Ali Cenani (1872

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

–5 December 1934) was a Turkish politician of the Republican Peoples Party (CHP) and member of the

Grand National Assembly of Turkey The Grand National Assembly of Turkey ( ), usually referred to simply as the GNAT or TBMM, also referred to as , in Turkish, is the Unicameralism, unicameral Turkey, Turkish legislature. It is the sole body given the legislative prerogatives by ...

. He served as a Minister of Commerce in the 1920s during the presidency of

Kemal Atatürk Kemal may refer to: ;People * Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, a Turkish politician and the first president of Turkey * Kemal (name), a Turkish name ;Places * Kemalpaşa, İzmir Province, Turkey * Mustafakemalpaşa, Bursa Province, Turkey ;See also *"Kema ...

. Before, he was also member of the

Ottoman Parliament The General Assembly (; French romanization: "Medjliss Oumoumi" or ''Genel Parlamento''; ) was the first attempt at representative democracy by the imperial government of the Ottoman Empire. Also known as the Ottoman Parliament ('' Legislation o ...

Early life and education

He was born into the Ottoman bureaucratic family of the Cenanizade, of which

Grand Vizier Grand vizier (; ; ) was the title of the effective head of government of many sovereign states in the Islamic world. It was first held by officials in the later Abbasid Caliphate. It was then held in the Ottoman Empire, the Mughal Empire, the Soko ...

Kadri Pasha Mehmed Kadri Pasha () also known as Kadri Pasha (1832 – 1884) was an Ottoman statesman and reformer. He was the Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire during the reign of Abdul Hamid II from 9 June 1880 to 12 September 1880. From 11 February 1876 ...

was also part of. After having graduated from high school, he studied finance and economy.

Political career

He settled in

Antep Gaziantep, historically Aintab and still informally called Antep, is a major city in south-central Turkey. It is the capital of the Gaziantep Province, in the westernmost part of Turkey's Southeastern Anatolia Region and partially in the Medi ...

(today Gaziantep) in 1891 and was elected into the Ottoman Parliament in 1908, representing

Aleppo Aleppo is a city in Syria, which serves as the capital of the Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Governorates of Syria, governorate of Syria. With an estimated population of 2,098,000 residents it is Syria's largest city by urban area, and ...

. The same year he was elected the head of the Antep branch of the Committee for Union and Progress (CUP), the teacher Taşçızâde Abdullah Effendi became the vice-president. He was re-elected for a second term. As the leader of the CUP in Antep, he was involved in the deportations of the Armenian population during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. Even though Cenani played a leading role in the deportations of Armenians, he was tolerant to requests of exemptions of deportation of some wealthy Armenians, which caused a complaint by Ahmet Faik Erner, the

Kaymakam Kaymakam, also known by #Names, many other romanizations, was a title used by various officials of the Ottoman Empire, including acting grand viziers, governors of provincial sanjaks, and administrators of district kazas. The title has been reta ...

of Antep at the time. In 1915, he focused on the deportations of the elite of the Protestant Armenians, of whom he eventually took over many of heir possessions. He was an MP of the Ottoman Parliament until on the 16 March 1916, Constantinople was occupied by the

British army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

. During the

Turkish War of Independence , strength1 = May 1919: 35,000November 1920: 86,000Turkish General Staff, ''Türk İstiklal Harbinde Batı Cephesi'', Edition II, Part 2, Ankara 1999, p. 225August 1922: 271,000Celâl Erikan, Rıdvan Akın: ''Kurtuluş Savaşı tarih ...

, he organized the resistance in the region around Antep in 1918. He reportedly received weapons for this means on the orders of

Mustafa Kemal Mustafa () is one of the names of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and the name means "chosen, selected, appointed, preferred", used as an Arabic given name and surname. Mustafa is a common name in the Muslim world. Given name Moustafa * Moustafa A ...

(Atatürk). The British managed to get hold of Cenani in Constantinople on the 24 May 1920 and sent to

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

in November 1920.Kurt, Ümit (2018), p.71 He and Ahmet Faik Erner, were accused of having been involved in the deportation of about 25'000 Armenians from Antep. Upon his return from Malta, he joined the

Kemalist Kemalism (, also archaically ''Kamâlizm'') or Atatürkism () is a political ideology based on the ideas of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder and first president of the Turkey, Republic of Turkey.Eric J. Zurcher, Turkey: A Modern History. Ne ...

faction and became a member of the Grand National Assembly for Antep.Kurt, Ümit (2018), p.73 He later became a Minister of Commerce between 22 November 1924 and the 17 May 1926, and served in both, the Governments of

Fethi Okyar Ali Fethi Okyar (29 April 1880 – 7 May 1943) was a Turkish diplomat and politician, who also served as a military officer and diplomat during the last decade of the Ottoman Empire. He was also the second Prime Minister of Turkey (1924–1925) a ...

and also Ismet Inönü. In 1928 he was investigated for misspending 500'000 TL and sentenced to one month in prison and to pay a fine of 170'000 TL.Kurt, Ümit (2018), p.74 He died in 1934.

References

{{Authority control 1872 births 1934 deaths Malta exiles Members of the 4th government of Turkey Members of the 3rd government of Turkey Republican People's Party (Turkey) politicians Committee of Union and Progress politicians Politicians from the Ottoman Empire Armenian genocide perpetrators Prisoners and detainees of Turkey Turkish politicians convicted of corruption