The Government of the Grand National Assembly (), self-identified as the State of Turkey () or

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

(), commonly known as the Ankara Government (), or archaically the Angora Government, was the provisional and revolutionary Turkish government based in

Ankara Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...

(then known as Angora) during the

Turkish War of Independence , strength1 = May 1919: 35,000November 1920: 86,000Turkish General Staff, ''Türk İstiklal Harbinde Batı Cephesi'', Edition II, Part 2, Ankara 1999, p. 225August 1922: 271,000Celâl Erikan, Rıdvan Akın: ''Kurtuluş Savaşı tarih ...

(1919–1923) and during the final years of the

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 ...

. It was led by the

Turkish National Movement The Turkish National Movement (), also known as the Anatolian Movement (), the Nationalist Movement (), and the Kemalists (, ''Kemalciler'' or ''Kemalistler''), included political and military activities of the Turkish revolutionaries that resu ...

, as opposed to the crumbling '' Constantinople Government/Istanbul Government'', which was led by the

Ottoman Sultan The sultans of the Ottoman Empire (), who were all members of the Ottoman dynasty (House of Osman), ruled over the Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental empire from its perceived inception in 1299 to Dissolution of the Ottoman Em ...

. During the War of Independence, the Government of the Grand National Assembly commanded the army known as

Kuva-yi Milliye The Kuva-yi Milliye (; 'National Forces' or 'Nationalist Forces') were irregular Turkish militia forces active in the early period of the Turkish War of Independence. These irregular forces emerged after the occupation of the parts of Turkey by t ...

("National Forces"). After the war and victory over the

monarchist Monarchism is the advocacy of the system of monarchy or monarchical rule. A monarchist is an individual who supports this form of government independently of any specific monarch, whereas one who supports a particular monarch is a royalist. C ...

Constantinople Government, the republican Ankara Government declared the end of the

and the creation of the

Republic of Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

from its ashes in 1923. The Grand National Assembly is today the parliamentary body of Turkey.

Background

At the time the Ankara Government was proclaimed, there existed another Turkish government in the Allied-occupied

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

(now

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 ...

), namely the Imperial Ottoman Government, often known as the "''Constantinople Government''" (as opposed to the nationalist Ankara Government) and another Turkish parliament as 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 ...

. On 12 November 1918, Constantinople was occupied by the Allied forces led by the British. However, the occupying forces did not touch the Parliament and government buildings. On 21 December 1918, the parliament was dissolved by Sultan Vahdettin to hold new elections. As a result of the elections, the last parliament held its first meeting on 12 January 1920. The newly elected Ottoman parliament in Istanbul did not recognize the occupation; they developed a National Pact (Misak-ı Milli). The British, disturbed by the declaration of the National Pact, decided to completely occupy the city with the Allied military forces and seize the government buildings. Following the military occupation of Istanbul on 16 March 1920, the parliament was officially closed on 11 April 1920, under pressure from the occupying forces, in violation of the constitution. While some deputies were arrested, most fled to Anatolia to join the resistance. The new parliament opened in Ankara as a joint effort of these fugitive deputies and the resistance structure in Anatolia, opened on 23 April 1920, shortly after the old parliament was forcibly closed. The new parliament in Ankara declared itself to be the continuation of the parliament closed in Istanbul on 11 April stated that it was loyal to the National Pact and began its work by holding the last meeting of the old parliament as its first meeting. The Ankara Government was officially loyal to the Ottoman Sultan and the Caliphate. The Ankara Government never claimed that it was a new or different state. However, it declared that the Istanbul Government could not govern the country and had no validity due to the occupation of Istanbul. For this reason, it did not use the title "nazır" (minister) for its own cabinet members. Instead, it used the title ''vekil'' (acting minister). The Ankara Government was founded to represent

because the ''de jure'' capital, Constantinople, was under occupation. The president of the GNA (renamed the ''

Grand National Assembly of Turkey The Grand National Assembly of Turkey ( ), usually referred to simply as the GNAT or TBMM, also referred to as , in Turkish, is the Unicameralism, unicameral Turkey, Turkish legislature. It is the sole body given the legislative prerogatives by ...

'' after 8 February 1921) and later of the Republic of Turkey, was

Mustafa Kemal Pasha Mustafa () is one of the names of the Prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad, and the name means "chosen, selected, appointed, preferred", used as an Arabic language, Arabic given name and surname. Mustafa is a common name in t ...

