Ottoman crimes against Arab intellectuals: Remembering executions of 1916- Raouf Karakoujan
Although the Ottoman Empire’s occupation and centuries-long hegemony over the Arab region came to an end with its defeat in World War I, its ambitions did not vanish entirely.
From the early 16th century until the empire’s collapse in 1918, vast swathes of Arab lands—including the Arabian Peninsula—remained under Ottoman control. Despite repeated uprisings by Arab peoples whenever opportunities arose, each of these revolts was met with brutal repression, bloodshed, and large-scale massacres.
A close examination of Ottoman policy toward the Arabs reveals practices that may be characterized as amounting to genocide. The first major massacre targeted Arab Alawites under the reign of Sultan Selim I (known as "Yavuz"). During his campaign toward Egypt and upon his entry into Aleppo, he perceived the Alawites as a potential threat. He convened religious scholars of the time and obtained a fatwa legitimizing the killing of Alawites in the name of religion. Multiple sources recount that he ambushed prominent Alawite figures in Aleppo, beheaded them, and initiated a systematic massacre against the community.
Historical narratives suggest that Selim I forcibly displaced nearly half a million Turkmen tribespeople to the Syrian coast, while killing and exiling numerous Arab Alawites, effectively uprooting them from their homeland. At the time, Alawites were derogatorily referred to as “Sürek”—literally “those hunted ahead of the cavalry.” Sunni religious scholars exploited these atrocities to issue further fatwas, leading to massacres in Aleppo, forcing surviving Alawites into the mountains where many were later hunted down and killed in rural areas. These massacres were instrumental in reducing the Alawite population to a marginalized minority in Syria. Encouraged by such precedents, similar atrocities occurred in Iraq, where Sunni factions massacred men, committed widespread sexual violence against women, and seized property.
The Ottoman campaigns in Yemen were likewise marked by extreme violence. In 1538, Suleiman Pasha led the first major assault, followed by Sinan Pasha in 1569 and Muhammad Ali Pasha in 1830. Each campaign turned Yemen into a battlefield of carnage—an era so tragic that Yemeni folklore still speaks of those who went off to war and never returned.
The Arabian Peninsula fared no better. The sons of Ottoman-Egyptian Wali Muhammad Ali Pasha—Tosun and Ibrahim Pasha—carried out devastating massacres in the desert, targeting the ruling Saudi families and Wahhabi communities. These campaigns led to the near-annihilation of the population, the overthrow of the Saudi leadership, and the forced relocation of the royal family to Istanbul, where they were publicly displayed and later executed by beheading.
Beginning in 1758, Ahmad Pasha al-Jazzar earned the notorious epithet “The Butcher of the Camels” for slaughtering 70 Arab caravans along with their animals. Both Arab and Ottoman sources describe him as a cruel and ruthless figure, particularly hostile to local Arab tribes.
In the final years of the Ottoman Empire, members of the Committee of Union and Progress committed some of the most horrific massacres in the region of Greater Syria. One of its most infamous leaders, Djemal Pasha, showed no hesitation in employing brutal methods to suppress any expression of Arab nationalist sentiment.
The rise of European nationalist movements significantly influenced the peoples of the Middle East, especially the Arabs, from an early stage. Damascus, Beirut, and Cairo emerged as centers of enlightenment. However, the collapse of the Ottoman Empire extinguished many Arab nationalist movements. The Ottoman campaigns in Arab territories constitute some of the bloodiest chapters in Arab history—exceeding even the brutality witnessed during the Crusades. Djemal Pasha authored the final of these grim chapters in Syria.
In 1915, Djemal Pasha was appointed military governor of Lebanon and Syria, tasked primarily with violently quashing Arab nationalism. Granted sweeping military and administrative powers due to the strategic importance of the region, he focused his efforts on suppressing centers of Arab intellectual and political awakening—namely Damascus and Beirut.
As one of the most prominent members of the Committee of Union and Progress, Djemal Pasha was considered the ideal figure to implement the centralizing policies of the Ottoman state in Arab territories. He began a campaign of executions targeting Arab nationalists. According to one account, “he would not eat breakfast until twenty Arab nationalists had been executed.” Other sources claim he would line up two or three prisoners at a time and shoot them from behind to conserve ammunition. The Turkish historian Murat Bardakçı has also referenced these claims. As a result, he became infamously known among Arabs as "Djemal the Butcher" or simply "The Butcher."
The brand of Turkish nationalism championed by Djemal Pasha acted as a dagger driven into the heart of the Arab enlightenment movements in Damascus and Beirut. He adopted draconian measures to suppress Arab nationalism, and the hardships of World War I—including famine, censorship, and poverty—exacerbated the suffering. (During an independence day speech, the President of Lebanon declared that 1.5 million people were affected by famine, holding the Ottoman state responsible. In response, Ömer Çelik, spokesperson for Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), rejected the accusation and issued a disparaging statement against the Lebanese president.) Due to the heavy taxes imposed during the war, it is estimated that 40,000 people perished in Lebanon and Syria.
Djemal Pasha established a vast intelligence network to monitor, intimidate, and silence dissent, imposing strict censorship on the press. While the world's attention was consumed by the global war, his brutality in Syria and Lebanon escalated dramatically. These actions sparked widespread anger among the local population, even as the Ottoman state defended them as necessary measures to “preserve central authority.”
The May 6, 1916 massacre stands as one of the final attempts to crush Arab awakening. According to historical accounts, the events began with orders to arrest 33 Arab nationalists, 21 of whom were apprehended and tried before a military court in the town of Aley—located in present-day Lebanon and predominantly inhabited by Druze communities. They were sentenced to death.
Gallows were erected in al-Marjeh Square in Damascus and al-Burj Square in Beirut to carry out the public hangings of these nationalist leaders, among them intellectuals, politicians, journalists, former parliamentarians, and even a Christian priest. Those who evaded arrest were sentenced to death in absentia. To this day, May 6, 1916—known as Martyrs' Day—remains etched in Arab memory for its profound national and political significance.
Damascus and Beirut were among the first cities to witness enlightenment and the rise of Arab nationalist thought. Those executed represented the intellectual and ideological elite of the movement, and the aim was to decapitate Arab nationalism by eliminating its leadership. Djemal Pasha carried out these atrocities under the pretext of defending the Ottoman state's central structure and promoting Turkish nationalism. He also sought to impose Turkish language and culture on the Arab population.
However, these executions failed to suppress the people. Instead, they ignited a spirit of resistance and political awareness. The events left a deep and enduring scar on the Arab consciousness and were never forgotten. They became the catalyst for the Arab Nahda (Renaissance) movement and reinforced a widespread perception that "the Turks occupied Arab lands for 400 years, exploited their resources, executed their leaders, and corrupted their religion—particularly through the imposition of secularism."
Just one month after the executions of May 6, the Great Arab Revolt broke out on June 10, 1916, led by Sharif Hussein. Lebanon and Syria became key battlegrounds in the struggle against Ottoman rule, which ultimately ended in the empire's defeat in 1918.
a.k
ANHA
