Intellectuals and Reform in the Ottoman Empire by Stefano Taglia

Author:Stefano Taglia [Taglia, Stefano]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, Middle East, Turkey & Ottoman Empire, Social Science, Regional Studies
ISBN: 9781317578635
Google: 12ShCAAAQBAJ
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2015-04-24T01:25:07+00:00

5 The end of an idea, the 1902 Congress of Ottoman Liberals in Paris

Organisation and attendance

The need to convene a meeting between all the opposition parties gathered under the umbrella of the Young Turk movement had been felt for some time. The Ottoman Revolutionary Party (Osmanlı İhtilâl Fırkası), formed in 1897 by Tunalı Hilmi Bey, had taken steps towards organising one under the aegis of the khedive of Egypt, to be held either in Brindisi, southern Italy, or on the island of Corfu. However, opposition from the Mechveret group on the grounds that the regent, Abbas Hilmi, and his associates, were too close to Freemasonry and the British government,1 together with difficulties in finding a venue, had led to the abandonment of the plan.2 Furthermore, the Ottoman diplomatic service admitted that it had co-opted the Italian government into blocking all possible contacts between Young Turk members on Italian soil. Eventually, Mahmut Pașa and his sons took on responsibility for organising the meeting in the form of a proper Congress and chose Paris as the place to hold it. This was for a series of reasons: the relatively large concentration of Young Turk members, the relative tolerance of the French government, a public opinion sympathetic to the Young Turk cause, and the knowledge that the Ottoman government had persuaded the Swiss, German, English, and Italian governments to expel Mahmut and his sons if caught on their soil.

As plans for the organisation of the Congress went ahead, the Ottoman authorities, somehow informed, requested the French to prevent its taking place, claiming that the organisers were “revolutionaries” and “anarchists.”3 The French authorities gave in to the request, and the police put Sabahattin’s house under close watch, on Boulevard Malesherbes, where the meeting was believed to be scheduled for 17th or 20th January. Nothing of notice was recorded on either day, apart from a visitor, probably Paul Fesch or Joseph Denais,4 staying for about ten hours on the 17th.5 However, M. Lepine, General Prefect of the Paris Police, summoned Sabahattin and Lutfullah to his office on 24th January to inform them that he would not authorise a big meeting of Ottoman opponents of the Sultan on any day.6 In the meantime, the rumour that a meeting of Ottoman opponents was in preparation had spread through the French press: according to L’Eclair, around 50 Ottomans were expected to arrive from Turkey, Egypt, Mesopotamia, Romania, Rumelia, Albania, London, Rome, Geneva and Athens to discuss an agenda roughly consisting in the following points:

1 Dévouement et loyalisme envers la dynastie;

2 Honorer la religion musulmane ainsi que la civilisation moderne. Protéger toutes les autres religions ou cultes;

3 Faire de la Constitution ottomane promulguée en 1876 la base du gouvernement et le pivot de l’entente et de l’union entre tous les Ottomans sans distinction de religion ni de race;

4 Proclamer l’égalité politique entre musulmans et non musulmans et les faire bénéficier également des avantages matériels et moraux du gouvernement du pays.7

Le Temps spoke of a proposition among Young Turk members

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