Cherkes Ahmet (died September 6, 1915) was the leader of Ottoman Turkey's state-sponsored paramilitary marauders of supposedly Circassian origin during World War I. Cherkes Ahmet was from Serres, Macedonia. He was notoriously responsible for the murder of the well-known Armenian writer, literary critic and politician Krikor Zohrab and politician Vartkes Serengülian during the Armenian genocide. Ahmet supported the Committee of Union and Progress during the coup d'état of January 1913 following which he became a leading member of the Special Organization in Van, where he was given the responsibility of subduing the Armenian population by Cevdet Bey, the Governor of Van at the time. Ahmet, along with fellow murderers Halil and Nazim, were tried and executed in Damascus by Djemal Pasha in September 1915. The assassinations became the subject of a 1916 investigation by the Ottoman Parliament led by Artin Boshgezenian, the deputy for Aleppo.
While Ahmet was officially executed for murder and robbery, the real reason for his execution was that he was considered a future liability. This was especially relevant, given the recent coup d'état.
References
1915 deaths
Armenian genocide perpetrators
Macedonian Turks
Turkish people convicted of murder
Turkish people convicted of war crimes
Executed Macedonian people
Executed mass murderers
Members of the Special Organization (Ottoman Empire) People executed by the Ottoman Empire by hanging People executed for war crimes People from Serres