It has been a century since the holy lands – Mecca and Medina – were lost by the Ottoman Empire but the Turks and the Islamic world have not forgotten the heroic commander who defended the city until the last minute, risking his life to protect the holy artifacts
With a single retweet in December 2017, the foreign minister of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) did more than many to revive interest in a World War I-era Ottoman officer, Fahreddin Pasha. Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan retweeted a post that accused the Ottoman commander in Medina, Fahreddin Pasha, of stealing the city’s property including manuscripts.
These are [Recep Tayyip] Erdoğan’s ancestors and their history with Arab Muslims” stated the post. This provoked a strong reaction from top Turkish officials including President Erdoğan. Subsequently, two streets around the UAE’s embassy in Ankara were renamed “Defender of Medina Street” and “Fahreddin Pasha Street.”
Fahreddin Pasha is a respected figure in Turkey. Following the Ottoman Empire’s surrender with the Mudros Armistice on Oct. 30, 1918, the Hejaz region and other lands were to be handed over to the British. In 1916, appointed commander of Medina,
Fahreddin Pasha, refused to surrender the city of the Prophet Muhammad. He held out until January 1919, becoming the last Ottoman commander to lose territory. He had previously managed to send to the capital sacred relics from the holy city.
