Djemal Pasha was appointed with full powers in military and civilian affairs as Governor of Syria in 1915.
 A provisional law granted him emergency powers in May of that year.
 All cabinet decrees from Constantinople concerning Syria became subject to his approval.
 His offensives on both his first and second attacks on the Suez Canal failed.
 Coupled with the wartime exigencies and natural disasters that afflicted the region during these years, this alienated the population from the Ottoman government, and led to the Arab Revolt.
 In the meantime, the Ottoman army usually commanded by Colonel Kress von Kressenstein pushed towards and occupied Sinai.
 The two men had a thinly disguised contempt for each other, which weakened the command.

He was known among the local Arab inhabitants as al-Saffah, "the Blood Shedder", being responsible for the hanging of many Lebanese, Syrian Shi'a Muslims and Christians wrongly accused of treason on 6 May 1916 in Damascus and Beirut.


In his political memoirs, the leader of the "Beirut Reform Movement" Salim Ali Salam recalls the following: 
Jamal Pasha resumed his campaign of vengeance; he began to imprison most Arab personalities, charging them with treason against the State.
His real intent was to cut off the thoughtful heads, so that, as he put it, the Arabs would never again emerge as a force, and no one would be left to claim for them their rights … After returning to Beirut [from Istanbul], I was summoned … to Damascus to greet Jamal Pasha … I took the train … and upon reaching Aley we found that the whole train was reserved for the prisoners there to take them to Damascus … When I saw them, I realized that they were taking them to Damascus to put them to death.
So … I said to myself: how shall I be able to meet with this butcher on the day on which he will be slaughtering the notables of the country?
And how will I be able to converse with him? …
Upon arriving in Damascus, I tried hard to see him that same evening, before anything happened, but was not successful.
The next morning all was over, and the … notables who had been brought over from Aley were strung up on the gallows.

  During 1915-1916, Djemal had 34 political opponents executed as martyrs.

At the end of 1915, Djemal with viceregal powers is said to have started secret negotiations with the Allies for ending the war; he proposed to take over the Ottoman administration himself as an independent King of Syria.
These secret negotiations came to nothing, in part because the Allies reportedly could not agree on the future territory of the Ottoman Empire; France objected strongly, and Britain was unwilling to fund the Imperial operations.
In a new interpretation, historian Sean McMeekin casts doubt on the tradition that Djemal made any such overtures to the Allies.
 The Pasha was an outspoken critic of the Allies, collaborated fully with the German army, and grew to hate the British Empire.

His most successful military exploit was against the British Mesopotamian Expeditionary Force, which had arrived in early 1915 from India.
35,000 British troops marched north on Baghdad, hoping to take the citadel with relatively few casualties.
 Djemal Pasha was appointed to command and marshalled a vast army, ultimately led by General Halil Kut, which by the time of the siege of Kut al-Amara numbered 200,000 Turks and Arab auxiliaries.
 The British could only evacuate their wounded with Djemal's consent and attempted to send emissaries requesting permission to evacuate while the city was encircled on three sides.
 Djemal refused to compromise his advantageous position, and strafed enemy attempts by the Tigris Corps to take relief boats up river.
 They had underestimated Djemal's considerable administrative capabilities and will to resist the Allied armies.
 The Ottoman troops fought hard at the Battle of Ctesiphon, but the subsequent fate of POWs and civilians later enhanced Djemal Pasha's wartime reputation as a capricious and cruel general.
 Nonetheless, the successes impressed T. E. Lawrence to write a significant account of their d
Djemal Pasha was appointed with full powers in military and civilian affairs as Governor of Syria in 1915.  A provisional law granted him emergency powers in May of that year.  All cabinet decrees from Constantinople concerning Syria became subject to his approval.  His offensives on both his first and second attacks on the Suez Canal failed.  Coupled with the wartime exigencies and natural disasters that afflicted the region during these years, this alienated the population from the Ottoman government, and led to the Arab Revolt.  In the meantime, the Ottoman army usually commanded by Colonel Kress von Kressenstein pushed towards and occupied Sinai.  The two men had a thinly disguised contempt for each other, which weakened the command.
He was known among the local Arab inhabitants as al-Saffah, "the Blood Shedder", being responsible for the hanging of many Lebanese, Syrian Shi'a Muslims and Christians wrongly accused of treason on 6 May 1916 in Damascus and Beirut.

In his political memoirs, the leader of the "Beirut Reform Movement" Salim Ali Salam recalls the following: 
Jamal Pasha resumed his campaign of vengeance; he began to imprison most Arab personalities, charging them with treason against the State. His real intent was to cut off the thoughtful heads, so that, as he put it, the Arabs would never again emerge as a force, and no one would be left to claim for them their rights … After returning to Beirut [from Istanbul], I was summoned … to Damascus to greet Jamal Pasha … I took the train … and upon reaching Aley we found that the whole train was reserved for the prisoners there to take them to Damascus … When I saw them, I realized that they were taking them to Damascus to put them to death. So … I said to myself: how shall I be able to meet with this butcher on the day on which he will be slaughtering the notables of the country? And how will I be able to converse with him? … Upon arriving in Damascus, I tried hard to see him that same evening, before anything happened, but was not successful. The next morning all was over, and the … notables who had been brought over from Aley were strung up on the gallows.
  During 1915-1916, Djemal had 34 political opponents executed as martyrs.
At the end of 1915, Djemal with viceregal powers is said to have started secret negotiations with the Allies for ending the war; he proposed to take over the Ottoman administration himself as an independent King of Syria. These secret negotiations came to nothing, in part because the Allies reportedly could not agree on the future territory of the Ottoman Empire; France objected strongly, and Britain was unwilling to fund the Imperial operations. In a new interpretation, historian Sean McMeekin casts doubt on the tradition that Djemal made any such overtures to the Allies.  The Pasha was an outspoken critic of the Allies, collaborated fully with the German army, and grew to hate the British Empire.
His most successful military exploit was against the British Mesopotamian Expeditionary Force, which had arrived in early 1915 from India. 35,000 British troops marched north on Baghdad, hoping to take the citadel with relatively few casualties.  Djemal Pasha was appointed to command and marshalled a vast army, ultimately led by General Halil Kut, which by the time of the siege of Kut al-Amara numbered 200,000 Turks and Arab auxiliaries.  The British could only evacuate their wounded with Djemal's consent and attempted to send emissaries requesting permission to evacuate while the city was encircled on three sides.  Djemal refused to compromise his advantageous position, and strafed enemy attempts by the Tigris Corps to take relief boats up river.  They had underestimated Djemal's considerable administrative capabilities and will to resist the Allied armies.  The Ottoman troops fought hard at the Battle of Ctesiphon, but the subsequent fate of POWs and civilians later enhanced Djemal Pasha's wartime reputation as a capricious and cruel general.  Nonetheless, the successes impressed T. E. Lawrence to write a significant account of their d
Djemal Pasha