PROCLAMATION OF THE REPUBLIC

The principle of national sovereignty introduced by the 1921 Constitution and the will of the sultan created a contradiction. The sultanate was left vacant. On November 1, 1922, the Turkish Grand National Assembly abolished the sultanate with its decision. The sultanate was abolished and personal sovereignty was legally a thing of the past. The natural result of this decision would be the establishment of the Republican regime. On October 13, 1923, it was decided that Ankara would become the capital. On October 29, 1923, the proposal of Atatürk and his friends to change some articles of the Constitution in the Turkish Grand National Assembly created a contradiction between the principle of national sovereignty introduced by the 1921 Constitution and the will of the sultan. The sultanate was left vacant. On November 1, 1922, the Turkish Grand National Assembly abolished the sultanate with its decision. The sultanate was abolished and personal sovereignty was legally a thing of the past. The natural result of this decision would be the establishment of the Republican regime.

On October 13, 1923, it was decided that Ankara would become the capital.

On October 29, 1923, the proposal of Atatürk and his friends, which changed some articles of the Constitution, was accepted with applause and unanimously in the Turkish Grand National Assembly.

The first article of the Constitution included the provision "The form of government of the State of Turkey is the Republic". On the night of the same day, Mustafa Kemal Pasha (Atatürk) was elected as the first President of the Republic of Turkey. With the abolition of the sultanate and the declaration of the republic, the "Caliphate", which continued to exist within the system, became unnecessary and dysfunctional. On March 3, 1924, the bill submitted by Urfa Deputy Sheikh Saffet Efendi and his friends was accepted in the Turkish Grand National Assembly, and the caliphate was abolished and the caliphate became history.

Lozan'ın kabulü ve barışın sağlanması ile geride Türk Devleti'nin siyasal yapısını belirleyecek devlet şeklinin ve adının ne olacağı sorunu kaldı. T.B.M.M.'nin varlığı ile egemenliğin kayıtsız-şartsız ulusa ait olan, insan haklarına dayanan bir devlet sistemi kurulmuştu. Fakat gerek halkın, gerekse Meclis içinde bulunanların büyük kısmı Padişah'a dinsel ve geleneksel bağlarla bağlıydılar. Padişah'ın işgal ettiği Saltanat-Hilafet makamı yüzyıllardır kökleşmiş bir teokratik sistemdi. 1300 yılından beri de Osmanoğulları'ndan başka hiçbir aile iktidar olmamıştı. Egemenlik biri dinden, diğeri gelenekten gelen iki kaynaktan çıkıyor ve Padişah'ta toplanıyordu. Gerçi İttihat Terakki bu gücü kırmıştı, fakat sistemin özünü, yani egemenliğin kaynağını ve kullanılış biçimini değiştirememişti. Egemenliğin, tanrı hakları sisteminden, insan hakları sistemine geçişin bir sonucu olarak Padişah'tan ulusa geçişi, bir ilke ve ülkü olarak Amasya Genelgesi'nde ortaya konmuş ve 23 Nisan 1920'de B.M.M.'nde somutlaşmıştı. Teşkilat-ı Esasiye Kanunu da bu temel üzerine oturmuştu. Kurtuluş Savaşı ulusal bağımsızlık yanında ulus egemenliğini de açık bir biçimde ortaya koyduğu için Padişah daha başından beri milliyetçilerin amansız düşmanı kesilmişti. Mustafa  Kemal Paşa Padişah'ın ihanetini bildiği halde, henüz zamanı olmadığı için Padişah'ı hedef almadı. Genç subaylık yıllarından beri inandığı ve Erzurum'da Mazhar Müfit'e not ettirdiği "Cumhuriyet" inancını "Ulusal bir sır" olarak sakladı. Kurtuluş Savaşı içinde "Cumhuriyetçi" bir düşünceyi ortaya atmak iç parçalanmaya yol açacağı için bu yola gitmedi. Hatta Sivas Kongresi sırasında "Cumhuriyet" ilan edelim önerilerini ret etmişti. Fakat Kurtuluş Savaşı'nın Başkomutanı, Türk Ulusu'nun kurtarıcısı Mustafa  Kemal, Türkiye'nin siyasal yapısını değiştirmenin ilk adımını Saltanat'ın kaldırılmasını sağlamakla attı. Saltanat'ın kaldırılışına en yakın arkadaşları bile karşı çıkmışlardı. Meclis'te tutucu kanat direndiyse de, Mustafa Kemal Paşa'nın kararlı ve sert tutumu sonucu Saltanat'ın kaldırılışı sağlandı. Fakat onun bu sert tutumu endişe doğurdu. Bunun bir başlangıç olduğunu görenler çeşitli yöntemlerle Mustafa  Kemal Paşa'yı engellemeye çalıştılar.

