FOUNDATION OF THE REPUBLIC OF TURKEY 29/10/1923

    The proclamation of the Republic is legally determining the form of government of the State of Turkey as a republic with the adoption of the constitutional amendment proposal prepared by Mustafa Kemal in the session of the Second Term Turkish Grand National Assembly on October 29, 1923.

The proclamation of the republic in a broader sense; It is a part of the Turkish revolution that aims to modernize Turkish society, and it is a political reform movement that paves the way for other innovations and reforms.[1]

Amendments to six articles (articles 1, 2, 4, 10, 11 and 12) of the 1921 Teşkilat-ı Esasiye Law with the "Law on the Amendment of Some Deposits of the Teşkilat-ı Esasiye Kanunu, No. 364, dated 29 October 1339 (1923)" made; The first clause has been changed to:

"Sovereignty, on the contrary, belongs to the Nation. The method of administration is based on the fact that the people personally and actively manage their destiny. The form of the Turkish State is the Republic."

With the amendments made in other articles of the Constitution, the office of presidency was established; It was envisaged that the President would be elected by the Turkish Grand National Assembly from among its members; The form of government was changed. In terms of the establishment scheme of the government, the parliamentary government system was abandoned and the parliamentary system was adopted.

Background

The Ottoman Empire was ruled by absolute monarchy until 1876.[1] In this period, the institution of sultanate maintained absolute sovereignty over the people.[3] Although the idea of ​​a republic started to be mentioned with the Tanzimat period, the Ottoman intellectuals considered the establishment of the constitutional monarchy sufficient; legitimacy was not furthered or demanded.[1] The Ottoman Empire was governed by a constitutional monarchy between 1876-1878 and 1908-1918.[1]

After the First World War, which resulted in the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, it was openly declared that the will of the people would dominate the administration from the very first years of the national struggle initiated under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal Pasha.[3] The decision "It is essential to make the National Forces active and the national will dominant" in the 3rd article of the declaration published on 23 July 1919 after the Erzurum Congress was an expression of this understanding.

The assembly, which will show the national will concretely, convened in Ankara on April 23, 1920, under the name "Grand National Assembly", after the occupation of Istanbul and the dissolution of the Parliament. The head of the 390-member assembly, which was endowed with extraordinary powers, was also called the head of government and state.

With the law called Teşkilat-ı Esasiye Kanunu, which was adopted by the Assembly on January 20, 1921 and which had the characteristics of a constitution, it was declared that the sovereignty belonged to the Turkish nation. As a reaction against the sultanate government still considering itself as the representative of the Turkish nation, the parliament abolished the sultanate with its decision on 1 November 1922.[3]

After the first assembly decided to renew the election and was dissolved on April 1, 1923, preparations for a new draft constitution began with the directive of Mustafa Kemal until the new assembly convened.[4] The current constitution approved that the national will belongs to the Turkish nation and that the authority to represent this will on behalf of the nation was given to the Parliament, but it did not declare the state's form of government and its capital.[3] During the preparations for the new constitution draft, Mustafa Kemal held talks with those around him about the proclamation of the Republic.[4] In the statement given by Mustafa Kemal to the Wieber Neue Freie Presse correspondent on September 22, 1923, and a Turkish summary of which was published for the first time in the newspaper İkdam, the first time he uttered the word republic upon the reporter's question aroused great repercussions in the country and abroad.[4] In October 1923, İsmet Pasha and a group of deputies submitted a law proposal to accept Ankara as the center of government. Ankara became the capital of the state with the single-article law adopted in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey on 13 October 1923. With this law, which put an end to the conflicts that the center of the state would be Istanbul, a step was taken for the proclamation of the Republic.[4]

Period

government crisis

As of November 1, 1922, the country was no longer ruled by a parliamentary government. In this system of government, each minister was elected by the assembly, leading to a form of government where misfits came together; there were also long discussions for each ministry.[5] Members of the Executive Board, which was established after the new Assembly was elected, complained of the difficulties of working under these conditions. The weakness of the government became clear on October 23. Fethi Bey, who was also the Deputy of the Internal Affairs Committee, wanted to leave the Ministry of Internal Affairs to Ferit Tek Bey, but the parliament did not accept this and elected Erzincan deputy Sabit Bey. The vice-president of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, Ali Fuat Bey, wanted to leave his position and nominated Yusuf Kemal Bey instead, but the parliament did not accept and chose Rauf Bey.[5]

Upon this situation, Parliament Speaker Mustafa Kemal convened the government in Çankaya on the evening of 25 October 1923. At the meeting, the Deputies