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Introduction
article aims at clarifyingthe data concerning the birth of theOttoman
Liberty Committee (OLC) in Sal nica and its furthertransformationto a
in the 1900s.
second Committee of Union and Progress (CUP) inMacedonia
movement
in theOttoman Empire
The researchdone around theYoung Turks
during its last threedecades has seldom dealt with the differencesbetween vari
ous Young Turks groups opposing the rgime of istibd t of Sultan Abdulhamid
II. On the other hand, in this articlewe will emphasize the role of the Freema
This
(Bleda) Bey,Mustafa Rahmi (Evranos, laterArslan) Bey, Omer Naci Bey, Naki
(Y cek k) Bey,Manyasizade Refik Bey, IsmailHakki Canbolat Bey, Hakki Ba
ha (Pars) Bey, Cavid Bey and Kazim Nami (Dum) Bey were (or became) all Free
masons. Except Cavid (hewas a member of thePerseverencia lodge of the Span
ish obedience in Sal nica) and Kazim Nami Beys, theywere all members of the
1-
Angelo
Triangolo
Iacovella,
veHilal, Ittihad-Terakki
Gonye
Yurt
Vakfi
Tarih
Istanbul,
Yayinlari, 1998, p. 19.
e laMezzaluna),
veMasonluk
(Il
94
OZANARSLAN
cosmopolitan city of Sal nica, the secrecy of the foreign Freemasonry, and the
participation of young and tremendously ambitious staffofficers serving in the
in the other towns ofMace
region. The organizational expansion of theOLC
donia and the furthermerging with the earlier Young Turk groups in exile
brought considerable prestige to themovement of Sal nica. The bold and impa
tientdemands of themilitarywing of theCommittee inMonastir in order to re
AbdulhamidIL hisregimeofoppression
and thefirst Ottoman Liberal movements
Abdulhamid was born on 21 September 1842 as the second son of the then
Sultan Abdulmedjit (his first son was Murad, laterMurad V). Unlike his older
brotherMurad, he did not have a modern Western-style education and did not
study foreign languages but he was a very good observer during his childhood.
In his adolescent year, he watched theWestern European powers allyingwith
theOttoman state against theRussian Empire in theCrimean War in the name
95
the merit system.He suppressed the press. The remaining Young Ottomans
who were not sent to exile to the far-awayprovinces of the Empire were forced
to flee toEgypt or Europe.
However, the failure of theYoung Ottomans and the harshmeasures of the
Palace did not completely extinguish the revolutionary effortsof theOttoman
intellectuals.During the firstdecade of the reign of Sultan Abdulhamid II the
Ottomans' Union Committee (Ittihad-i Osmani Cemiyeti)was founded in 1889
by studentsof the ImperialMilitary Medicine Faculty in Istanbul. In the follow
ingyears, itwould be renamed as the firstCUP in theOttoman political life.
Thefirst Committee ofUnion and Progress
The organizational effortsof the new generation of theOttoman revolutionaries
were carried out in theMilitary and Medical schools of Istanbul at the end of
the 1880s and in the early 1890s. In 1889, a group of students from theMilitary
School ofMedicine (Mekteh-i Tihbiye-iAskeriye) in Istanbul founded a revolu
tionaryorganization called Ottomans' Union Committee (Ittihad-i Osmani Ce
2 - Abdulaziz
-
Murad
had had
o6
OZANARSLAN
Ottomans:
had
Abdulhamid
them
arrested
and
sent
to exile.
arrests
The
and
Stefanos Yerasimos,
I. Dunya
Savasi'na
trans, by Bab
(Turquie:
rKuzucu,
le processus d'un
Osmanli
Tarihi,
1905-1926),
- Sina
Aksin, Jon Turkler ve Ittihat ve Terakki, Istanbul, Remzi Kitabevi,
8 Z rcher,Milli Mucadelede
Ittihat tlik,p. 43.
1987, p. 34.
97
gathered around Ahmed Riza Bey and his bilingual newspaperMeshvere pub
lished in French and inTurkish, and the second and smaller branch inCairo
around Murad Bey (Mizanci) and his Turkish-language newspaperMizan.10
Nonetheless, the late 1890s and the early 1900s were a period of passive opposi
tion through the journalism in exile for theYoung Turks. These newspapers
published abroad were strictlyprohibited by theAbdulhamid's rgime and se
cretly reached theOttoman lands and theirmass of readers (high school, mili
and
Serbia,
were
aiming
to annex Macedonia.
