Association of "Union and Progress" in Turkey. The organization that removed the Ottoman Sultan Abdul Hamid II

Union and Progress is a revolutionary Turkish organization founded as the Ottoman Union Society on June 2, 1889, changed its name in 1915, and sought to change the system of government and establish a "modern democratic state."

The Assembly was able to depose Sultan Abdul Hamid II in 1909 and come to power, and adopted the nationalist thought and followed the secular doctrine in enacting legislation and laws.

A one-party government was formed, suppressing dissent from 1913 until it dissolved itself after defeat in World War I in 1918.

Establishment

The Union and Progress, which began its activities under the name "Ottoman Union Society", was founded on June 2, 1889, by a group of medical students at the Military Medical School in Istanbul: Ibrahim Timo, Abdullah Jawdat, Isaac Sukuti and Muhammad Rashid.

The organization began as an intellectual club for medical students, and their activity went no further than reading anti-government newspapers published abroad and literary works written by members of the New Ottoman Association such as Namik Kemal and Zia Pasha.

The members of the Assembly were influenced by the ideas of liberation, democracy and the modern state system, through contact with Western thought, so they sought to make changes in the Ottoman Empire, reform the political system, establish democracy, and establish a constitutional government that achieves freedom, equality and justice for all.

Then the ideas of the Union Society, or "Unionists", went from the Military Medical School to all the higher schools, so the number of members increased, and the founders of the Society tried to create an effective organizational structure.

The students were organized in the form of secret cells, according to the organizational model of the Italian "Carbonari" association, and were also influenced by the Masonic lodges in their slogans and secret organizational structure.

Ideological orientation

At the beginning of their inception, the unionists tended to "Ottomanism", which aimed to establish a sophisticated Ottoman empire, based on liberal institutions that could guarantee the loyalty of all religious and ethnic groups of the state.

Then the association began to slide towards nationalism, and even towards Turanism aimed at uniting people of Turkish origin, and trying to impose Turkification on the subjects of the state of other nationalities, and demanding the purification of the Turkish language from the impurities introduced by non-Turkish nationalities, especially Arabs and Persians.

Freemasonry and the Jews played a major role in the emergence of the Turkish nationalist current, and fueled it among the unionists, as the Turkish nationalism intensified after the merger with the "Ottoman Freedom Society" in 1907 based in Thessaloniki, the stronghold of the Jews and Freemasonry at the time.

Many Turkish nationalist members, such as Talaat Bey, Dr. Nazim and Bahauddin Shakir, who were leading and influential figures, joined the ranks of the association.

This trend has grown since the establishment of the one-party government in 1914, and the conference of the Assembly held in 1916 was an ideological turning point in its history, as the Assembly announced its adoption of Turkish nationalist thought, and decided to adopt the principle of secularism through legislation and laws.

Ibrahim Timo is one of the founding military medicine students of the "Union and Progress" Association (websites)

Political track

The activities of the association began to grow and its ideology began to spread rapidly, reaching the ears of Sultan Abdul Hamid, who decided to impose tighter control over the military medicine school, so he appointed Muhammad Zaki Pasha to manage it.

Zaki opened a thorough investigation of the association in 1893, expelled nine prominent members from the school, deported to Tripoli and Fezzan, and pardoned a few months later, some of whom had fled abroad, including activists in the organization such as Ibrahim Timo, Isaac Sukuti and Abdullah Jawdat.

The first public appearance of the association was in 1895, when its members owned a printing press, printed leaflets and distributed them in Istanbul, expressing their regret for the bloody events that accompanied the Armenian revolution, and holding Sultan Abdul Hamid directly responsible.

A group of unionists fleeing the Ottoman Empire and some students settled in Paris, including Nazim Thessaloniki, a student at the Academy of Medicine in Paris, and he was trying to spread the idea of the association and expand its circle, so he communicated with Ahmed Reda Bey, the former employee of the encyclopedia of the Ottoman Empire and residing in France, and convinced him to join them, and he was also appointed president of the Paris branch.

Ahmad Reza, who is said to have been influenced by the ideas of the philosopher Auguste Kant and his constitution (regularity and progress). Inspired by Kant's constitution to gather more supporters, Reda took the word "progression" by gathering more supporters, and advised members in 1895 to change the name of the Assembly to "Assembly of Union and Progress".

