National Sovereignty Day

Majlis-i mebusan, the parliament of deputies! 

The law-making assembly of the form of government established with the transition of the Ottoman Empire from absolute monarchy to constitutional rule, i.e. constitutional monarchy, in which the powers of the sultan are restricted by the laws made by elected parliamentarians!

With the occupation of Istanbul by the occupation forces on 16 March 1920, the House of Deputies convened for the last time in Istanbul on 18 March 1920 and then ceased its activities. On 11 April 1920, the parliament was dissolved in violation of the constitution.

The most important work carried out by the 6th Assembly of Deputies in this 65-day period between 12 January 1920 and 18 March 1920 was the preparation of the Misak-ı Milli.

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On 23 April 1920, 104 years ago today, this parliament of the Ottoman constitutional government, which had been closed down, reconvened in Ankara, Anatolia. However, it was no longer an Ottoman parliament. The republic has not yet been declared, but the parliament that opens is the parliament of the people reborn from the ashes of the burnt-out Ottoman Empire.

Most of the existing parliamentarians had either been sent into exile and could not attend the reopening, or some of the survivors could not make it to the reopening of the parliament.

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Now the following questions come to mind:

The country is under occupation and you say parliament, you say you will run the country through parliament. You reconvene the parliament, which last convened on 18 March, on 23 April, this time in Ankara. Why are you doing this? Less than a month has passed since its closing and you are reconvening the parliament again!

What is your purpose in this?

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In fact, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk's first meeting with the representatives of the nation was the Erzurum Congress. 

However, this congress was a meeting with the representatives of the eastern provinces. The Erzurum congress was the congress of the society founded under the name of "Vilayet-i Şarkiye Müdafaa-i Hukuk-ı Milliye Cemiyeti" and its aim was to reduce the influence of the "Kurdish Teali Cemiyeti", which had previously been established to establish a Kurdish State in the region. Atatürk changed the purpose of this congress to light the first fire of the national struggle.

The decisions taken at the congress, Atatürk's participation in the congress and other details can be read from various sources.

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Then Mustafa Kemal will call for the Sivas Congress with the Amasya Circular and the Sivas Congress will convene in Sivas. 

Sivas Congress is a congress where other defence-law societies in Anatolia are brought together and the War of Independence is organised throughout the country. The decisions taken at the Erzurum congress were spread throughout the country.

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The meeting of the Grand National Assembly held in Ankara was a meeting based on the infrastructure created by these congresses previously organised in Anatolia and on these foundations. 

It is a way of saying to the occupation states that you may have taken the sultan under your control, you may have closed the parliament, but you have not yet destroyed the state.

The Majlis-i Mebusan in Istanbul will be convened so that the occupation states and the Sultan himself will realise that the state has not yet collapsed.

Otherwise, Mustafa Kemal received many telegrams in the meantime. 

The independence of the Armenians in the East had been recognised, the Sultan had signed the Treaty of Sevres, Grand Vizier Ali Rıza Pasha's circular to the governors and Istanbul's opposition to the Kuvay-ı Milliye...

Atatürk could have been angry at these developments and said "I don't recognise you". 

He could have won the war with the national army that he would bring together through congresses, and then he could have taken power and become the new sultan of the new country he would establish. 

But no, he believed in democracy. He believed in a republic. 

He believed that the cadres who would come to the administration of a country should be elected by the whole nation. 

He believed in the sovereignty of the nation.

All these can be regarded as the motivations for Atatürk to convene the Assembly of Deputies in Ankara.

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Today we are celebrating another national holiday on 23 April, the day of the establishment of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, which is the sole representative of the new Republic of Turkey established after the Ottoman Empire.

Yes, Atatürk also dedicated this day to our children. 

However, the real importance of today is that it is the day when the will of the nation is declared to everyone that it is above all else!

Today, it was declared to the whole world that the Turkish Nation is the sole ruler in these lands, especially in the occupation states...

The Sultan and his followers, who thought that this state in Istanbul was their family state and who did not hesitate to surrender the country to the enemies without blinking an eye for their own future, were told that no, it is not you, the nation is the real sovereign.

The Sultan was forced to flee the country on a frigate of the occupation states.

This is how today's parliamentarians should read the day. 

We are no longer governed by constitutionalism, but by democracy. 

Our form of government is representative democracy! 

In other words, we are governed by the decisions and laws taken by the representatives of the people.

MPs are the representatives of the nation! They should be! 

Our form of government may have been changed from parliamentary democracy to presidential or, as we call it, presidential administration. 

However, our parliament should be the only parliament in which the sovereignty of the nation is unconditionally represented. It must be the only authority authorised to execute the sovereignty of the nation! If the executive authority is the presidential cabinet, then the parliament must have the duty to supervise the executive! Otherwise you cannot talk about the sovereignty of the nation! 

But is this the case today?

I leave the answer to this question to you.

Happy 23 April National Sovereignty and Children's Day!

Love and respect to everyone from Moscow.