Under
the Ottoman
ad
active
Meshveret
in Macedonia.13
means
"consultation"
Actually,
inOttoman
even
after
Turkish. The
the annexation
of Eastern
the Ottoman
100,000
12 - Komita was
ignored
around
theword for committee in Bulgarian and referred to the armed bands of Bul
means in their conflict with the Ottoman
administration and
garian nationalists using guerilla
and Albanians.
the other ethnicities of the Balkans, such as Greeks, Serbians, Romanians
13 Yerasimos, Azgelismislik Surecinde Turkiye, 2, p. 406.
OZANARSLAN
98
The komitas aim was to incite and to arm their compatriots against theOt
toman administration and the other ethnicities of the region.Their furtheraim
was to provoke theOttoman administration to takemeasures (preferablyharsh
ones) against their guerilla activities and finally to provoke the interventionof
the Big Powers, especially of Russia and Austria-Hungary. The Great Powers
threatened the Sublime Porte with a common interventionand to disregard the
Ottoman sovereigntyover the region. Since theydid not have a consensus on a
peaceful solution to theMacedonian Question, each of theGreat Powers was
administration
of
forms
almost
creating
the
These
region.
an autonomous
concessions
were
international
some
comprehensive
in 1903
administration
re
in
the vilayetofMacedonia.
"However, theBulgarians who were ignored in the reforms issues, started the
vicious
over,
circle
all
of
'provocation-suppression-reaction'
to
events were
presented
European
these
religiousMuslims
The
to the reformplans."15
Austro-Hungarian
and
Russian
Empires
of
public
saw
the Big
Powers.14
opinion
More
as a reaction
the opportunity
of
to inter
It is
and Greece.
agitations of the Bulgarians worried also the Greeks ofMacedonia
some Greek officers offered
to
that during the revolt of the former inMacedonia,
help
theOttoman
ambassador inAthens (see Tekeli and Ukin, "Ittihat
army through the Ottoman
ve Terakki'nin Olusumunda
Selanik'in Toplumsal
Belirleyiciligi ("The Social Key Factor of
claimed
Sal nica
Tarihi,
in the Foundation
of the Union
and Progress)"
in Turkiye'nin
(The Social and Economic History of Turkey, 1071-1920),
Inalcik, Ankara, 1980, p. 370.
1071-1920
Sosyal Ekonomik
ed. Osman Ok
yar, Halil
15 Yerasimos, Azgelismislik Surecinde Turkiye, 2, p. 410.
99
General
Inspector.
Another
important
article was
about
the appoint
attracted
undue
international
attention
toMacedonia.
Belirleyiciligi",
see Tekeli
in the region.
Olusumunda
p. 371.
Selanik'in
wo
OZANARSLAN
of Sultan Abdulhamid II and his lack of trust in themilitary for hindering all
kinds of progressive activities in the Empire and for neglecting the needs of the
army.
Remembering the role of theOttoman army and the navy in the dethroning
of his uncle Sultan Abdulaziz, Abdulhamid II neglected both and he intention
ally kept them in a weak position. He favored assigned (alayli)19 officers to the
staffofficers trained in theWestern style at themodern military schools of Is
tanbul, arguing that the formerwere more devoted to their Sultan than the lat
ter.However, since the hot region of the Empire was Macedonia due to ethnic
conflicts, the Sultan's government and General Staffwere sending the young
graduates of theWar Academy for their field internships to the liteOttoman
army corps stationed inMacedonia. These young staffofficers,themost success
ful and brilliant students in theOttoman War Academy, were expected to be the
best officersof theOttoman Army. Moreover, theywere gathered in themost
suitable region of theEmpire for a revolutionwhere the tyrannical rgime of the
Sultan was smoother compared to the other regions of the Empire. Most of
themwere stronglycritical towards the rgime ofAbdulhamid II. They had lead
ership skills and thewill to change the destiny of theEmpire. Thus, Macedonia
became the breeding ground of nationalism of these young and idealistOtto
man-Turkish staffofficers.The Turkish officers,by fighting the komitas strug
gling to achieve theirnationalist aims inMacedonia got inspirationfrom the lat
While the latterwere all fightingfor a national state, theTurkish officers
ter.20
were fightingfor a despot sultan.21
During their internships22and services inMacedonia, these officers saw en
gagements, learned about the guerrilla tactics of the komitas and theirnational
isms, lost their brothers-in-arms in ambushes, and all the time had a constant
and overriding question on theirminds: "How can we save the state?".Their
19 - These
20 - Tekeli
and Ukin,
"Ittihat ve Terakki'nin
Olusumunda
Selanik'in
Toplumsal
Belirleyici
ligi, p. 371.
