The main aim of the parliament in the making of the new constitution was to address the social and political needs for fighting the independence war. The grand assembly enacted a constitution in 1921. The constitution of 1921 was a short constitution including 23 articles but it was an important document. This constitution did not
contain any articles regarding the character of the political system. There was no article regarding the future of the sultanate and the caliphate. However, for the first time the constitution regarded the first general assembly as single political actor that possessed sovereign right in the country. This feature implicitly emphasized the impotent position of the sultan in politics. Therefore, it is fair to say that recognizing the grand assembly as the sole representative of the nation doesn’t reconcile with the idea of a monarchial system.

The Deed of Alliance was regarded as the starting point of Turkey’s step towards creating a constitutional government. The deed was signed in October 1808 between the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, Sultan Mahmud II and the representatives of provincial notables.

Probably the most significant development towards the change of religious symbols was the adoption of the Latin alphabet in 1928. To that day, Turkish language had been written in Arabic letters, which was considered as a trace of the Ottoman heritage and Islamic tradition. Thus, the alteration of the alphabet was claimed to be a major sign of secularization and modernization.

The Edict of Tanzimat was a statement of desire on behalf of the Sultan, promising four basic reforms (Zürcher, 2004, p. 51):

• The installation of guarantees for the life, honor and property of all Ottoman’s subjects

• A fair system of taxation and the abolition of tax farming (iltizam)

• A system of conscription for the military

• Equality before the law of all subjects, irrespective of religion

The correct answer is E. 

The National Unity Committee began its attempts to draft a new constitution on the grounds that the current 1924 Constitution did not fit the needs of the country. To this end, a “constitutional commission” was established by the National Unity Committee in March 1961, the Commission issued a draft constitution immediately. The Constitution was presented to the people on July 9, 1961, after being adopted by the constituent assembly. The 1961 Constitution was accepted by 38.3% of “no” votes vs. 61.7% of “yes” votes.

At the end of the meetings between the İstanbul government and this committee, it was decided that the parliament reopen (Meclis-i Mebusan) as soon as possible. The most important function of the parliament which gathered on January 12, 1920 was to accept the “Misak-ı Milli” (National Pact). Upon this decision, İstanbul was officially occupied by the entente states. Some parliament members were arrested and sent to exile in Malta while some members of the parliament were able to leave İstanbul and move to Ankara. As a result, it was announced that an assembly would gather in Ankara in April 23, 1920. The New Assembly consisted of newly elected members and the members of the dissolved parliament in İstanbul. Mustafa Kemal Pasha was elected as the chairman of the new parliament, the Grand National Assembly. Therefore, the correct option is B.

The first coup attempt in the Ottoman period was the Kuleli Incident, which happened in 1859. Some soldiers and civilians planned a coup in cooperation in order to dethrone Sultan Abdulmecid and replace him with Abdulaziz.

The September 12 Military Coup is significantly different from the May 27 military intervention. The May 27 coup was carried out by a junta in the army, so the Commander of Turkish Armed Forces and the other commanders were retired. However, all the elements of the Armed Forces were involved in the September 12.

Vehbi Koç initiated the establishment of TÜSİAD in 1971. Thus, the answer is C.

The CHP government had already declared the end of restricted wartime measures and the beginning of a new era of cooperation between the state and the private sector. This sudden change in the CHP ideology was a result of the pressure from the donors of Western aid. DP won the elections in 1950, and Turkey entered into a more liberal economic and political era. This period was marked by capital accumulation in the private sector through government credits originated from foreign aid program. Using the state agencies like the Industrial Development Bank to distribute aid funds increased state patronage and the inefficient use of public funds. The flow of foreign credits as part of the Marshall Program was also used to import agricultural equipment as the general recovery of the world market and the interests of developed countries favored agricultural production and exports in the third world. The private sector started to integrate with international capital as foreign capital flowed in and the economy opened up. Etatism as an authoritarian intervention and control was undermined but this did not mean the abandonment of state investments and intervention. The intervention took the form of clientelism or supporting periphery against the center.

Guy Haarscher (2018) divides secularization into four different types. The first one pertains to the Catholic tradition and is named in French as ‘lai’cité’. Belgium, France, Spain, Luxemburg, Portugal, Austria belong to this tradition, where the state has become everybody’s state through exterminating dogmatism, intolerance, and the spirit of dependency, characteristics that are identical with Catholicism.

Ghazwa (a battle often led by Islamic goals) is a dominant factor in explaining the foundation of the Ottoman State.

The May 27 coup was directly against the DP government, which was in power at that time. In this context, the DP was eliminated from politics and the executives of the party were tried. But the other parties were not banned. Furthermore, NGOs were not touched much except the pro-DP ones. Nevertheless, the March 12 Memorandum affected different political movements within the country. After the intervention, the National Order Party (Milli Nizam Partisi-MNP) and Worker’s Party of Turkey (Türkiye İşçi Partisi-TİP) were closed. In addition, after the intervention, a large number of people who came from different ideological backgrounds were arrested

The constitution acknowledges the democratic parliament system but abolishes the system in the constitution of 1961 that adopted the bicameral assembly consisting of the House of Representatives and the Senate of the Republic.

One of the most significant changes made in the military field was the abolition of the Janissary corps in 1829. Sultan Mahmud II wanted to make a drastic reform in the military area. The Sultan explained that he would build a new army to be trained and organized in the direction of modern techniques. Mahmud II declared that he would not remove the Janissary corps, but that the janissaries would be present in the new army with a certain amount of troops. When this decision was announced, the janissaries launched a great rebellion. The military units affiliated with the palace who took advantage of the new war technology opened fire on the janissaries. Many janissaries lost their lives in this attempt of rebellion, and the rest of them surrendered or fled. This event, known as Vakayı Hayriye, enabled the Ottoman Empire to get rid of the last traces of the traditional military system (Lewis, 1998, p. 81). A new army was established by Sultan Mahmud II under the name of Asakar-i Mansure-i Muhammediye. Thus, the Ottoman state formed a completely “modern” army system.

After the May 27 coup d’état, almost 5,000 military officers were made to retire including the generals and admirals in the army. These officers set up a non-governmental organization called the “Association of Retired Revolutionary Officers” (Emekli İnkılap Subayları Derneği) to return to the army. EMİNSU is the short name of this association. For this reason, members of the association were called EMİNSU. The association was closed after the September 12, 1980 coup d’état. Therefore, the correct option is C.

“Milli Güvenlik Kurulu”, a constitutional institution established by the 1961 Constitution, continues its activities. This Council, under the chairmanship of the President, is composed of the Vice Presidents, the Ministers of Justice, National Defense, the Interior and Foreign Affairs, the Commanders of the Land, Naval and Air Forces and the Chief of General Staff of the Turkish Armed Forces.

Atatürk himself owned 28 per cent of the shares. C is the right answer.

I.and II. were realized during Ak Party period.

The third model bears the name of ‘multiple beliefs’, and is seen in countries such as the Netherlands and Germany, where the state is in equal distance to all religions and helps them to coordinate their support to their communities. This is defined as ‘equality and freedom for all’. To exemplify, in the Netherlands, the Catholics, Protestants and the socialists have founded their own hospitals, unions, sports clubs and mass communication media.