Djevdet Bey orCevdet Tahir Belbez^[1] (1878 – January 15, 1955)^[2] was anOttomanAlbanian governor of theVan vilayet of theOttoman Empire duringWorld War I and theSiege of Van. He is considered responsible for the massacres ofArmenians in and aroundVan.^[3]Clarence Ussher, a witness to these events, reported that 55,000 Armenians were subsequently killed.^[4][5] Djevdet is also considered responsible formassacres of Assyrians in the same region.^[6]

He was born inShkodra,Ottoman Empire, as the son ofTahir Pasha Bibezić, who was avali ofVan,Bitlis, andMosul.^[7]

In 1914, as theKaymakam of theSanjak of Hakkari, Djevdet worked closely together with theOttoman Special Organization to coordinate the defense against the Russians and possible offensives against the region aroundLake Urmia.^[8] He wrote toTalaat Pasha thatUrmia could have been captured with some more support of his superiors.^[9] He succeededHasan Tahsin Bey as Governor of theVilayet of Van in 1914.^[10] As such, he allied with theKurdish chieftainSimko Shikak and ordered a massacre of about 800Assyrians inSalmas in March 1915.^[11] In July 1915, he led the massacre of the 15,000 Armenians ofBitlis.^[12] Djevdet was a leader of theCommittee of Union and Progress (CUP)^[13] and the brother-in-law ofEnver Pasha.^[11][1] He died on 15 January 1955.

He was portrayed byElias Koteas in the 2002 filmArarat,^[14] which received 2 Oscar nominations.

• Elyesa Bazna, a relative

• Arnold Toynbee (1916).The Treatment of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire: Documents Presented to Viscount Grey of Fallodon. Hodder and Stoughton.