A regulation was prepared to replace the scattered organizational plans organized by the Ottoman Union Assembly and stipulated that Sultan Abdülhamid should be deposed, the constitution drafted by Midhat Pasha in 1876 should be implemented, and parliament reinstated.

In 1896, the association in Istanbul planned a military coup to overthrow Sultan Abdul Hamid, but the coup failed, and the leaders of the association were arrested, its members were expelled from schools and government jobs, and some were exiled to remote areas of the country.

As a result of these events, the association lost its influence in the country to a large extent, which made it focus on its activities abroad, so its members established branches of Geneva and Cairo, and opened branches in several Balkan cities.

They issued a number of newspapers and magazines that express their thought, such as "Al-Mashoura" newspaper in Paris and "Al-Mizan" in Egypt, and the Paris branch officially became the headquarters of the association.

After the failed coup, the Egyptian government expressed discomfort with the association's activity on its territory, forcing Mourad Bey Mizanji (head of the branch) and some of his comrades to move to Paris.

With the arrival of Mizanji, the Assembly was divided, with Ahmad Reza representing the hard-left wing of the Assembly, while Mizanji representing the right wing, so its members who opposed Ahmad Reza's hardline line appointed Mizanji as president in 1897.

This tension in the structure of the organization, in addition to the victory of the Ottoman Empire over Greece in the same year, increased the prestige of Sultan Abdul Hamid and negatively affected the effectiveness of this organization.

Meanwhile, Sultan Abdul Hamid commissioned Ahmed Jalal al-Din Pasha to negotiate with the members of the Assembly abroad, and was able to convince Mizanci and a group of members of the Assembly, promising them reforms and ending the prosecution against them, many of whom returned to Istanbul, and some of them were assigned to represent the Ottoman Empire in foreign countries.

Because of that agreement, the association lost many of its members and activities, leaving only Ahmed Reza, Dr. Nazim and a small group, but the association soon regained some of its strength, with the accession of Mahmud Jalal al-Din Pasha (son-in-law of Sultan Abdul Hamid) and his sons Sabahatdin and Lotfullah, who fled to France in 1899, and then Ismail Kemal Bey joined them.

Sultan Abdul Hamid II deposed by the Association of Union and Progress on April 27, 1909 (Al Jazeera)

The unionists agreed with the newcomers on the basic principle (overthrow of the Sultan), but Prince Sabahuddin's adherence to the principle of cooperation with all religious and ethnic groups in the state with the possibility of allowing foreign intervention was contrary to Ahmed Reza's thought, which led to disagreement and division between them.

The "Ottoman Freedom" Association joins the unionists

The "Union and Progress" Association was seeking to expand its scope and increase its strength, so it communicated with the "Ottoman Freedom" Association in Thessaloniki, which also seeks to overthrow the Sultan and "establish a constitutional rule" and after many talks, the "Freedom" Association accepted to merge under the "Ottoman Union and Progress" Association in 1907, and its branch in Thessaloniki represented the headquarters of the "Union and Progress" association at home, and the Paris branch is the general center and the headquarters of the association abroad.

The "Ottoman Freedom" Association had close contact with Freemasonry and the Jews of the "Dönmeh", and many of its members belonged to Freemasonry, and some of their meetings were held in the Masonic lodges, and they received great support from the Jews.

This cooperation and close relationship with Freemasonry and the Jews continued after the merger, and became a prominent feature of the "Union and Progress" Association, and this was evident in the great sympathy shown by the Society towards the Zionist movement, and the measures it has put in place since it came to power to facilitate the immigration and settlement of Jews in Palestine.

The "Freedom" Association was also dominated by a revolutionary military character, and it had penetration into the Third Royal Army in Macedonia, and included many of its officers, and some of its members, such as Niazi Bey and Anwar Bey, formed military battalions, and this made it easier for the Assembly to overthrow the Sultan militarily.

In 1908, the battalions of Niazi Bey, Enver Bey and other battalions of the Armed Assembly began a rebellion in Macedonia against the Sultan, joined by armed factions from Albania, and supported by a large segment of the military sector throughout the country.

Violence broke out in Macedonia, and Sultan Abdülhamid sent Shamsi Pasha to suppress the rebellion, but he was killed and the process to deter the rebels was unsuccessful, and civil and military disobedience spread to many cities.

Seeing that events could spiral out of control, the sultan agreed to rebel demands, promised to reinstate the constitution and parliamentary work, issued a general amnesty, and allowed exiled dissidents in Europe and various parts of the country to return to Istanbul.

