thumb|Portrait of a younger Said Pasha

Mehmed Said Pasha (‎; 1838–1914), also known as Küçük Said Pasha, was an Ottoman Turkish monarchist, senator, statesman and editor of the Turkish newspaper Cerîde-i Havâdis. He served as grand vizier for nine years in total, seven times during the reign of Abdul Hamid II and twice during the Second Constitutional Monarchy.

His epithet makes him "Said Pasha the Younger" to distinguish him from a contemporary statesman İngiliz Said Pasha, who was also known as Büyük Said Pasha, or "Said Pasha the Elder". Küçük Said was also known as Mabeyn Başkâtibi Said Bey in this youth.

He was known for his opposition to the extension of foreign influence in the Ottoman Empire. He was among the statesmen who were disliked by the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP). However, in his last two grand vizierships, Said Pasha was supported by the CUP in the Chamber of Deputies, and his last grand vizierate ended in 1912 with a military memorandum against the Unionists.

Early life

Mehmed Said was born in Erzurum. His father was Ali Namık Efendi, a foreign minister bureaucrat. According to his contemporary Petre Kharischirashvili, he was of Georgian descent. His education was in the madrasa, which started in Erzurum and continued in Istanbul. There he learned French. He joined the Kalemiye in Istanbul, and soon the petty civil service.

Bureaucratic career

He returned to Erzurum for his first civil service assignment in 1853 where he worked in the eyalet's bureau of commutations (tahrirat kalemi). In 1857 he joined the Anatolian army's bureau of communications. Said went back to Istanbul, where he was the deputy clerk of the Supreme Council (Meclis-i Vâlâ halife kâtip). He then became chief of the Archipelago Vilayet municipal council (Adalar Bölgesi Belediye Dairesi reisi) and chief clerk of the Rumeli Inspection Committee (Rumeli Teftiş Heyeti başkatibi) following which he became the chief clerk of the government printing office (Matbaa-i Amire başkatibi). After a brief stint as chief clerk of the Court of Cassation (Dîvân-ı Ahkâm-ı Adliyye muhakemat başkatibi) he became director of communication of the Ministry of Trade (Ticaret Nezareti mektupçusu) before taking on the same role in the Ministry of Education.

Mehmed Said contributed to the provincial reform by writing the Regulation on the General Administration of Provinces (İdare-i Umumiye-i Vilayet Nizamnamesini). This caught the attention of Mehmed Emin Âli Pasha.

High politics

He became first secretary to Sultan Abdul Hamid II shortly after the sultan's accession, and is said to have contributed to the realizations of his majesty's design of concentrating power in his own hands; later he became a senator, minister of the interior, minister of finance, royal treasurer, then governor of Ankara and then Bursa, justice minister, finally reaching the high post of grand vizier in 1879. However this new interpretation of his role in government was too much for him and he complained that the premiership was reduced to being like a scarecrow. After two years in this post, he had a disagreement with the War Minister Mehmed Rıza Pasha about the problems in the Rumelian army. He gave an ultimatum to the Sultan that if he did not arrest Rıza, he would resign. Said was instead dismissed one month after this resignation threat.

Seventh premiership

He came into temporary prominence again during the revolution of 1908.

Eighth and ninth premiership

Following the resignation of Ibrahim Hakkı Pasha in the wake of Italy's declaration of war on the Ottoman Empire in 1911, he was again called to the premiership. He attempted to resign on New Year's Eve 1911 on disagreements with his cabinet on whether to dissolve parliament, but he was reappointed the same day. His time as Grand Vizier was under the de facto rule of the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP) and the War Minister Mahmut Şevket Pasha.

In the "election of clubs" held in February 1912, he allowed the CUP to seize the parliament through egregious voter fraud and intimidation. However, with Mahmut Şevket Pasha's departure from government and another Albanian revolt, a military clique known as the Savior Officers who backed the defeated Freedom and Accord Party forced him to resign from the grand viziership for the last time.

Following his departure Said Pasha became head of the Council of State and then President of the Ottoman Senate.

Death

Just before the start of World War I, he developed bronchitis and died on 1 March 1914 in Istanbul. He was buried at the entrance of Eyüp Sultan Mosque.

References

  • Bibliography of Küçük Mehmed Said Pasha