An Unknown Structure in the First Parliament: Selameti Umumiye Committee

One of the characteristics of the Turkish Grand National Assembly, which was opened on April 23, 1920, was that it was a "partyless assembly". However, in the Turkish Grand National Assembly, consisted of many groups such as TBMM’de Anadolu Rumeli Müdafaa-i Hukuk Cemiyeti, Halk Zumresi, Mudafaa-i Hukuk Zumresi, Tesanut Group, İstiklal Group, İttihatcı Group and Islahat Group. This situation made it very difficult to make quick decisions in the parliament. Although Mustafa Kemal Pasha established the Anatolian-Rumeli Mudafaa-i Hukuk group to end the divisions in the parliament and transform the parliament into a regular and disciplined structure, harmony could not be achieved within the parliament. To facilitate the functioning of the Assembly and to speed up decision-making processes, a group of members within the parliament, Mustafa Kemal Pasha headed a secret organization. This group was organized in the homes of its members to meet to determine the laws and articles they want to bring to the agenda of the Parliament; and to consider and conclude on the issues to be discussed. After the discovery of this secret structure, the opposition ranks, influenced by the French Revolution, named this group the Committee of Selâmet-i Umumiye. It has not received much attention so far. Therefore The Selameti Umumiye Committee, which has not been sufficiently researched, is analyzed for the first time in this study as a stand-alone article.

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