Ottoman Government in Turmoil!
The now apparent internal strife of the Committee of Union and Progress, the Ottoman Empire's majority party since the establishment of a democratically elected bicameral legislature, has come to the forefront with the Kurdish rebellion. Within the halls of the House of Deputies, the publicly elected lower house, the CUP has been divided not along simple lines of liberal and conservative, but also among nationalists, monarchists, republicans, and Islamists. Some outspoken Arab and Turkish nationalists have gone so far as to call for the complete dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, while others call for the full return of powers to the Sultan, the failure of democracy apparent. With the party split, undecided on how to act, the minority opposition offered a vote of no confidence on Prime Minister Enver Pasha. Enver Pasha, considered the popular war who saved the empire from collapse during the Suez War was even given the nickname "Saladin" by his numerous supporters. It would appear that regardless of the political turmoil he would come out unscathed, until the motion of no confidence actually succeeded.
What unfolded was even more political deadlock and uncertainty as the move to find a new Prime Minister was made by various influential figures. With the aristocratic Senate already planning motion the Sultan and military to potentially shut down the House of Deputies, a relative miracle occurred when one figure rose to the top of the political food chain, securing a coalition in the legislature. Mustafa Kemal, a Turkish ex-general who once led successful attacks on Virginian and German positions during the Suez War. Originally a supporter of the CUP and Enver Pasha, he had grown more and more distant with the party as it continued to stagnate and corrupt from within. Mustafa Kemal had been one of the few members of Ottoman society greatly effected by the policy of Ottomanism. He had come to understand "Ottoman" not simply in terms of a subject of the sultan, but a nationality all its own, an identity which all citizens of the empire should embrace. This current Kurdish rebellion had shown the damaging power of the belief that Ottomans were made up of multiple nationalities, instead of one.
Mustafa Kemal successfully negotiated a coalition between liberals and moderates into a new political party known as the People's Party, founded on certain liberal ideas. Already being called "Kemalism" the party's beliefs are centered around six fundamental ideas: Republicanism - increased power of democratic institutions over the aristocratic and monarchical, Populism - the supreme value of Ottoman citizenship where the true power of the state lies, Secularism - the complete separation of religion and state, Revolutionism/Modernization - that the country should replace the traditional institutions and concepts with modern institutions and concepts, Nationalism - that the Ottoman Empire is a nation state supported by the Ottoman people who are a nationality all their own, Statism - A major government role in the direction of the economy.
The longevity of the current government is yet to be seen. With the Kurdish rebellion still a large problem facing the longevity of the empire itself, and with elections only a year away, Mustafa Kemal will be hardpressed to last long in a new age of Ottoman politics.
To Kurdistan
From Ottoman Empire:
We wish to discuss the possibility of Kurdistan's re-entry into the Ottoman fold. As Ottomans you have rights, rights which have been violated up until this point. The new government in Ankara wishes to correct the wrongs of the previous administration, and agrees with your list of grievances. However, we believe Kurds still have a place among Turks and Arabs as Ottomans. Not a people subject to a Sultan, but a people who control their own destiny through the ballot. Present Kurdistan will be given a certain level of autonomy, but not independence. You Kurds and all other people of this land have been a part of the Ottoman Empire for 500 years, and considered Ottomans, a citizenry bounded together under certain principles, for a century now. Now is not the time to end our coexistence. Join us in creating a new United Ottoman Sultanate, no longer an empire bound to rule over an oppressed people, but a union of different peoples joined together not under the Ottoman dynasty, but under through the Ottoman spirit.