2021/03/19 by Tessa Hofmann · 4 citations
Arts and Humanities · Social Sciences · #Historical and Contemporary Political Dynamics #International Law and Human Rights #Turkey's Politics and Society
paper · doi:10.51442/ijags.0009
openalex publication_date 2021/03/19 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/07
A hundred years ago, on the late morning of March 15, 1921, the Armenian Soghomon Tehlirian (Soġomon T’ehlirean - Սողոմոն Թեհլիրեան; also: Soghomon Tehliryan; Soġomon T’ehlerean - Սողոմոն Թեհլերեան (1897-1960)) shot the former Ottoman Minister of the Interior (21 January 1913 to 4 February 1917), Minister of Finance (November 1914 to 4 February 1917) and head of government (Grand Vizier; 4 February 1917 to 8 October 1918), Mehmet Talaat (1874-1921) on Berlin’s Hardenbergstrasse. In an unusually short time by today’s standards, after two and a half months, the assassin was put on trial on 2 and 3 June of the same year at the jury court of Berlin District Court III (Landgericht Berlin III) in Berlin-Moabit. The trial lasted one and a half days, which was also unusually short. Obviously, the German or Prussian judiciary wanted to get rid of the accused and with him the subject of German-Turkish relations as quickly as possible. Tehlirian was acquitted on 3 June 1920, on the grounds of incapacity of guilt and was immediately deported from Germany. This article explains the background, context and lasting effects of his crime.