During the late
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...
, some elements of government were democratized. Seven general elections were held for the
Chamber of Deputies
The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures.
Description
Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourb ...
, the popularly elected lower house of the
General Assembly, the Ottoman parliament, two in the
First Constitutional Era (1877–1878), and five in the
Second Constitutional Era (1908–1920). The Chamber of Deputies used
Ottoman electoral law. Local elections were held for provincial (
Vilayet
A vilayet (, "province"), also known by #Names, various other names, was a first-order administrative division of the later Ottoman Empire. It was introduced in the Vilayet Law of 21 January 1867, part of the Tanzimat reform movement initiated b ...
) assemblies, though they quickly fell out of fashion. In addition,
Armenian
Armenian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent
** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...
, Protestant, and
Jewish millets had their own assemblies: an
Armenian National Assembly, a Protestant General Assembly, and a Jewish General Assembly, which held millet wide elections, with varying degrees of suffrage granted to laity outside
Istanbul
Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...
.
Before the Tanzimat, villages had long elected
mukhtars, and for minorities: local ethnarchs, or
''kocabaşı''.
Ottoman general elections
*
Ottoman general election, 1877 (first)
*
Ottoman general election, 1877 (second)
*
1908 Ottoman general election
*
April 1912 Ottoman general election
*October 1912 aborted Ottoman general election
*
1914 Ottoman general election
*
1919 Ottoman general election
*
1920 Ottoman general election
Local elections
Armenian National Assembly
Jewish General Assembly
Sources
{{Ottoman elections