Ahmed Djemal quotes

Ahmed Djemal was an Ottoman military leader and one of the prominent members of the Young Turk government during World War I. As governor of Syria, his policies and actions had significant impacts on the region and its people. He played a key role in the Ottoman war effort and is remembered for both his administrative abilities and controversial decisions. Here are 5 of his quotes:

I shall not return to Constantinople until I have conquered Egypt!

Ahmed Djemal

With us it is not a question of Bolshevism or democracy, but of life or death. A decision in favor of a Soviet could not be opposed by the Young Turks.

Ahmed Djemal

Our sole aim was, by virtue of this war, to rid ourselves of the lot of them, however many international decisions there were. Each one represented a blow to our...independence...And, just as it was our dearly held goal to lift the Capitulations and the Mt. Lebanon concessions, we also desired to destroy the signed understanding concerning the reforms in Eastern Anatolia...

Ahmed Djemal

In the program of the Turkish government, nothing is said of a Turkification of the Arabs. I have never intended anything like that nor even thought of it. Our sole purpose is to strengthen the feeling of fraternity between the Ottoman-Turkish and the Ottoman-Arab elements and to make the latter understand that the national interests of the Arabs are identical to those of the Turks and that any harm to one of them necessarily means harm to the other. The Ottoman-Turkish and the Ottoman-Arab elements have to rally to the caliphate without afterthoughts if they want to survive.

Ahmed Djemal