2 Aralık 1922'de Meclis'e muhalif grup tarafından bir öneri verildi. "İntihab-ı Mebusan Kanunu"nda değişiklik yapılmasını isteyen önergede "Büyük Millet Meclisi'ne üye seçilmek için Türkiye'nin bugünkü sınırları içindeki yerler halkından olmak ve seçim çevresine yeni gelenlerin ise en az beş yıl oturmuş olmaları" gerektiği kanun hükmü haline getirilmek isteniyordu. Mustafa  Kemal Paşa'yı milletvekili seçilmekten yoksun bırakmak isteyen bu önerge üzerine söz alan Mustafa  Kemal Paşa, doğum yerinin Türkiye'nin sınırları dışında kaldığını ve bir yerde beş yıl oturmadığını belirttikten sonra, düşmanlara karşı savaştığını , vatanı kurtarmak için hiç bir yerde beş yıl oturamadığını hatırlatıp, ulusun sevgisini kazanmış bir insan olmasına rağmen kendisini yurttaşlık haklarından yoksun bırakmak isteyen bu kimselerin bu yetkiyi kimden aldıklarını sordu. Önerge ret edildi.

Mustafa Kemal'in kamuoyu yoklaması yapmak üzere 14 Ocak 1923'de Batı Anadolu'da bir geziye çıkmasını fırsat bilen muhalif grup, O'nun Ankara'dan ayrıldığının ertesi günü "Hilafet-i İslamiye ve Büyük Millet Meclisi" başlıklı bir broşür yayınladılar. Broşürün önceden hazırlanmış olduğu ve M. Kemal'in Ankara'dan ayrılmasını fırsat bilerek dağıtıldığı anlaşılıyordu. Broşürün ana fikri, İslam kamuoyunun son gelişmelerden (Saltanatın Kaldırılışı) büyük ızdırap içinde bulunduğu, Hilafet'in hükümet demek olduğu ve Hilafet'in hukuk ve görevlerini yok etmenin hiç kimsenin, hiç bir meclisin elinde olmadığı esaslarına dayanıyor, "Halife Meclisin, Meclis Halife'nindir." sözleriyle bitiriyordu Yürütme yetkisinin Halife'ye verilmesini ve Meclis'in aldığı kararların ve kanunların Halife'yi bağlamayacağı, dolayısıyla Meclis'in çıkardığı Saltanat ve Hilafet ile ilgili yasaların meşru olmadığı görüşü savunuluyordu. Bu bildiri, Mustafa  Kemal'e ve O'nun gerçekleştirmek istediği devrime bir tepki idi.

