Abdülhalik Renda

Mustafa Abdülhalik Renda (29 November 1881 – 1 October 1957) was a Turkish civil servant and politician, and a close co-worker of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.

Biography

Abdülhalik Renda was born Mustafa Abdülhalik in Ioannina, in the Janina Vilayet of the Ottoman Empire. From 1902 to 1918, he served in several towns and cities of the Ottoman Empire as district governor and province governor. In 1918, he was exiled for six months to Malta. Following his return, he was appointed undersecretary in the Ministry of Economy and then in Ministry of Interior. He became Governor of Konya, before he was appointed the first Governor of İzmir after the Turkish forces re-captured the city from withdrawing Greek troops.

From 1923 on, he was Deputy of Sivas for five consecutive terms. Mustafa Abdülhalik served as Minister of Finance and Minister of Defence in several cabinets from 1923 to 1935, and later from 1946 to 1948. After the Surname Law of 1934, which required all Turkish citizens to adopt a surname, he took on the surname "Renda". He was elected Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey on 1 March 1935, and served until 5 August 1946. He was acting President of Turkey for one day after Atatürk's death in November 1938.

Abdülhalik Renda died on 1 October 1957 in Erenköy, Istanbul. He was laid to rest at the Cebeci Asri Cemetery in Ankara.^[1]

Armenian Deportation

During the Armenian deportation, after scores of Armenian towns aligned with Russian troops, Abdülhalik Renda was responsible for the deportations of the Armenians of Bitlis Vilayet.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} In 1916, Renda became governor of Aleppo where he was instrumental in the deportations of Armenians to Der Zor.^[3][5] Rossler, the German consul on Aleppo, was quoted as saying that Renda was "working with great energy for the deportation of Armenians".^[5][7][8] General Vehip Pasha, commander of the Third Army, mentioned that Renda in his testimony to the Mazhar Commission, claimed that he deported thousands of people in the province of Muş.^[8][9]

References

1. "TBMM Eski Başkanlarından Renda'nın Mezarı Yeniden Düzenlendi" (in Turkish). Türkiye Büyük Millet Meclisi-Meclis Haber. 28 February 2006. Retrieved 15 December 2010.
2. Ungor, Ugur (2011). Confiscation and Destruction: The Young Turk Seizure of Armenian Property. Continuum International Publishing. p. 7. ISBN 1441130551. Whereas some moderate governors, such as Celal Bey in Konya, Hasan Mazhar Bey in Ankara and Rahmi Bey in İzmir/Smyrna, delayed and obstructed the destruction, others – including Mustafa Abdülhalik Renda in Bitlis, Cemal Azmi Bey in Trabzon, and Dr Mehmed Reshid in Diyarbekir – accelerated and intensified it.
3. Acemoglu, Murat (27 Jan 2001). "Prof. Mete Tuncay's Honest Assessment of the Armenian Genocide Exposes Prof. Halil Berktay's Weaknesses and Shortcomings". Armenian Reporter. p. 3. At various times, Ministry of Finance and President of National Assembly of the Republic of Turkey, Mustafa Abdulhalik Renda, Talat's brother-in-law was Governor of Bitlis when he deported Armenians, especially the Armenians of Mus and Mus valley. He repeated these crimes again as Governor in Aleppo in 1916.
4. "Chronology of the Armenian Genocide -- 1915 (April-June)". Armenian National Institute.
5. Akcam, Taner (2005). From empire to republic : Turkish nationalism and the Armenian genocide (2. impr. ed.). London: Zed Books. pp. 239–40. ISBN 1842775278.
6. Gerwarth, edited by Robert; Horne, John (2013). War in peace : paramilitary violence in Europe after the Great War. Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press. p. 172. ISBN 019968605X.
7. A.A. Turkei 183, vol. 41, A4215, 9 February 1916
8. Akcam, Taner (2007). A shameful act: the Armenian genocide and the question of Turkish responsibility (1st Holt pbk. ed.). New York, NY: Metropolitan Books/Holt. p. 363. ISBN 9780805086652.
9. A.A. Turkei 158, vol. 48, A34435 October 1917

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