Wehib Pasha

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Ottoman general

title: "Wehib Pasha" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1877-births", "1940-deaths", "military-personnel-from-ioannina", "ottoman-imperial-school-of-military-engineering-alumni", "ottoman-military-college-alumni", "ottoman-military-personnel-of-the-balkan-wars", "ottoman-prisoners-of-war", "balkan-wars-prisoners-of-war-held-by-greece", "ottoman-army-generals", "pashas", "escapees-from-turkish-detention", "turkish-escapees", "turkish-people-of-albanian-descent", "ottoman-military-personnel-of-world-war-i", "burials-at-karacaahmet-cemetery", "albanian-people-from-the-ottoman-empire", "witnesses-of-the-armenian-genocide", "massacres-of-armenians", "20th-century-murderers", "mercenaries-from-the-ottoman-empire", "military-personnel-of-the-second-italo-ethiopian-war", "ethiopia–turkey-relations", "italy–ottoman-empire-relations", "italy–turkey-relations"] description: "Ottoman general" topic_path: "engineering" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wehib_Pasha" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Ottoman general ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox military person"]

FieldValue
nameWehib Pasha
imageMehmet vehip.jpg
birth_date1877
death_date
birth_placeYanya, Janina Vilayet, Ottoman Empire (modern Ioannina, Greece)
death_placeIstanbul, Turkey
birth_nameMehmed Wehib
allegianceOttoman Empire
Ethiopian Empire
branch
Ethiopian Empire Ethiopian Army
rankGeneral
battles
relationsMehmet Esat Bülkat (brother)
::

| name = Wehib Pasha | image = Mehmet vehip.jpg | image_size = | caption = | birth_date = 1877 | death_date = | birth_place = Yanya, Janina Vilayet, Ottoman Empire (modern Ioannina, Greece) | death_place = Istanbul, Turkey | nickname = | birth_name = Mehmed Wehib | allegiance = Ottoman Empire Ethiopian Empire | branch = Ethiopian Empire Ethiopian Army | serviceyears = | rank = General | servicenumber = | unit = | commands = | battles =

Wehib Pasha or Mehmet Vehip Kaçı Paşa (modern Turkish: Kaçı Vehip Paşa or Mehmet Vehip (Kaçı); 1877–1940), was a Turkish or Albanian

Biography

Vehib was born in 1877 in Yanya, Janina Vilayet (present day: Ioannina, Greece), then part of the Ottoman Empire. Coming from a prominent family of the city his father, Mehmet Emin Efendi, had served as its mayor. He was an Albanian or Turkish origin. His family roots are descended from Taşkentli Mehmet Veliyettin Kaçıhan, a Turkish commander who emigrated from present-day Tashkent, Uzbekistan, during the reign of Sultan Murad II. When the Surname Law was enacted in Türkiye, Vehip took the surname Kaçı, while his brothers took the surnames Bülkat and Taşkent. His elder brother Esad Pasha defended Gallipoli in 1915. His younger brother Mehmet Nakyettin Bey was the father of Kâzım Taşkent the founder of Yapı Kredi, the first nationwide private bank in Turkey. Vehib himself graduated from the Imperial School of Military Engineering (Mühendishane-i Berrî-i Hümâyûn) in 1899, then from the Ottoman Military College (Staff College, Mekteb-i Erkân-ı Harbiye-i Şâhâne) as a staff captain and joined the Fourth Army, which was then stationed in Yemen. In 1909, after the 31 March Incident, Vehib was called to Constantinople, where he began to work at the Ministry of War. Shortly afterwards Mahmud Shevket Pasha appointed Vehib as the Commander of the Cadet School (Military high school, Askerî İdadi). He reached the rank of Major.

Balkan wars

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a1/Surrender_of_Yanina,_1913.png" caption="Vehib, as his brother's representative, surrendering the city of Ioannina to the Greek general Alexandros Soutsos."] ::

Main article: Battle of Bizani

During the First Balkan War, Vehib defended the Fortress of Yanya with his brother Esad Pasha who was the commander of the Yanya Corps, until 20 February 1913. The Ottoman forces eventually surrendered to the Greeks under Crown Prince Constantine. After his release as a prisoner of war, Vehib was made a Colonel in the 22nd Infantry Division. He was sent to Hejaz in Arabia.

First World War

The Ottoman Empire entered World War I and Vehib participated in the Gallipoli Campaign, commanding the XV Army Corps, and later the Second Army. His successes led to his being made commander of the Third Army during the Caucasus Campaign. His army defended against attacks by the Russians but was defeated in the battle of Erzinjan. In 1918, Vehib's Third Army regained the offensive and took back Trabzon on 24 February, Hopa in March, as well as Batumi on 26 March. With the Armistice of Mudros, Vehib returned to Constantinople.

Armenian Genocide

Vehib Pasha repeatedly condemned the Armenian genocide and gave testimony confirming its existence. He gave evidence to the Mazhar Commission for the Istanbul trials.

In 1916, Vehib noticed that a labor battalion of 2,000 Turco-Armenian soldiers had gone missing. He later discovered that the entire battalion had been executed, with the men being tied together in fours and shot. Outraged, he ordered the arrests of Kör Nuri, the gendarmerie commander in charge of the labor battalions, and Çerkez Kadir, the brigand chief who carried out the killings. Vehib had both men court-martialed and hanged for the massacre, and warned his troops not to commit atrocities. Vehib also attempted to have Bahaeddin Şakir and Provincial Governor Ahmet Müammer Bey, who had issued the orders to carry out the massacre, court-martialed. However, Şakir fled and Müammer was transferred out of Vehib's jurisdiction. Şakir was later assassinated by Armenian vigilantes as part of Operation Nemesis.

