"As you know, I already knew him in 1896 when he came on the recommendation of Yahya Nuzhet Pasa to Istanbul to our house in Serencebey Yokusu in Besiktas. He had a power to influence that no one who met him could easily forget. In later years, his meeting with Sultan Abdulhamid, his being sent to Toptasi Asylum and the way he got out of it, and his refusing the Sultan's offers of position and wealth all attracted attention to himself. He was straightforward, natural, and unobliged. In those days he had his own way of dressing. He was of athletic build and very handsome. He rode a fine horse and was an excellent shot. He read continually, whenever he had the opportunity. When he had mentioned an event, a name, a text, just once, his memory could henceforth recall it totally and without error from his unconscious at the required moment. He used to listen to the person he was talking to carefully and in silence. And when he started to speak, the person felt himself compelled to listen to him with respect and in silence also.

"I shall tell you of an incident I have not told anyone of before that illustrates this gift of his: when we set up the Western Thrace Government, we fell out with Istanbul. The Grand Vizier, Said Halim Pasa was hesitant and timid, and frightened of some new problem arising. A delegation under the leadership of Cemal Pasa came from Istanbul in order to make us consent to leaving Western Thrace to Greece in return for our taking Edirne. Ali Fetih was one of the delegation; he was later Prime Minister. Fethi and I were together in the ranks of the Special Organization in Tripolitania.

"We were in complete control of the situation, and Great Britain, France, Italy, and Rumania had recognized the legitimacy of the Western Thrace Government. Cemal Pasa said that this recognition was temporary, and that in a short while we would be on our own, and also that Istanbul was not in a position to help us. Our foreign affairs were in the hands of Tevfik Rustu, later Foreign Minister for the Republic. As he was preparing to reply to Cemal Pasa, Bediuzzaman spoke and recalled - using exactly his words –