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Struggle for Political Participation: Ottoman Greeks and the 1908 Elections
Abstract
The Young Turk Revolution of 1908 was a revolution of conflicting expectations for different ethnic groups in the Ottoman Empire. The majority of the Young Turks regarded the Revolution as an opportunity to start a new era of strengthening state institutions and creating a cohesive union out of the diverse Ottoman communities without losing the upper hand in matters of utmost importance. However, the very idea of keeping the upper hand was at odds with the expectations of some other communities. For them, the Revolution signified the beginning of a new period to acquire a greater role in the Ottoman state. This was especially true in the case of Greeks in the Ottoman Empire. A large number of political figures in the Ottoman-Greek community thought that the Revolution could be used to attain a genuine political equality with the Turkish element in the Empire. In light of these conflicting expectations, this paper will highlight the political and intellectual landscape of the post-revolutionary Ottoman Empire. For this purpose, the process of parliamentary elections in the fall of 1908 will be closely analyzed. These elections present an example of a historically illuminating event as Ottoman Greeks perceived it as the first serious occasion to realize their political aims. The relatively free press of the post-revolutionary atmosphere will allow us to follow lively discussions in Greek (published in Greek) and Turkish (published in Ottoman Turkish) newspapers of the Ottoman capital. Primarily based on these accounts, this paper will search for the answers to the following questions: what did political equality mean for Greeks and Turks in the late Ottoman Empire? What were the means to achieve political equality? To what extent did their political projects coincide with each other and what were the main points of disagreement between the two?
Discipline
History
Geographic Area
Ottoman Empire
Sub Area
None