Muhammad Naji Shawkat

Bey Bey, also spelled as Baig, Bayg, Beigh, Beig, Bek, Baeg, Begh, or Beg, is a Turkic title for a chieftain, and a royal, aristocratic title traditionally applied to people with special lineages to the leaders or rulers of variously sized areas in ...

() (May 26, 1891 – May 11, 1980) was an Iraqi politician who served as the

prime minister of Iraq The prime minister of the Republic of Iraq is the head of government of Iraq and the commander-in-chief of the Iraqi Armed Forces. On 27 October 2022, Mohammed Shia' Al Sudani became the incumbent prime minister. History The prime minist ...

under King

Faisal I Faisal I bin Hussein bin Ali Al-Hashemi (, ''Fayṣal al-Awwal bin Ḥusayn bin ʻAlī al-Hāshimī''; 20 May 1885 – 8 September 1933) was King of Iraq from 23 August 1921 until his death in 1933. A member of the Hashemites, Hashemite family, ...

Early life

Muhammad Naji Shawkat was born to an Arabized family of Georgian origins in the Iraqi town of al-Kut where his father was stationed as provincial governor. He had three brothers: Saaib, Sami and Rifat and a sister. Concurrent with Naji's conclusion of his school education in

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

, his father was elected to 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 ...

of 1909, thereby providing him with the opportunity to join the Ottoman Law School in

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

Military service

Naji Shawkat was the assistant general prosecutor in the Iraqi city of al-Hila when

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 ...

broke out, upon which he interrupted his legal career and joined the

Ottoman Army The Military of the Ottoman Empire () was the armed forces of the Ottoman Empire. It was founded in 1299 and dissolved in 1922. Army The Military of the Ottoman Empire can be divided in five main periods. The foundation era covers the years ...

as a reserve officer. After two years of involvement in the Ottoman military defense of Iraq, Shawkat was captured by the advancing British troops in March 1917. He was subsequently taken to a British Indian prison camp where he, like many other detained

Arab Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...

Ottoman officers, was offered the choice of joining the

Arab Revolt The Arab Revolt ( ), also known as the Great Arab Revolt ( ), was an armed uprising by the Hashemite-led Arabs of the Hejaz against the Ottoman Empire amidst the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I. On the basis of the McMahon–Hussein Co ...

, an offer he promptly accepted.

Political career

Naji Shawkat Ministry

The Ministry of Naji Shawkat consisted of the following ministers: * Finance Minister, Nusrat Al-Farsi * Minister of Justice, Jamil Al-Wadi * Minister of Economy and Communications, Jalal Baban * Minister of Defense, Rashid Al-Khoja * Foreign Minister, Abdul Qadir Rashid * Minister of Education, Abbas Mahdi

Prime Minister of Iraq

In 1932, Shawkat was called on by Faisal to head a non-partisan government that was intended to clear the political congestion which accompanied the signing of the Anglo-Iraqi treaty. Faced with strong opposition from within the Iraqi political establishment and the anti-treaty campaign, Shawkat's government lasted only five months. Thereafter, he was appointed as representative of Iraq in

Ankara Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...

where he cultivated strong relations with the Turkish ruling circles and developed a sense of admiration for modern Turkey. Afterwards, Shawkat worked as a minister in Ankara. During the 1941 Iraqi coup d'état, he was appointed at the Minister of Interior. Following the fall of the regime in the

Anglo-Iraqi War The Anglo-Iraqi War was a British-led Allies of World War II, Allied military campaign during the Second World War against the Kingdom of Iraq, then ruled by Rashid Ali al-Gaylani who had seized power in the 1941 Iraqi coup d'état with assista ...

, Shawkat fled to Iran, then to South Africa. He was later brought to trial in Iraq and sentenced to 15 years in prison for treason by a military court. Shawkat was pardoned in 1948.

References

External links

1890s births 1980 deaths Naji Shawkat Arab people from the Ottoman Empire Prime ministers of Iraq Ambassadors of Iraq to Turkey Justice ministers of Iraq Heads of government who were later imprisoned Istanbul University Faculty of Law alumni {{Iraq-politician-stub Iraqi collaborators with Nazi Germany Iraqi politicians convicted of crimes Iraqi prisoners and detainees People convicted of treason against Iraq Recipients of Iraqi presidential pardons Civilians who were court-martialed