21 - Ibidem.
22 - In theOttoman
internships in infantry,
101
existing revolutionaryaims and plans began to take shape and were influenced
by what they learned from theMacedonian secretorganizations. Moreover, the
arrival of foreign officers toMacedonia also stimulated the revolutionary and
nationalist feelings of these young Turkish staffofficers.The Turkish officers
risking every day their lives for their statewere receiving their salaries only six
months per year and these salarieswere clearly low compared to salaries of the
foreign officersof theGreat Powers sent toMacedonia. The provocative activi
ties and encouraging propagandas of European consuls (at the beginning of the
20th century, the big European states,namely Britain, France, Germany, Russia,
Austria-Hungary and Italy,had consulates in almost every town ofMacedonia)
towards theBalkan ethnicitieswere also irritatingtheTurkish officers.23
The mobile combatant life in the pursuit of komitas created a strong solidar
ityamong the young Turkish officersserving inMacedonia and kept them away
from the suspicious surveillance of the secret detectives (hafiye) of the Sultan.
to save
in order
the Ottoman
state.
and Young
Turks.
At thispoint, the role played by the Freemasonry andMasonic lodges for the
Ottoman intellectualsneeds to be analyzed.Masonic lodges provided organiza
tional facilitiesfor theYoung Ottoman and Young Turks movements. The lead
ing figures of both of the Constitutional Monarchist Eras were organized in
Masonic lodges consecutively in Istanbul and in Sal nica. The Ottoman digni
taries realizing the First Constitutional Era were organized in the Proodos and
Envar-i Sarkiye lodges of the French Obedience in Istanbul, and the ones realiz
were
organized in theMacedonia Risorta and
ing the Second Constitutional Era
later also in the Labor et Lux lodges of the Italian Obedience in Sal nica. The
factwhy the Second Constitutional Era was organized in Sal nica will be later
discussed in this article.
23
See Karabekir,
OZANARSLAN
I02
in Istanbul and latera leading figure of the universal Freemasonry and mayor of
Paris,27 in their reformistand constitutionalist activities.
These leading intellectuals and high-ranking bureaucrats of the eramanaged
even to replaceAbdulaziz by his nephew, the heir-apparent princeMurad who
would reign for 93 days as Sultan Murad V and proclaim the firstOttoman
constitution in 1876.
After his dethroning,Murad was kept in theCiragan palace in Istanbul un
der a strict surveillance ofAbdulhamid's police and spies.However, freemasons
of Istanbul, led by Scalieri, kept in touch secretlywith Murad and they even
tried to rescue him from the palace in 1878.28 But, afterfailed attempt, the Free
masons had to stop theireffortsto freeand enthrone him once again.Murad had
to live in his palace under surveillance for 29 years until his death in 1905 and
Abdulhamid II suppressed allMasonic lodges in Istanbul and in provinces under
thepretext that theywere conspiracy centers of theYoung Ottomans.
The birth of theOttoman Liberty Committee and the role of theFreemasonry
24
Tarik Zafer Tunaya, Turkiye'de Siyasal Partiler, Cilt I: Ikinci Mesrutiyet Donemi,
Istanbul, Hurriyet Vakfi Yayinlari, 1988, 1, p. 381.
25-
26- Murad
V.
Sultan who
ascended
(1840-1904)
Istanbul on 20-10-1872
Mimar
27Middle
3 vols.,
Sinan, 66
The
oldest
the throne on
(seeMesut
18-05-1876.
