Unlike the European type to which we are accustomed, the Cabinet of the Assembly is almost exclusively composed of very young men, possessed, however, of the strong determination to serve their country.
Mustapha Kemal Pasha has great faith in youth, and his oldest minister is probably no more than forty-two. “Youth,” he said, “makes mistakes that can be corrected; age and experience make the mistakes of routine.” Fethi Bey, who is the chief’s right hand, also believes in youth, and was himself a minister at thirty-two.
RAUF BEY—PRIME MINISTER.
Ex-Naval Officer.
He speaks perfect English and knows England better than any other Turk.
p. 192
Here, again, the Prime Minister and his Cabinet are independent, the one of the other. One may fall, while the other remains. I am inclined to think, on closer examination, that the Ministers are seldom entrusted with the initiative and responsibility which our Ministers, in theory at least, enjoy; although for them all criticism and supervision comes, as it were, from below. They might, perhaps, be best described as Heads of Departments, whose every action is open to all eyes in the Assembly, submitted to the keenest scrutiny, and freely discussed. Sometimes they seem able to keep their position after heated discussions and interpolations, but, on the other hand, they may fall in consequence of some detail which, with us, would pass unnoticed—such as the nomination of an unsatisfactory functionary. They are all, certainly, very able men; with extraordinary energy, enthusiasm, and devotion. Although not constituted as a formal Cabinet, they meet to consider the most important questions that will come before the Assembly. Mustapha Kemal Pasha is entitled to preside at these meetings whenever he desires to be present; but, as a rule, the Chair is taken by Rauf Bey, Prime Minister without a Portfolio. They are not appointed by the President or the Prime Minister, but elected by the whole Assembly.
I have discussed this system with many of our European statesmen, who, one and all—including Lord Curzon—do not consider that it could permanently work well or be successfully applied to any stable, important State.
The Turks, however, maintain that a Minister should only be elected to watch, as it were, the special interests and concerns of his Department, and that the People themselves should be responsible, through their representatives in Parliament, for all legislation. The Assembly controls both law-making and administration.
For them, of course, we of the West cannot decide, or, perhaps, judge. We have scarcely of late years earned the right to criticise!
Rauf Bey is a man of about forty, a gentleman as we understand the word, who has travelled among the best intellects of Europe, and had the courage and energy to adapt many ideals thus acquired to the needs of his own country. His brilliance and his devotion are universally acknowledged.
Formerly a Naval officer, he distinguished himself in all the wars of the last twenty-five years; and his command of the Hamidieh in the Balkan War, against the whole of the Greek Fleet, is not yet forgotten. As Marine Minister in Izzet Pasha’s Cabinet he accompanied General Townshend and Admiral Calthorpe to Mudros, and signed the Armistice with the Allies. In the Chamber of Deputies at Constantinople he did not hesitate to avow his allegiance to Mustapha Kemal, and was consequently one of the first to be arrested by the English and sent to Malta. Handsome, intelligent, a hard worker, subtle and liberal-minded, he very soon came to the front. He was the first Vice-President of the Assembly, and became Prime Minister last May. During the absence of Ismet Pasha at Lausanne, he also acted as Minister of Foreign Affairs.