İzmit'e gelen Mustafa  Kemal, din ve hilafet konusunda yaptığı açıklamada "Türkiye Büyük Millet Meclisi Halife'nin değildir ve olamaz, Türkiye Büyük Millet Meclisi yalnız ve yalnız Ulusundur." dedi. T.B.M.M.’nin büyük programının tam bağımsızlık, kayıtsız şartsız ulusal egemenlik esaslarına dayandığını, teokratik devlet. biçiminin ve buna bağlı bütün toplumsal düzenin ve çıkarların yıkılacağını belirtti. 16 Ocak'ta yaptığı toplantıda, Hilafet'in dinle ilgisi olmadığını, siyasi bir mevki olduğunu, idare-i maslahatçılıkla devrim yapılamayacağını belirtikten sonra "Devrimin kanunu mevcut kanunların üstündedir. Bizi öldürmedikçe, bizim kafamızdaki cereyanı boğmadıkça başladığımız devrim ve ilerleme bir an bile durmayacaktır." diyerek gericilere gerekli yanıtı verdi. Basınla iyi ilişki kurmak istediği için İzmit'te yaptığı basın toplantısında, "Devrim" yapılacağını açıklarken, Meclis'te birliğin sağlanması için "Müdafaa-i Hukuk Gurubu"nun gerekli olduğunu bunun dışındaki grupların yararlı olmadığını belirtti ve İttihatçılardan ülke yararı için politikaya karışmamalarını istedi. Bu sırada Annesi Zübeyde Hanım'ın ölüm haberi geldi. İzmir'de annesinin mezarı başında devrimci inancını "Ulusal hakimiyet uğrunda canımı vermek benim için bir vicdan ve namus borcu olsun." sözleriyle bir kez daha yineledi. Bu sırada Lozan'ın ilk görüşmeleri kesildiği için İsmet Paşa ile Ankara'ya döndü. Meclis'te gizli oturumlar çok sert geçti. Trabzon mebusu Şükrü Bey'in Topal Osman tarafından öldürülüşü, Mustafa Kemal'e saldırılara yol açtı. Mustafa Kemal'i kendilerine büyük engel gören, tutucu, gerici, ittihatçılar, çıkarcı gruplar, O'na karşı muhalefette birleşiyorlardı. Yakın arkadaşlarından Rauf Bey, Karabekir, Refet, Ali Fuat Paşa'lar da yavaş, yavaş yanından ayrılıp, Hilâfetçilere kuvvet veriyorlardı. Saltanatı geri getirmek isteyen gericilerin çalışmaları karşısında arkadaşlarının kendisini yalnız bıraktığını gören Mustafa Kemal 20 Mart 1923'te Konya'da yaptığı bir konuşmada Türkiye'yi Ortaçağ karanlığına çekmek isteyen gericilere karşı tutumunu açıkça şu sözleriyle belirtti: "Eğer onlara karşı benim şahsımda bir şey anlamak isterseniz, derim ki, ben şahsen onların düşmanıyım. Onların olumsuz yönde atacakları bir adım, yalnız benim şahsi imanıma değil, yalnız benim amacıma değil, o adım benim ulusumun hayatıyla ilgili, o adım benim ulusumun hayatına karşı bir kasıt, o adım ulusumun kalbine yöneltilmiş zehirli bir hançerdir. Benim ve benimle aynı fikirde olan arkadaşlarımın yapacağı şey mutlaka o adımları atanları tepelemektir... Sizlere bunun da üstünde bir söz söyleyeyim. Örneğin eğer bunu sağlayacak kanunlar olmasa, bunu sağlayacak meclis olmasa, öyle olumsuz adım atanlar karşısında herkes çekilse ve ben kendi başıma yalnız kalsam; yine tepeler ve yine öldürürüm." Cumhuriyet'e doğru gidiş bu kararlı sözlerle açıkça görülüyordu. Mustafa  Kemal Paşa, 8 Nisan 1923'de dokuz ilkede görüşlerini toplatarak, programını belirlerken, siyasi biçimlenmeyi de hazırladı.

The duty of the Turkish Grand National Assembly in wartime was over. For this reason, the Parliament decided to dissolve itself and hold elections. Before its dissolution, Mustafa Kemal introduced an amendment to the Parliament on April 15, which considered those who tried to bring back the Sultanate as traitors, and "an addition to the Treason Law, which gave the opportunity to establish Independence Courts again if necessary in the future."

These efforts of Mustafa Kemal, who was thinking of creating a strong staff in the newly established Parliament and thus declaring the Republic, accelerated the alienation of his close friends from him. Rauf Bey and his friends wanted to make Mustafa Kemal passive by suggesting that he remain non-partisan and not get involved in politics. Rauf Bey's falling out with İsmet Pasha was another aspect of this separation. Rauf Bey, who did not want to greet Ismet Pasha returning from Lausanne, even resigned from the Prime Ministry.

The Second Assembly approved Lausanne after meeting. The problem now was to determine Turkey's regime. In his meeting with a Vienna newspaper reporter called "Neue Treie Presse" on September 22, 1923, Mustafa Kemal stated that the system established on April 23, 1920 was a Republic, but its name could not be disclosed, and that the only thing to do was to name it.

Where the capital of the new state would be was also a problem. Ankara had been doing this job since 1920. Its central and safe situation was obvious. After long discussions in the Parliament, Ankara was accepted as the capital by majority vote on October 13. The Proclamation of the Republic was one step closer.

