On his father 's side Johnson is great-grandson of Ali Kemal Bey , a liberal Turkish journalist and interior minister in the government of Damat Ferid Pasha , Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire , who was murdered during the Turkish War of Independence . On his father 's side , Johnson is a great-grandson of Ali Kemal Bey , a liberal Turkish journalist and the interior minister in the government of Damat Ferid Pasha , Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire , who was murdered during the Turkish War of Independence .