The Federalists came to power and ruled in the name of Sultan Abdul Hamid and deposed him (Getty Images)

Unionists in power

The Association of Union and Progress emerged after the rebellion movement it led, and the Sultan submitted to its demands as the most important political force, which encouraged it to open branches throughout the country, and moved its internal headquarters from Thessaloniki to Istanbul, and its members participated in the parliamentary elections that took place in 1908, winning a landslide, as almost all members of the Council were among them.

After winning the elections, the Federalists limited the sultan's powers and interfered in political affairs excessively, leading to an attempted coup d'état in 1909.

The demonstrators called for the protection of the sultan, the abolition of the constitution, the overthrow of the government and the application of Islamic law. The Federalists responded to this revolt with swift and decisive military action, as the Third Royal Army moved from Macedonia under the command of Lieutenant General Muhammad Shawkat to Istanbul, besieging the palace where Sultan Abdul Hamid resides and declaring martial law.

The parliament met and declared its approval of the deposition of the sultan, and he was deposed on April 27, 1909, exiled to Thessaloniki, and appointed his brother Mohamed Rashad (Mohammed V) in his place.

In 1910, the Assembly was registered under the new Law of Associations by the State Council, and became a formidable power, ruling in the name of the Sultan after it took control of it.

The Assembly left the premiership to prominent and experienced personalities who are not affiliated with it, such as Hussein Hilmi Pasha, Hakki Pasha and Muhammad Saeed Pasha, but the actual rule was in the hands of affiliated ministers such as Talaat Pasha and Javed Bey, although it did not officially assume power, it made itself a supervisory body that intervenes whenever it wants.

It cracked down on the opposition, Turanism spread in its ranks, and its excesses abounded, which led to its division against itself, and in 1911 the dissidents founded a party called the "New Party".

The "new party" called for the need to adhere to democracy and the constitution, and attacked the excesses issued by the "Union and Progress" Assembly, and then the emergence of the same year the "Freedom and Coalition" party, which included all opponents of the federalist program.

Many members of the Freedom and Coalition Party were members of the House of Representatives, and they began to influence public opinion and broadcast their ideas, and pressure increased on the government of Muhammad Said Pasha, which received the support of the Assembly, and was forced to resign.

The new government, founded by Gazi Ahmed Mukhtar Pasha in 1912, dissolved parliament and banned officers from joining parties and interfering in politics.

The new measures did not like the unionists, so they led a military coup that overthrew the government of Mehmed Kamil Pasha, and established a new government led by Mahmud Shawkat Pasha in January 1913, who could not remain in harmony with the unionists, nor did his reign last long, as he was assassinated in June of the same year.

Shaukat Pasha is considered the last independent figure in power, and after his assassination, the unionists formed a one-party government and suppressed the opposition, exiled supporters of the Freedom and Coalition Party, and forced some of them to flee Istanbul, and the triumvirate consisting of Talaat Pasha, Enver Bey and Jamal Pasha took control of the management of the Union and Progress.

Mustafa Ataturk saw the need to "cleanse the country" of the remnants of the unionists who tried to assassinate him in 1926 (Getty Images)

Due to political circumstances and the parliamentary system, the Assembly had an urgent need to appear as a contemporary political party, and through the 1913 Congress it categorically affirmed that the Assembly was a political party, but it maintained its secret organizational structure, and the party always ruled through it in secret.

In 1914 a secret treaty was signed with Germany, as well as the attack on Russian targets in the Black Sea, and participation in World War I made it a reality for many within the government, leading to multiple disagreements within the assembly.

The 1916 congress was a turning point in the history of the association, as Turkish nationalism was declared an ideological line, made radical changes in the party's political program and decided to adopt the principle of secularism in legislation and laws.

Thus, power remained in one-party hands until Turkey's defeat in World War I, when the Assembly dissolved itself, and its leaders fled abroad in November 1918.

The unionists who remained in the country tried to continue their activities by forming a party they called the "Party of Renewal" but were unsuccessful, the party was dissolved and its assets confiscated in 1919.

But they tried to reorganize after the victory in the Turkish War of Independence, but Mustafa Ataturk believed that they had no place in the new regime, and saw the need to "cleanse the country" of the remnants of the unionists, especially after the attempt to assassinate him in Izmir in 1926, so they were expelled and a large-scale liquidation process was carried out in their ranks.