It was a government crisis that gave Mustafa Kemal the opportunity to declare the Republic. Upon the formation of opposition in the Parliament against Prime Minister Fethi Okyar Bey, M. Kemal decided to resign the cabinet, except for the "Deputy of the General Staff Presidency, Fevzi Pasha", and it was implemented on 27 October. According to the current system, each minister was elected individually by the Parliament. If the resigned ministers were re-elected, they would not accept office. Meanwhile, Rauf Bey, Kazım Karabekir, Ali Fuat and Refet Pashas were in Istanbul and their contacts were demonstrations of closeness to the Caliph. In Ankara, however, a cabinet could not be formed. Upon these developments, Mustafa Kemal decided to solve the problem completely with the "Declaration of the Republic" and called İsmet Pasha and some people to a meeting in Çankaya on the night of October 28 and said, "We will declare the Republic tomorrow." He explained his decision. After the guests left, he detained İsmet Pasha and together they prepared the proposal that would make the necessary changes in the Constitution of the Constitution. At the meeting held in the Party group at 10 o'clock the next day, Mustafa Kemal Pasha, as the Chairman, stated that the Government crisis was caused by the current system and that the solution to this was in a stable system, and then read the amendment proposal:

The form of government of the State of Türkiye is the Republic.

The State of Türkiye is governed by the Grand National Assembly.

The State of Turkey administers the administrative branches of the Government through the Executive Deputies (Council of Ministers).

This proposal was discussed at the Party meeting. After the meeting of the Grand National Assembly held at 18:45 on the same evening (29 October 1923), the Republic was declared at 20.30, amidst the voices of "Long live the REPUBLIC" and the name of the new Turkish State was named. "REPUBLIC OF TURKEY" Immediately afterwards, Gazi M. Kemal, the savior of the Turkish Nation, was unanimously elected President. President Mustafa Kemal, who came to the podium, thanked the Parliament that elected him President, and said, "The ability and talent that our Nation has actually shown in recent years has proven very well that those who think badly about themselves are people who are far from scrutiny and care about appearance. Our nation has the qualities and talents it has in itself." "With the new name of the Government, it will be able to show its value to the world of civilization much more easily. The Republic of Turkey will prove with its works that it is worthy of the place it occupies in the world... The Republic of Turkey will be happy, successful and victorious." He completed his speech with these words: Mustafa Kemal was only 42 years old when he was elected President. The first Prime Minister of the Republic was İsmet Pasha.

The war to establish a new and independent Turkish State, which started in Samsun on May 19, 1919, ended successfully against external and internal enemies and the Republic of Turkey was established. Just as the belief and success of the War of Independence were Atatürk's work, the Republic was also his work. He stated this in the following years: "My greatest work is the Republic of Türkiye."

CONCLUSION

The once magnificent Ottoman Empire fell into a rapid collapse starting from the 18th century as a result of both internal and external factors. Due to capitulations, it became an open market of European states. As a result of the constant attacks of Russia and Austria, they lost the wars and lost important lands. Seeing this collapse of the Empire, the Sultans started reform measures to save the Empire. But these purely military measures were not effective. III. Nizam-ı Cedid, which was initiated by Selim, ended with a reactionary uprising in 1807.

While the collapse continued rapidly in the 19th century, the national independence and sovereignty movements introduced by the French Revolution affected the Christian minorities of the Ottoman Empire living in the Balkans and spurred their desire for independence. Serbian, Greek and even Egyptian uprisings shook the internal structure of the Empire, and they gradually gained independence or autonomy. In this century, in the face of the Russian threat, England and France followed a policy of protecting the territorial integrity of the Ottoman Empire. As a result of this policy, they even declared war on Russia in the Crimean War. While the empire fell economically into the hands of the West with the trade agreement of 1838, it entered financial bankruptcy and financial control of the West in 1881, with the foreign borrowing that started after 1854. II. Mahmut Reform and Tanzimat were not the solution for the salvation of the Empire. The work of the Young Ottomans prepared the proclamation of Kanun-u Esasi in 1876. While the Ottoman-Russian war of 1877-78 was preparing the end of this period before the First Constitutional Monarchy had a chance to come to fruition, Abdulhamit's "Despotism" began. After this date, England abandoned its protective policy. The Armenian issue also came to the agenda for the first time. The Ottoman Empire next approached Germany. German political and military relations also brought German economic ambitions. The Baghdad Railway project symbolized this.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the Young Turk movement, which started against Abdulhamid, grew stronger and in 1908, II. He brought the Constitutional Monarchy. However, an internal crisis occurred in 1909 with the reactionary uprising of March 31. II. The Constitutional Monarchy could not save the Empire either. This period, in which the Ottomanism, Islamism, Westernism and Turkism movements clashed, created internal crises and anarchy, while externally it resulted in great defeat in Tripoli and the Balkan Wars and the loss of all of Macedonia. The Committee of Union and Progress, which seized power, fell into dictatorship. While the three strong men of the Committee of Union and Progress, Enver, Talat and Cemal Pashas, ​​entered the First World War, which started in 1914, on the side of Germany, the fate of the Empire was determined. The Ottoman Empire, which was defeated in this war with very heavy losses, surrendered unconditionally with the Armistice of Mudros.

