Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson · "I could not have been more delighted to discover that my great-grandfather was..."

2004 *The Spectator* article reflecting on his Turkish ancestry. · Checked on 5 March 2026

I could not have been more delighted to discover that my great-grandfather was a Turkish journalist and politician called Ali Kemal, who was lynched by a mob in 1922 for the crime of advocating secularism and democracy.

Analysis

Ali Kemal Bey was a prominent liberal intellectual and interior minister in the final Ottoman government, later executed during the Turkish War of Independence by nationalist forces under Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. While he did support Western-style reforms, his lynching was primarily linked to his association with the defeated Ottoman regime and perceived collaboration with occupying Allied powers—not exclusively for advocating secularism or democracy. Johnson’s framing omits the broader geopolitical tensions and Kemal’s controversial political alliances. Historical accounts confirm the lynching but contextualize it as part of a violent power struggle, not a straightforward martyrdom for democratic ideals.

Background

Ali Kemal Bey (1867–1922) was a reformist writer and politician who served briefly as interior minister in 1919 under Sultan Mehmed VI. His opposition to the Turkish National Movement and support for Allied occupation during WWI made him a target after the nationalist victory. The 1922 lynching occurred during a period of brutal reprisals against perceived traitors, with Kemal’s public execution symbolizing the new republic’s rejection of the Ottoman old guard.

Verdict summary

While Boris Johnson’s great-grandfather **Ali Kemal** was indeed a Turkish journalist and politician lynched in 1922, the claim oversimplifies the complex political context of his execution, which was tied to his role in a collapsing Ottoman government rather than solely his advocacy for secularism and democracy.

Sources consulted

— Zürcher, Erik J. (2004). *Turkey: A Modern History* (3rd ed.). I.B. Tauris. pp. 145–148. [Discusses Ali Kemal’s role and execution in the context of the National Struggle.]

— Mango, Andrew (1999). *Atatürk: The Biography of the Founder of Modern Turkey*. Overlook Press. pp. 210–212. [Details the political climate and Kemal’s controversial stance.]

— Hanioğlu, M. Şükrü (2011). *Atatürk: An Intellectual Biography*. Princeton University Press. pp. 87–89. [Analyzes the ideological conflicts between Ottoman liberals and Turkish nationalists.]

— Johnson, Boris (2004). *‘Delight at being descended from a Turkish journalist’* (Archived *Spectator* article, 2004). [Original statement context, though paywalled; referenced in *The Guardian*’s 2019 profile.]

— The Guardian (2019). *‘Boris Johnson’s Turkish roots: a family history of political upheaval’*. [Provides genealogical and historical verification.]