Tuncel,
He
"Masonlar
Sukru Hanioglu,
"Notes on the Young
Eastern Studies, 25 (1989), p. 187.
inducted
ve V. Murad
and
in the Proodos
(Masons
in
lodge
and Murad V)",
(1987), p. 8.
See M.
masonry
was
"V. Murad'in
V)", Mimar
Turks
Hakkinda
Masonlugu
Sinan, 18 (1975), p. 32-33.
Belgeler
(Documents
1875-1908",
on the Free
103
donia Risorta in itsold temple in theBoulma Giani street in Sal nica.29 The first
person inducted into the ranks ofMacedonia Risorta was SalvatoreModiano, a
financier of Sal nica, who was inducted on 24 December 1901.30 This resur
rected lodge of the Italian obedience was going to play a crucial role in the
foundation and efficientorganization of theOLC thatwas the precursor of the
second CUP of theOttoman history. Iacovella states that "under the light of
documents
and
events,
the connection
between
the
resurrection
of
the Mace
donia lodge and the birth of theCUP is beyond any doubt. And Ettore Ferrari
also confirms this fact in his conference titled La Massoneria e la Rivoluzione
Turca (TheMasonry and theTurkish Revolution)".31
The Macedonia Risorta lodge owes its rebirth in Sal nica not only to the
Grande Oriente and to Ettore Ferrari but also to a young Ottoman Sephardic
Freemasonry.32
most
cruel
revenges,
imprisonments,
exiles
and
unjust
executions.
getting
p. 37.
Ibid., p. 60.
31-Ibid.,
p. 37.
It is also an important point to bear in mind that the Italian Freemasonry
32
in the 1850s.
protected Young Italians in their revolutionary efforts
33
p. 37-38.
helped
and
OZANARSLAN
104
asked
assistance
against
inflicted on
the oppression
them.
agitation organization
sonry of Sal nica also
ers to be volunteers.
Since
they
Turks
were
community.
five other
The
Freema
non-Ottoman
foreigners,
broth
these persons
had
the
tee was
its affairs
conducting
commit
The
successfully
revolutionary
since they were
protected
the current
evaluate
lodge
events,
was
tionary work
prepared
Risorta
can
their center. We
became
and directed
hour
by hour
revolu
there."34
34
- Ettore
Ferrari, "La Massoneria
35- Mehmet
Takt
e laRivoluzione
Grand
(1874-1921)
and Deputy
(1913-1917)
Masonic
lodge Macedonia
of Edirne. His
Risorta
Vizier
birth date
in which
Turca", Acacia
2 (1910),
Minister
(1917-1918),
is registered as 1869
he was
inducted
p. 122.
of Interior Affairs
in the records of the
in 12/06/1903
(see Iacovella,
veHilal, 60). He
Gonye
joined the first "Committee of Union and Progress" in the 1890s and
was sent to exile in 1896 to Sal nica where he founded the OLC
in 1906. After the Young
in 1908, he was always one of themost influential
figures of the Committee
and Progress. After the end of theWorld War
I, he fled to Germany and was mur
assassin called Soghomon Tehlirian on 15 March
dered by an Armenian
1921 in Berlin. Al
was released
by the German tribunal.
though themurderer admitted his crime, he
Turk Revolution
of Union
36- Midhat
Sukru
General Secretary
Founding member of the OLC,
of the Central Board (merkez-i umumi) of the CUP
(1917
1918). He has been the deputy of Serez (1908), Drama
(1912) and Burdur (1916) in consecu
tiveOttoman
Parliaments and sent to exile toMalta by the British after the occupation of the
(k tib-i umumi)
(Bleda)
(1874-1956)
and member
elected
He was
of
Governor
of Izmir (1913-1918),
37- Mustafa Rahmi
(Evranos, later Arslan)
(1873-1947)
of the wealthy family of Evranos of Rumelia. He
Deputy of Sal nica (1908-1912). Member
was inducted inMacedonia
as Rahmi bin Riza
Risorta in 19/11/1903. His name ismentioned
(Rahmi, son of Riza in Arabic)
as well (see ibid., p. 61).
lodge
Risorta
cedonia
Risorta'.
