Assassination of Said Halim Pasha on the Ottoman press

Said Halim Pasha was born in Cairo in 1864 and later came to Istanbul. After finishing his education, he started to work in the service of the Ottoman State. As a member of Committee of Union and Progress, he was involved in politics at a young age and he was elected as the mayor of Yeniköy Municipality after the Second Constitutional. Later, he first served as a minister of the High Court and became the Grand Vizier after the murder of Mahmut Şevket Paşa. He resigned from the Grand Vizier's office on February 4, 1917 and was put on trial in charge of being responsible for World War I and Armenian deportation. He was arrested on 10 March 1919 and taken to the Bekir Aga Division. He was taken from there by the British forces, and then he was sent to Mondros. After a few months, he was sent to exile to Malta Island. After being released from Malta Island on April 29, 1921 as part of a prisoner exchange between the Ankara Government and the British Government, Said Halim Pasha went to Rome. Said Halim Pasha was martyred on 6 December 1921 as a result of an assassination by Arshavir Şıracıyan, an Armenian committee in Rome. After Pasha's assassination, articles in favor of and against him were published and he was praised by the poems on the press. On the press, it was claimed that Said Halim Pasha had been a victim of a political murder that the murderer was Armenian. After Said Halim was martyred, the Italian police made intensive prosecutions, especially in Rome, for the arrest of the criminals, many Armenians, Greek, Bulgarian and Turkish citizens were questioned. Despite all the efforts, the killer suspect was not caught. Said Halim Pasha's first funeral was held at the Ottoman Embassy in Rome. Then the funeral was taken from Rome to the Port of Brindisi and from here it was brought to Istanbul by the Italian flagged Girat Vaporetta. After a funeral ceremony organized by the Ottoman Government on January 29, 1922, Said Halim Pasha was buried next to his father Halim Bey, whowas in Sultan Mahmut II'stomb. Key Words: Said Halim Pasha, Arshavir Şıracıyan, Assassination, Armenian, Ottoman Press.