War of Independence

Vehib did not participate in the Turkish War of Independence. After his return to Constantinople at the end of World War I, he was prosecuted for misuse of his office and jailed in Bekirağa prison. He escaped to Italy. His citizenship was revoked by the new government of Turkey. He spent some time in Italy, Germany, Romania, Greece and Egypt. His dislike of Mustafa Kemal was well known and he never hid his contempt for the new leader of Turkey who had once fought under his command at Gallipoli. He did not return to Istanbul until 1940.

Abyssinia

When the Italians invaded Ethiopia in Second Italo-Ethiopian War in the mid-1930s, Vehib volunteered to fight for the Ethiopians. In Ethiopia, he was known as Wehib Pasha, and served as the Chief-of-Staff to Ras Nasibu, the Ethiopian Commander-in-Chief on the southern front. In an interview with The New York Times, he remarked "Out there will be the grave of Italian Fascism. When the Italian native troops hear of ME they will desert." Vehib designed a strong defensive line for the Ethiopians which was known as the "Hindenburg Wall", in reference to the famous German defensive line of World War I, the Hindenburg Line. However, the Italians broke through these defenses during the Battle of the Ogaden in April 1936. After the war was lost, Vehib left Ethiopia and returned to Istanbul.

Death

He died in 1940 and was buried at Karacaahmet Cemetery in Istanbul.

References

References

  1. Nizamoğlu, Yüksel. (2010). "Vehip Paşa (Kaçı)’nın Hayatı ve Askeri Faaliyetleri". [[Istanbul University]] Institute of Social Sciences.
  2. Atacanlı, Sermet. (2023). "Mehmet Vehip (Kaçı) Paşa". Çanakkale Savaşları Ansiklopedisi.
  3. Ottoman Army]]. He fought in the [[Balkan Wars]] and in several theatres of [[World War I]]. In his later years, Vehib Pasha volunteered to serve as a military advisor to the [[Ethiopian Order of Battle Second Italo-Abyssinian War. Ethiopian Army]] against [[Fascist Italy (1922–1943). Fascist Italy]] during the [[Second Italo-Ethiopian War]]. He served as the [[chief of staff]] to [[Nasibu Zeamanuel]], the Ethiopian Commander-in-Chief on the southern front.[https://web.archive.org/web/20081215082834/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,882619,00.html "Eighth Month"], ''Time'' magazine, 4 May 1936.
  4. [https://web.archive.org/web/20071201033215/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,756036,00.html "Empire's End"], ''Time'' magazine, 11 May 1936.
  5. [https://web.archive.org/web/20051111021323/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,755119,00.html "Solemn Hours"], ''Time'' magazine, 14 October 1935.
  6. [https://web.archive.org/web/20051111021349/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,755121,00.html "Water Will Win"], ''Time'' magazine, 14 October 1935.
  7. [https://web.archive.org/web/20111222065814/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,755141,00.html "Newshawks, Seals"], ''Time'' magazine, 14 October 1935.
  8. Kayallof, Jacques. (1973). "The battle of Sardarabad". Mouton.
  9. ''Vehib Pasha, the Albanian, was perhaps a tiger; but he was likewise both valiant soldier and grand- seigneur.'' ([[Rafael de Nogales]], ''Four Years Beneath the Crescent'', C. Scribner's sons, 1926, p. 22.)
  10. ''The Ottoman Albanian Vehib Pasha spoke to the Armenians in the language that any romantic nationalist could comprehend, and his point was clearly to cow his opponents with the depth of Ottoman determination.'' (Michael A. Reynolds, ''The Ottoman-Russian Struggle for Eastern Anatolia and the Caucasus, 1908-1918: Identity, Ideology and the Geopolitics of World Order, Volume 1'', Princeton University, 2003, [https://books.google.com/books?id=FFppAAAAMAAJ&q=%22The+Ottoman+Albanian+Vehib+Pasha+spoke+to+the+Armenians+in+the+language+that+any+romantic+nationalist+could+comprehend,+and+his+point+was+clearly+to+cow+his+opponents+with+the+depth+of+Ottoman+determination%22 p. 424.])
  11. Vehib Pasha said ''I've been the commander of the [[Third Army (Ottoman Empire). Caucasian front]] for one and a half years. I researched [[Peoples of the Caucasus. Caucasians]] and learned. You Caucasians love cleanliness like us Albanians. I won't make these dirty [[Turkish people
  12. Dadrian, Vahakn N.. (2004). "The history of the Armenian genocide: ethnic conflict from the Balkans to Anatolia to the Caucasus". Berghahn Books.
  13. Balakian, Peter. (1997). "Black dog of fate: a memoir". Basic Books.
  14. (2019-04-24). "The Thirty-Year Genocide: Turkey's Destruction of Its Christian Minorities, 1894–1924". Harvard University Press.
  15. Dadrian, Vahakn N.. (1994). "The Secret Young-Turk Ittihadist Conference and the Decision for the World War I Genocide of the Armenians". Journal of Political & Military Sociology.
  16. Kevin Jackson, Atlas Tarih, No 03, September 2010, pp. 74-76.
  17. (1935-10-14). "The War: Water Will Win".
  18. (4 May 1936). "WAR: Eighth Month". Time magazine.
  19. "Karacaahmet Cemetery: Notable burials".

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