Turkish Democratization
A history of Turkish democratization.
Contents
Ottoman Empire
Following defeat in the First Balkan War, and as Kamil Pasha prepared for peace negotiations, a 1913 coup known as the Raid on the Sublime Porte saw the Committee of Union and Progress seize power in the Ottoman Empire. This government was led by the Three Pashas (اوچ پاشالر, or alt. Young Turk Triumvirate): Mehmed Talaat Pasha, Ismail Enver Pasha, and Ahmed Djemal Pasha. They entered World War 1 on the side of Germany and enacted a genocide against Coptic Greeks, Assyrians, Armenians, and Kurds.
The Armistice of Mudros ended hostilities on the eastern front of the war, and an occupation by British, French, and Italian armies began with the intent to partition the empire. In particular, France sought to establish a Little Entente surrounding Austria and Hungary. Britain sought to create a Jewish state. Over Anatolia specifically, in addition to the three partitioning powers, Russia and Greece (i.e., the Megali Idea) had staked a claim. The Assyrians and Armenians also made claims for self-determinism. The Russian claim and the Constantinople Agreement fell apart with the Russian Revolution.
The Treaty of Sèvres would have made these occupations permanent. Mustafa Kemal Pasha established a provisional government in Ankara and refused to ratify the treaty; hostilities resumed. On the southern front, the Franco-Turkish War (alt. the Cilicia Campaign) ended in 1922 as a clear Turkish victory. This conflict established the modern border with Syria.
To the east, the Turkish–Armenian War led to the partition of Armenia. The war itself lasted from September to December of 1920, and it was a clear Turkish victory. The Treaty of Alexandropol forced severe concessions from the First Armenian Republic; the western half of the country was ceded, Nakhchivan was ceded to Azerbaijan, and Armenia was reduced to a client state. The USSR however also invaded in December and, within just a few days, established an Armenian Socialist Republic. They immediately declared the treaty void, although the subsequently negotiated Treaty of Moscow reaffirmed the land cession. Note that this established the modern border with Armenia. In the following October, the nearly identical Treaty of Kars was signed by Soviet Georgia and Azerbaijan as well.
Finally, the Greco-Turkish War saw Greek invasion deep into Anatolia. Through the Great Offensive in 1922, the Greeks were forced to withdraw. As the French had already conceded and the British indicated they would not intervene, Greece dropped all land claims from WW1.
Altogether these form the fronts of the Turkish War of Independence. On November 1, 1922, The assembly voted to abolish the sultanate. Mehmed VI fled the country later that month. The Treaty of Lausanne was now negotiated with the provisional government directly.