«The Others» in Polıtıcs Durıng the era of the Young Turks: Ottoman Greeks ın the Parlıament (1908-1918)

Abstract

This article analyzes the role and the discourses of the Ottoman Greeks in the parliament during the Young Turks’ rule between 1908 and 1918. In this way, it attempts to contribute to the knowledge about the newly established so-called constitutional order in the Ottoman Empire, the parliament and its impact over the socio-political fluctuations which mostly affected the non-Muslims. In order to do it, this work focuses on the speeches, discourses and topics of discussion which were brought to the agenda by the Ottoman Greeks in the parliament. The research is formed upon the parliamentary minutes as well as both Ottoman Turkish and Greek newspapers of the related period. The examination of these sources allows us to conclude that the efforts of the Young Turks for bringing equality, freedom and justice in fact created a reverse effect and further deepened the gap between the Greeks and the Turks; difference in the interpretations of the terms propagated by the Young Turks such as equality, freedom and Ottomanness as a uniting identity, contrary to expectations, accelerated the disintegration of the Empire.