Abdulhalik Renda

Biography

Abdulhalik Renda was born Mustafa Abdulhalik 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 Izmir 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 Abdulhalik 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 Ataturk's death in November 1938.

Abdulhalik Renda died on 1 October 1957 in Erenkoy, Istanbul. He was laid to rest at the Cebeci Asri Cemetery in Ankara.

Armenian genocide

During the Armenian genocide, Abdulhalik Renda was responsible for the deportations and subsequent murder of the Armenians of Bitlis Vilayet. In 1916, Renda became governor of Aleppo where he was instrumental in the deportations of Armenians off to their death in Der Zor. Rossler, the German consul on Aleppo, was quoted as saying that Renda was "working with great energy for the destruction of Armenians". General Vehip Pasha, commander of the Third Army, mentioned that Renda in his testimony to the Mazhar Commission, claimed that he burned thousands of people alive in the province of Mus.