Copyright, 1921, by The New York Times Company.
Special Cable to THE NEW YORK TIMES.
BERLIN, March 13, --Tallaat *****, former Grand Vizir of Turkey and one of the three leaders of the Young Turk movement, was assassinated here today.
He was walking in a street in a western suburb with his wife when a young man who had been following overtook them and, tapping Talaat on the shoulder, pretended to claim acquaintance with him. Then, drawing a revolver, the man shot Talaat through the head and with a second shot wounded the wife. Talaat fell to the pavement, killed instantly.
The deed was witnessed by many passersby, who seized the assassin, beat him and had almost lynched him when the police intervened. In broken German the murderer said to the police: "We are both foreigners. This has nothing to do with you."
He was eventually identified as an Armenian student, and it is assumed that the deed was an act of revenge for the massacres of his compatriots.
Talaat, whose name was on the second Entente list of Turkey was criminals left Constantinople two years ago and had been living as a fugitive ever since under assumed names, first in Switzerland and later in Germany. He evidently feared the fate which has now overtaken him, for he had frequently changed his address in Berlin and at the time of his death was living at a pension in the West End.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Edited by MosJan, 13 September 2005 - 12:19 PM.