Abolition of the Ottoman sultanate

End of the Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman Empire's sovereignty was embodied in the dynasty of Osman I, who was its founder and namesake. His family had ruled since 1299 in an unbroken lineage throughout the empire's history. The Ottoman sultan maintained supreme authority over the Ottoman Empire's polity. The sultan was the empire's sole and absolute regent, head of state and head of government. The grand viziers and polity established by the Ottoman Constitution functioned at the pleasure of the sultan.


An Allied invitation was given to both the Constantinople and Ankara governments to appear at the Conference of Lausanne. Mustafa Kemal was determined that only the Ankara government would be represented at the conference.^[3] On 1 November 1922, the Grand National Assembly declared that the Sultanate's Constantinople government was no longer the legal representative. The Grand National Assembly also resolved that Constantinople had not been the capital of the nation since its occupation by the Allies.^[3] Furthermore, they declared that the Sultanate was to be abolished.^[4] The abolition of the sultanate ended the Ottoman Empire. After hearing of the resolution, Mehmed VI sought refuge aboard the British warship Malaya on 17 November.^[5] The remaining ministers in his government accepted the new political reality. There is no official document that declared the state capitulated by the Ottoman Government or sultan; the system resolved by itself. The Conference of Lausanne, on 11 November 1922, recognized the sovereignty of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey replacing the Ottoman Empire. The last sultan, Mehmed VI, departed Constantinople on 17 November 1922.


A list of 600 names to the Conference of Lausanne was presented, and were to be declared personae non gratae. The list, which is a Who's Who of the Ottoman Empire, had the purpose of eliminating the ruling elite of the Ottomans. Negotiations at Lausanne limited the number to 150, and the treaty was signed on 24 July 1923.


The Ottoman dynasty embodied the Ottoman Caliphate since the sixteenth century, starting with the reign of Selim I. The head of the Ottoman family kept the title caliph, power over all Muslims, as Mehmed's cousin Abdülmecid II took the title. The Ottoman dynasty was left as a political-religious successor to Muhammad and a leader of the entire Muslim community without borders in a post Ottoman Empire. Abdülmecid II's title was challenged in 1916 by the leader of the Arab Revolt King Hussein bin Ali of Hejaz, who denounced Mehmet V, but his kingdom was defeated and annexed by Ibn Saud in 1925.


Greek, Bulgarian and Serb subjects left the empire during the decline and modernization of the Ottoman Empire (1828–1908), while the Albanian and Armenian (Armenian national movement and First Republic of Armenia) subjects left or were killed during the defeat and dissolution of the Ottoman Empire (1908–1922). By 1922 most of the remaining inhabitants of Turkey were Muslims of either Turkish or Kurdish ethnicity. The Grand National Assembly of Turkey declared itself the Republic of Turkey on 29 October 1923.


There were members of the Ottoman dynasty who were in Turkey after the declaration of the republic. An exile list was also created and put into effect by the Republic of Turkey^[a] on 23 April 1924 (revised on 1 June 1924) which included the names of 120 adherents of the deposed Ottoman dynasty.^[6]