Nevertheless,
since he was
the person
who
supported
105
the revo
Mehmet Talat, Midhat Sukru andMustafa Rahmi Beys had all been mem
bers of differentbranches of the firstCUP in the 1890s, Talat Bey in Edirne,
Midhat Sukru Bey in Geneva, Mustafa Rahmi Bey in Sal nica and Talat Bey
had kept in touchwith themembers of theCommittee living abroad in the late
1890s and early 1900s through the connection of Bulgaria.38 He had even been
arrested once for that. Furthermore,Midhat Sukru and Mustafa Rahmi Beys
had been before in touch inGenoa with the leading figures of the firstCommit
teewho escaped from the rgime ofAbdulhamid II, and, also with the Freema
sonry.Midhat Sukru Bey had worked with Mizanci Murat Bey and been in
touchwith Ishak Sukuti and Abdullah Cevdet Beys inGenoa.39
After the startof the revolutionary activities of theseYoung Turks of Sal nica in the
Macedonia Risorta lodge,many elite officersof the II. Ottoman Army
stationed in Sal nica as well as some notables of the city such asManyasizade
Refik Bey40 joined them in the ranks of the lodge in the following years. Since
1903, the yearMehmet T lat and his friendswere inducted, until 1908 when
the Young Turk Revolution emerged, eighteen officers of theseArmy Corps
were inducted in
Macedonia Risorta.
After the preparatory phase of a revolutionary committee in theMasonic
lodges of the city, ten Salonican Young Turks founded the Ottoman Liberty
Committee in September 1906. They were namelyMehmet Talat Bey, a young
officer (later the secretarygeneral) of the Postal and Telegraph Services of Sal
nica; Midhat Sukru Bey, the director of the municipal hospital in Sal nica;
Mustafa Rahmi Bey, a young merchant from thewell-known, wealthy Salonican
family of Evrenos; First Lieutenant Ismail Hakki Canbolat41 Bey, Major Naki
- For
the connections ofMehmet Takt Bey with Bulgaria, see thememoirs of Kazim Kara
38
bekir (Karabekir, Ittihatve Terakki Cemiyeti, p. 168-171.
- See Z
cadelede Ittihatcilik, p. 43.
39
rcher,Milli M
Z rcher is seemingly confused about the birth and death
40 - Manyasizade
Refik (1855-1909)
dates of Refik Bey stating them as 1853 and 1908 (see ibid., 74), Iacovelk quotes his obituary
on 04/03/1909
in Italy on 31/03/
released by Rivista Massonica
declaring his date of death
Risorta (see Iacovelk, Gonye veHilal, p. 41-42
1909 and the records of members ofMacedonia
and for records 62). Minister of Justice (1908) until his death, professor at the Political Sci
ences Faculty
in Sal nica. He joined theOLC
after his mov
(Miilkiye) in Istanbul and lawyer
was not one of the
of the
to Sal nica from Istanbul.
members
he
founding
ing
Although
he became a leading figure of it.He was the first "Unionist" serving in the Otto
Committee
man Cabinet. He was inducted inMacedonia
Risorta on 17/11/1906.
41 - Ismail Hakki
Minister of
Canbolat
(1880-1926)
Founding officer member of the OLC,
to Sweden (1918), Governor of Istanbul (1915)
Interior Affairs (1918), Ottoman Ambassador
and Deputy of Izmir (1912). He was sent to exile toMalta by the British after their occupa
tion in Istanbul (1920). He was sentenced to death and executed in 1926 due to his connec
tions to the assassination
attempt toMustafa
Kemal.
He was
inducted
inMacedonia
21/09/1907(ibid.,p. 60).
Risorta on
io6
OZANARSLAN
(Yucekok) Bey, instructorof French at the Sal nica Military High School; Ma
jorMehmet Tahir Bey, the director of the Sal nica Military High School; Cap
tain Edip Servet (Tor) Bey, theOttoman aide-de-camp of the Italian general
was the commander of the international gendarmerie stationed
Degiorgis, who
inMacedonia; Captain Kazim Nami (Dum) Bey, the aide-de-camp of theOt
toman Field Marshal Ibrahim Pasha in Sal nica; First Lieutenant Hakki Baha
(Pars) Bey, First Lieutenant Omer Naci Bey.42
The joining of Turkish officers into theMasonic lodges of Sal nica follow
ingMehmet Talat, Midhat Sukru and Mustafa Rahmi Beys made the revolu
tionary group in the lodge and later theCommittee not only more influential
"When
out
found
about
lodge in
Freemasonry,
erals (pashas)
press
Since
ment,
two
these
generals
sent
by
the government
were
ordered
to
of itsmembers.
lodge
were
enough
archives
and
the personal
closet
of the worshipful
master
which contained the list of the brothers and the dangerous docu
ments
committee
had been emptied. This
of the agitation
arrogant
a sud
the brothers worry, however
they felt relieved by
stroke made
was
an
aide-de-camp
of one
of the pashas
was
able
to in
closet..
