Transformation from the Ottoman State to the Modern Republic of Turkey: The Renewal Party and Karakol

Abstract

Abstract After the end of WWI, the leaders of Committee of Union and Progress (CUP) established a political party, Renewal Party, and an underground organization, Karakol, in order to organize a resistance against the Allies and their presence in Ottoman territories. These institutions played an important role in the formation of national resistance in Anatolia before Mustafa Kemal's arrival in the region. The establishment of local resistance forces by former CUP members in Anatolia under the name of Renewal Party and the formation of a network in Istanbul to facilitate the smuggling of weapons, ammunition, former military officers, and Unionists to Anatolia were crucial for the formation of a national resistance movement to be organized under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal after May 1919. This article focuses on these two institutions and their role in Turkish National Struggle.