How to Pronounce Talaat Pasha

Meaning and Context

Talaat Pasha, born Mehmed Talaat in 1874, was a formidable Ottoman statesman who served as the Grand Vizier (Prime Minister) of the Ottoman Empire from 1917 until the end of World War I. As a leading member of the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), also known as the Young Turks, he effectively controlled the empire's domestic policy as Minister of the Interior from 1913 onward. His tenure during this pivotal period is indelibly marked by his central role in the planning and execution of the Armenian Genocide, a systematic campaign of deportation, expropriation, and mass murder that resulted in the deaths of an estimated 1.5 million Armenians between 1915 and 1917. Talaat Pasha's legacy is thus defined by his position as a key architect of this 20th-century atrocity, a fact cemented by the post-war Ottoman courts-martial which convicted him in absentia for war crimes. Following the empire's defeat, he fled to Berlin, where he was assassinated in 1921 by Soghomon Tehlirian, an Armenian survivor seeking justice.

Common Mistakes and Alternative Spellings

The primary spelling in English is Talaat Pasha, which is a direct transliteration from the Ottoman Turkish. Common alternative transliterations include Talat Pasha (dropping the second 'a') and, less frequently, Talaat Paşa, using the Turkish 'ş' for the "sh" sound. The title "Pasha" is sometimes misspelled as "Pacha" due to phonetic interpretation. His full name, Mehmed Talaat, is also used, and researchers may encounter the Turkish modern spelling Mehmet Talat Paşa. Frequent errors or typos involve the duplication or omission of letters, such as "Talaaat," "Talatt," or "Talat Pasa." When searching archival materials, it is important to consider these variations, as historical documents may use different romanization systems.

Example Sentences

Historians widely regard Talaat Pasha as the principal organizer of the deportations that constituted the Armenian Genocide.

Following the war, the Ottoman military tribunal issued a warrant for Talaat Pasha's arrest on charges of mass murder.

In his memoirs, Talaat Pasha defended the relocation policies as a wartime necessity, a claim rejected by modern scholarship.

The assassination of Talaat Pasha in Berlin led to a highly publicized trial that brought detailed testimony about the genocide to international attention.

Modern Turkey, as the successor state to the Ottoman Empire, has not officially recognized the events as a genocide, a stance that contrasts sharply with the historical record of Talaat Pasha's own telegrams ordering the measures.

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