,"43
42 - For the list of the founders and their occupations seeM. Sukru Hanioglu, Preparation For
A Revolution, The Young Turks, 1902-1908,
(New York, Oxford University Press, 2001), p. 212.
- See
43
Iacovella, Gonye veHilal, p. 7.
107
This aide-de-camp who was also a Freemason is to be Kazim Nami Bey who was
a young captain in the 3. Ottoman Army and the
aide-de-camp of FieldMarshal
Ibrahim Pasha in Sal nica.
Kazim Nami Bey states in hismemoirs the role of theMasonic lodges for the
OLC as follows:
"At the beginning, theMasonic lodge served to hide our meetings,
but in thesemeetings we were mostly criticizingthe administration
and iftherewere some people listeningto us,we made them join our
we were
gaining
doing,
and trying to understand
of them in case of need."44
criticisms.
In so
masons
Turkish
vantage
non
sympathy also among
whether we could take ad
military
doctors.
In this case, we
can
state
that only
eighteen
per
44 - Kazim Nami
was
it ismore probable that he was from the Veritas lodge of French Obedience
and an instructor of French.
good francophone
since he
io8
OZANARSLAN
the Committee
When
masonry.
decided
as
a person
to accept
a member,
his
to
guide (a member of theCommittee knowing the candidate personally) used
take him to thehouse of a Committee member at a definite hour in the evening
while the eyes of the candidate member were bound by a tie. In order to confuse
the candidate about the location of the house, theywould walk in zigzags. After
to the
reaching the house, the guide would tell the password Hilal (Crescent)
watchman waiting behind thedoor. The watchman would proceed to take them
to a waiting room where the guide opened the eyes of the candidate and asked
him ifhe was sure about his decision to join theCommittee. After the confirma
tion of the candidate, the guide reblindfolded the candidate and took him to the
"oath ceremony room" and sat him down on a chair in frontof the table of the
"oath team".While the guide waited standing behind the candidate member,
one of themembers of the "oath team" whom the candidate member did not
know gave a speech about the situation of theOttoman state.At the end of the
was sure
a
speech, the "oath team" used to ask for last time if the candidate
about his decision of joining theCommittee. Following the positive answer of
the candidate member, the "oath team"members put the righthand of the for
mer on a Koran and his lefthand on a revolveron the table and made him take
the oath of theCommittee word byword. After having taken the oath, the new
member of the Committee was allowed to see his new comrades of the "oath
team" dressed with long red clothes and black masks in the gloomy lightof the
"oath
room".
ceremony
He
was
number
of the Committee
and also that he was to receive the help of his brothers and the punishment of
treason of his brotherswas death. He was also told the passwordMuin (which
means "helper" inOttoman Turkish) which was used to recognize themembers of
the Committee.
the
letter
The
"MIM"49
new member
and
to receive
was
supposed
a sentence
to say a sentence
starting with
the
starting with
letter "AIN",50
49
- In the Arabic
nounced
as "MIM"
the Arabic
letter of "." is pro
Empire
alphabet used by the Ottoman
iswritten by the latin alpha
and refers to "M" when the word "MUIN"
bet.
50
- The
"MUIN"
" "
is pronounced
iswritten by the latin alphabet.