The aim was to eliminate the existence of the Turkish Nation in world political history by solving the Eastern Question, which had been going on for a hundred years, and by sharing the legacy of the Sick Man of Europe. With secret agreements during the war, England, France, Russia and Italy decided to share the Ottoman Empire. But when the revolution broke out in Russia, the agreements lost their importance. The greatest power to decide about the Turkish Nation was England. England gave Western Anatolia to Greece, wanted to establish an Armenia and Kurdistan in the East, and shared the remaining parts of the Turkish homeland with France and Italy. The Sultan and the Government, who submitted to the plunder of the country, saw salvation under British auspices. The people and intellectuals seemed to be in despair, and the majority seemed resigned to fate. Those looking for a solution to salvation could not think of a solution without the Sultan-Caliph. There were those who saw liberation as an American mandate or those who worked to ensure the liberation of their region. In the miserable and desperate situation at the end of the First World War, only one person, Mustafa Kemal, came to Samsun with the idea of ​​total liberation and establishing a new, fully independent Turkish State. At the time he set out, the Greeks were occupying Izmir. The Sultan and the Government were still blindly submitting to every wish of the British, who gave Izmir to the Greeks. In the face of these attitudes of the Sultan and the Istanbul Government, who cooperated with the enemy, Mustafa Kemal determined the principles of the war of national independence and national sovereignty as revolting the nation and the army against the Sultan-Caliph in Amasya. At the Erzurum and Sivas Congresses, he also carried out the national awareness, administrative and political organization of the establishment of a new Turkish State within these principles. When these principles were put forward once again in Istanbul with the National Pact, the British occupied Istanbul. Undeterred by this, Mustafa Kemal revealed the principle of national sovereignty, which is the work of the legitimate will of the nation, at the Grand National Assembly of Turkey in Ankara. But the realization of all this was done with great difficulties and impossibilities. On the one hand, the Allied Powers and Greek attack and pressure, on the other hand, the Sultan and the Istanbul Government's declaration of Mustafa Kemal and the UN as illegitimate had a negative impact on the Turkish Nation. The Turkish Nation vacillated for a while between the Sultan-Caliph, who had been accepted as the religious and traditional power for hundreds of years, and the M. Kemal movement, which destroyed these values ​​and wanted to bring the nation together with national and sovereignty values ​​instead. In some places, riots broke out against the authority of the UN. The war was fought against the Armenians in Eastern Anatolia and against the French in the South. The BMM, which found a solution with the National Forces against the Greek Attack and internal uprisings in the West, later established a regular army. I. and II. He achieved his first military successes with the İnönü Wars. On the other hand, in foreign relations, he signed the Moscow Treaty with the Soviet Union. He defeated the Greek Army in the Battle of Sakarya. Türkiye, which also agreed with France, also disintegrated the Entente bloc. The Great Offensive, which started on August 26, 1922 and ended with the Greek Army pouring into the sea in Izmir on September 9, proved the reality of Turkey and the invincible determination of the Turkish Nation to the whole world. He also confirmed his military success with the Mudanya Armistice and the Treaty of Lausanne. This success of Turkey, which won the war of independence against imperialism and created the "Turkish Miracle", set an example for all Oppressed Nations.

Mustafa Kemal at the place where the War of Independence ended; He started Turkey's modernization war. With the abolition of the Sultanate on 1 November 1922 and the Proclamation of the Republic on 29 October 1923, Turkey realized its new state system, the "National and Secular State", based on the human rights introduced by the French Revolution. However, in order to achieve the Turkish Revolution and the struggle to become a modern state and country, Atatürk had to wage a new struggle during the Republic period.

Source: Ergün AYBARS, History of the Republic of Turkey 1, Ege University, Printing House, 1986, Page: 359-366