a reputation for freedom of speech.[5] He also allowed Ottoman exiles to escape to Europe.[8] Câmi Baykut was Mati's aide-de-camp in Tripoli.[9] Mati opposed the activities of the Italian Bank Banco di Roma operating in Ottoman Libya.[10] Mohamed Fekini, the kaymakam (sub-governor) of Fassatu had been decorated by Mati for repelling a French military incursion into Ottoman Libya back to the Tunisian border.[11] Mati was against religious hatred.[12] The Italian consul of Ottoman Libya tried to force Mati to stop the Isawiyya, a Sufi order from performing the dhikr in 1905 and the Muslim community opposed any prevention. [13] Mati inherited a dispute from the previous governor between the Jewish community and Ottoman government relating to payment of the military exemption tax.[12] Mati continued to insist on payment of the tax and over time through compromise much of amount was reduced.[12]

Plot to overthrow Ottoman sultan

In 1902, an Ottoman officer Cemil Cahit was sent to Tripolitana and according to him had heard about the patriotism of Mati.[7] He attempted to persuade Mati to declare the constitution yet the commander refused to do so.[7]

Between 1902-1903 a coup de detat plot to overthrow Abdulhamid II was devised by the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP).[14] A proposal by Colonel Shevket Bey, a leader of the CUP Tripoli branch was brought before the CUP central committee by Prince Sabahaddin.[6] The plan encompassed a coup de detat based on support from Mati.[6] Ahmed Fazlı and Sabahaddin were tasked by the central committee to make a report about the possibility of the venture and after an exchange of letters between them and Shevket Pasha all agreed to meet at Malta.[6] Shevket was sent to Malta by Mati under the pretence of discussions with the Ottoman consul General of Malta to prevent smuggling.[6] As Mati's representative Shevket met with Sabahaddin and Ahmed and informed both that the initial plan was undertake a military expedition in Albania, yet fears of foreign intervention in the area made them choose instead the port of Dedeağaç (modern Alexandroupoli).[6] Troops were then to be transported to Istanbul that could depose the sultan and Mati had agreed to provide soldiers for the venture.[15] At the time Mati was the only Ottoman general to offer his military services to the CUP and it was the main reason that made CUP members want to go through with the plot.[6] Mati was respected by factions within the CUP and also by the British.[6]

The tasks of those involved were Mati and Shevket left in charge of organising the military aspects of the plan along with Ismail Qemali and Sabaheddin given the job of getting diplomatic and financial support to buy two ships for the venture.[6] Qemali also sent an Albanian confidant Xhafer Berxhani from Greece to see Mati in Tripoli.[16] Eqrem Vlora, a member of the Vlora family stated that during this time Mati sent £1000 in gold to Qemali and assisted his son Tahir Pasha in exile at Tripoli to escape to Europe.[17] Later those involved in the plot worked to finalise details of their plan and Reșid Sadi traveled to Tripoli to give Mati £3,000.[18] Qemali was of the view that if Mati captured Selanik (modern Thessaloniki) with part of his army, it would make Albanians join his forces.[19] The failure of the plan was put down to different reasons with Qemali blaming prolonged negotiations about obtaining ships, while Rexhep Pasha viewed Qemali's lukewarm attitude for the venture as reason to change his mind.[20][15]

In 1904 Mati was involved in a plot where he would generate a military uprising in Tripoli, become the leader of rebels going to Istanbul and force Abdul Hamid II to either reinstate the constitution or renounce the throne.[5]

Post Young Turk Revolution and death

After the Young Turk Revolution (1908), the new Ottoman government installed Mati as the War Minister in Kamil Pasha's cabinet.[1][2][5] Prior to leaving for Istanbul, Mati installed the mutasarrıf (sanjak administrator) of Jebel and CUP member Bekir Sami Bey as the new vali of Tripoli.[5] He cancelled the appointment of Bekir Sami due to strong local opposition and Mati later left for Istanbul by ship with 198 CUP exiles.[5] After holding office for a short period of time, Mati died of a heart attack.[1][2] Rumors of the time claimed that Mati's heart attack was brought about due to the excitement of events he felt following the revolution.[8]

In 1911 Dervish Hima published a book Musaver Arnavud (The Illustrated Albanian) in Ottoman Turkish and it contained content on important Albanians of the time and included a short article about Mati.[1] After the death of Mati some newspaper articles by the CUP portrayed him as "not only a soldier but also a genius of politics".[4] The European press was criticised by Albanian nationalists in newspaper articles for neglecting to mention the ethnic origin of Mati following his death.[17]

References
  1. Gawrych, George (2006). The Crescent and the Eagle: Ottoman rule, Islam and the Albanians, 1874–1913. London: IB Tauris. p. 184. ISBN 9781845112875.
  2. Nezir-Akmese, Handan (2005). The Birth of Modern Turkey: The Ottoman Military and the March to WWI. London: IB Tauris. p. 88. ISBN 9781850437970.
  3. Hanioğlu 2001, p. 330.
  4. Hanioğlu 2001, p. 328.
  5. Kedourie, Elie (2012). Arabic Political Memoirs and Other Studies. Routledge. p. 131. ISBN 9781136275852.
  6. Hanioğlu 2001, p. 17.
  7. Zürcher, Erik Jan (1984). The Unionist Factor: The Role of the Committee of Union and Progress in the Turkish National Movement 1905-1926. Brill. p. 18. ISBN 9789004072626.
  8. Mango, Andrew (2011). Atatürk. Hachette UK. ISBN 9781848546189.
  9. Hanioğlu 2001, p. 24.
  10. Ahmida, Ali Abdullatif (2011). The Making of Modern Libya: State Formation, Colonization, and Resistance. SUNY Press. p. 40. ISBN 9781438428932.
  11. Del Boca, Angelo (2010). Mohamed Fekini and the Fight to Free Libya. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 13. ISBN 9780230116337.
  12. Goldberg 1990, p. 50.
  13. Goldberg, Harvey E. (1990). Jewish Life in Muslim Libya: Rivals and Relatives. University of Chicago Press. p. 44. ISBN 9780226300924.
  14. Hanioğlu 2001, pp. 16–17.
  15. Aksin, Sina (2007). Turkey, from Empire to Revolutionary Republic: The Emergence of the Turkish Nation from 1789 to Present. New York University Press. pp. 48–49. ISBN 9780814707210.
  16. Hanioğlu 2001, p. 20.
  17. Hanioğlu 2001, p. 331.
  18. Hanioğlu 2001, p. 21.
  19. Hanioğlu 2001, p. 23.
  20. Hanioğlu, M. Șükrü (2001). Preparation for a Revolution: The Young Turks, 1902-1908. Oxford University Press. pp. 22–23. ISBN 9780199771110.
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