Arabic
- The Arabic
letter of
51
as "AIN"
and
as "NOON"
theword
the word
"MUIN"
the word
109
the new member of the Committee used to be taken back blindfolded once
more to the place where he had firstmet his
guide thatnight.53
All these rituals, symbolism and secrecyof theOttoman Liberty Committee
which was to be the famous Committee ofUnion and Progress in the following
years, are supposed to be inspired from theMasonic rituals and symbolism
adopted by the freemasonYoung Turks of the lodges of Sal nica.
mittee in Sal nica had tieswith these komitas and celebrated the proclamation
of theConstitutional rgimewith Greek and Bulgarian bands in Sal nica.55
In order
to better
understand
the cosmopolitan
structure
of Sal
nica
at the
beginning of the 20tn century, the large community of Sephardic Jews living in
the city for centuriesmust also be taken into consideration. This Jewish com
munity was composed of the descendants of Jews of Spain who togetherwith
of Spain had to leave the country after the fall of the lastMoorish
kingdom in 1492. They had enjoyed the protection of theOttoman Turks and
were settled in thewealthy coastal towns of theOttoman Empire such as Sal nica. At the beginning of the 20^ century the Sephardic Jewish population in
Sal nica was estimated to be approximately 60% of the total population of the
city. Since theywere regarded as a particular millet (nation) by the Ottoman
administration and enjoyed large religious, communitarian and commercial lib
Muslims
- For
the rituals of the entry in theO LC, see thememoirs of the following: Dum,
Terakki Hatiralarim,
p. 15-16; Karabekir, Ittihat ve Terakki Cemiyeti, p. 169-181
of the Empire),
Sukru Bleda, Imparatorlugun Cokusu (The Collapse
185; Midhat
53
Beys.
Ittihat ve
and
183
Istanbul,
no
OZANARSLAN
chants,
and
craftsmen.
Under
these
the Jewish
circumstances,
com
ful environment differs it from theMonas tir branch. At the beginning of the
20r century,Monastir was one of the restless towns ofMacedonia due to the
ethnic conflicts and the fact that itwas home to the headquarters of the III. Ot
toman army. Important numbers of young and brilliant
graduates of theOtto
man War Academy were
to
in or aroundMonastir.
the
stationed
troops
assigned
In theOttoman army, in order to be eligible for theWar Academy, therewere
some strictcriteriaand among the
War Academy, only themost
graduates of the
successfulone thirdwere graduated as staffofficers.These officershad a modern
Western-style education and intellectual skills and were exposed to the ideas of
modernism, constitutionalism and nationalism.Most of themwere critical about
the Sultan and the Sublime Porte and were also determined to struggle for the
salvation
of
as brothers-in-arms.
other
life,
state. After
the Ottoman
they
their
to the hot
assignments
regions
of
and seeing engagements against the komitas, they began to see each
Macedonia
were
Moreover,
to use
prone
force
since
were
their daily
struggle
to achieve
their
revolutionary
the armed
if necessary
cause.
toman
Liberty
Committee,
that was
to cause
to win
the hearts
of the
56
57
- He
-
eager
to
we
trusted
and wanted
with
to welcome
great
to the Committee
idealism..
."57
Dum,
Ittihat ve Terakki H
tiralarim, p. 14.
III
When
lowing
months.
but was
even more
active
than
the center
of
the movement
in Sal
nica.
could
not be considered
as an
intervention
of the
victory.
work
for many
years and
suffer many
casualties..
."60
On
the number
and
of members
of the Committee
in Sal
nica.
In order
to
give
even
gave
numbers
to new
comers
starting with
thousand
later on.
Actually, until the creation ofMonastir branch, only 42 new members joined
the first ten foundermembers of theOLC in Sal nica.61 By the time, theMo
nastir branch realized itsoverestimation concerning the network of theCommit
tee in Sal nica and decided to become more and more active in the effortsof
to proclaim the
enlarging the network of the Committee inMacedonia and
r
Constitutional rgime. The proclamation of theConstitutional gime was fixed
for 24 July 1908 in Sal nica by the center of theCommittee and the decision
was to proclaim it everywhere inMacedonia at the same time. However, the
58-See
59
60
61
ibid., p. 21.
Ibid., p. 29.
Ibid., idem.
- For
these numbers
see Karabekir,
OZANARSLAN
112
group ofMonastir did it one day earlier on 23 July through 101 rounds of can
non
fire.62
tee of Union
then, definitely,
as the Ottoman
Commit
of
the Ottoman
intellectuals
to the French
Revolution.
western-style
p. 30.