. Once the Armistice of Mudanya was signed, replacing the Armistice of Mundros (signed by the Ottoman Empire in 1918 at the end of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

) and ending the

, the GNA abolished the imperial Sultanate, which was accused of collaborating with the

Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not an explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are calle ...

during the occupation of Turkey. The Constantinople Government, representing the Ottoman sultanate and the old imperial and monarchical order, initially refused to recognize the

Turkish national movement The Turkish National Movement (), also known as the Anatolian Movement (), the Nationalist Movement (), and the Kemalists (, ''Kemalciler'' or ''Kemalistler''), included political and military activities of the Turkish revolutionaries that resu ...

and the Government of the Grand National Assembly in Ankara, holding that it alone was the legitimate government of the Ottoman Empire. It attempted to militarily defeat the Ankara Government using its Kuva-yi Inzibatiye, i.e. the "Forces of Order", commonly known as the "Army of the Caliphate" (as opposed to the GNA's forces, the

, the "Army of the Nation"), but failed to do so. In 1921, diplomatic teams from both the monarchist Constantinople Government and the republican Ankara Government appeared at the Conference of London. In a surprising move, however, the Ottoman diplomatic team led by

Ahmet Tevfik Pasha Ahmet Tevfik Pasha (‎; 11 February 1843 – 8 October 1936), later Ahmet Tevfik Okday after the Turkish Surname Law of 1934, was an Ottoman diplomat and statesman of Crimean Tatar origin. He was the last grand vizier of the Ottoman Empir ...

gave in and allowed the Turkish diplomatic team led by Bekir Sami Kunduh to be the sole representatives of the country at the conference. The

Treaty of Lausanne The Treaty of Lausanne (, ) is a peace treaty negotiated during the Lausanne Conference of 1922–1923 and signed in the Palais de Rumine in Lausanne, Switzerland, on 24 July 1923. The treaty officially resolved the conflict that had initially ...

was signed on 24 July 1923, between the representatives of the Allies and of Ankara, thus officially recognizing the government of Ankara as the legitimate Turkish government. On 29 October, the National Assembly declared the

Government and politics

The provisional government was a

parliamentary republic A parliamentary republic is a republic that operates under a parliamentary system of government where the Executive (government), executive branch (the government) derives its legitimacy from and is accountable to the legislature (the parliament). ...

where the unicameral parliament, the Grand National Assembly, practiced both executive and legislative powers. As the main purpose of the government was to salvage the Ottoman Empire, and they in reality still recognized the Sultan, despite the capital was under occupation, there was no designated head of state position.

Executive branch

Two days after the proclamation of the Grand National Assembly, the Temporary Executive Council ( Turkish: Muvakkat İcra Encümeni) was established under Mustafa Kemal's leadership to handle transition matters until the composition of an organized government. The council was disbanded by Law No. 3 following the first election on 3 May 1920. The executive branch was a combination of military and civilian administrations. For instance, both the National Defense and the Chief of Staff were designated as ministries. The Cabinet of the Executive Ministers was composed of eleven ministries, as follows:

Administrative divisions

Even though the Constitution of 1921 had emphasized decentralization through expanding local administrators' powers, it was a

unitary state A unitary state is a (Sovereign state, sovereign) State (polity), state governed as a single entity in which the central government is the supreme authority. The central government may create or abolish administrative divisions (sub-national or ...

. The administrative order was composed of ''

vilayets 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 ...

'', integrated '' livas'', independent ''livas'', and '' kazas''. Shortly after the Armistice of Mundros, there were 15 vilayets, 35 integrated livas, 17 independent livas, and 392 kazas. Vilayets had autonomy to some extent through local councils ( Turkish: ''vilâyet şurası'') that were elected by the people and were allowed to amend and execute local laws, as long as they were compliant with the laws released by the central government. Vilayets had

governors A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

appointed by the Grand National Assembly for the representation and audit of vilayets, while kaymakams were responsible for lower divisions.

The governments

The governments prior to the Republic were used to be called "Executive ministers of Turkey." They were: *

1st cabinet of the Executive Ministers of Turkey The 1st cabinet of executive ministers of Turkey (3 May 1920 – 24 January 1921) was the first government formed by the nationalists during the Turkish War of Independence. The Republic was not yet proclaimed and the government was called ' or ' ...

2nd cabinet of the Executive Ministers of Turkey The 2nd cabinet of executive ministers of Turkey (24 January 1921 – 19 May 1921 ) was the second government formed by the nationalists during the Turkish War of Independence. The Republic was not yet proclaimed and the government was called ' ("c ...

* 3rd cabinet of the Executive Ministers of Turkey *

4th cabinet of the Executive Ministers of Turkey The 4th cabinet of executive ministers of Turkey (12 July 1922- 4 August 1923 ) was the fourth government formed by the nationalists during the Turkish War of Independence. The Republic was not yet proclaimed and the government was called ' ("cabin ...

* 5th cabinet of the Executive Ministers of Turkey

References

External links

History of the Grand National Assembly
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220112091439/http://global.tbmm.gov.tr/index.php/EN/yd/icerik/12 , date=2022-01-12 States and territories established in 1920 States and territories disestablished in 1923 Angora vilayet Former polities of the Turkish War of Independence 1920 in the Ottoman Empire 1921 in the Ottoman Empire 1922 in the Ottoman Empire 1923 in Turkey Provisional governments History of the government of Turkey