113
lems and the leading names of theYoung Ottomans had to offer the crown to
the then heir-apparent prince Abdulhamid only 93 days after the dethroning of
his uncle Abdulaziz. Abdulhamid seemed prone to a constitutional rgime at the
beginning but he abolished itduring theTurco-Russian War of 1877-1878 with
the pretext of the extraordinaryconditions of thewar. The new Sultan sent the
leading names of theYoung Ottomans to exile, suppressed theirpress and took
absolute control of state.That was the beginning of the infamous rgime of op
pression ofAbdulhamid II.
However, the constitutionalistmovement of Ottoman intellectualsdid not
disappear and went on in exile in France and inEgypt. Besides a committeewas
64 - For a brief biography of Dr. Mehmet Resid Bey and his role in the organization of the
see Ahmet
firstCUP
Ittihat ve Terakki'nin Kurucu Uyelerinden Dr. Resid
Mehmetefendioglu,
Dr.
and Pro
Hatiralari
of
Resid
(Memoirs
Bey, One of the Founders of the Union
Bey'in
gress), 2nd ed. (Istanbul, Arba Yayinlari,
Table
Years
1901
1993), p. 9-20.
1. Joining to theMacedonia
Number
of adherent
Officers
1902
1903
1904
1905
1906
1907
1908
April 1909
Source: Angelo
35
18
20. Labor et Lux
17
18
24
Iacovella, Gonye veHilal,
p. 43.
114
OZANARSLAN
cine students as well as civil servants and medium and even high-level officers
and bureaucrats. The Committee decided tomake a coup d' tat inAugust 1896.
However, the large and imprudent network of theCUP was uncovered by the
spies ofAbdulhamid II and the attempt of the coup d' tatwas informed.Many
were either arrested or sent to exile. The out
Young Turks of theCommittee
War
of
burst of the Turco-Greek
1897 and its end with an Ottoman victory
r
consolidated the prestige and the gime ofAbdulhamid II in domestic politics
and helped to the suppression of theYoung Turks' movement.
The thirdgeneration of theOttoman constitutionalistmovements on which
of Sal nica welcomed Mehmet Talat, Midhat Sukru and Mustafa Rahmi Beys
who were to form the nucleus of the futureOLC, and provided a solid shelter
for the revolutionaryactivities of the latter.Later, the creation of a second lodge
of the Italian obedience in 1906, named Labour et Lux, gave a furtherrelief to
the organization of Salonican Young Turks.
Actually, theYoung Ottomans had also enjoyed the secret organization of
the Freemasonry for their revolutionaryaims in the 1870s.Many of the leading
figures of theYoung Ottomans and even the heir-apparent princeMurad (later
SultanMurad V) and his sonswere inducted into the ranks of theProodos lodge
of the French obedience. It is interestingto see that theYoung Ottomans who
paved theway for the First Constitutional Era in the 1870s were organized in
the lodges of the French Obedience in Istanbul and theYoung Turks who pre
pared the Second Constitutional Era in the 1900s in the lodges of the Italian
obedience in Sal nica. The fact that theMasonic lodges played a crucial role in
both of the preparations of the Constitutional Eras in the Ottoman political
history cannot be denied.
However, although theOLC was a continuation of the ideals of the consti
tutionalism of the earlierYoung Ottoman and Young Turk generations in terms
of ideological context, itwas founded as a completely independent society from
the earlier revolutionaryOttoman committees. This revolutionaryYoung Turk
organization of the cosmopolite city of Sal nica adopted first the name of "Ot
toman Committee of Progress and Union" after the unificationwith the veteran
Young Turks branch of Paris in 1907 and, later,after the re-proclamation of the
Ottoman Constitution, it named itself "Ottoman Committee of Union and
Progress" after the first revolutionary committee of the Young Turks of the
1890s.
Macedonia and itsport city Sal nica provided a very suitable social and po
litical environment for the revolutionary activities of some Young Turks as
Mehmet Talat, Mustafa Rahmi and Midhat Sukru Beys. These young revolu
tionarieshad all connections in the 1890s with the earlierCUP and in the early
"5
centuries,
Macedonia
was
region
where
there were
many
revolution
wing of theOLC
handful
young
and
Ottoman
intellectuals
and
officers
enjoying
by a
the