Istanbul: A Tale of Three Cities

by Bettany Hughes

It was not from Istanbul that reform would come but from Salonica (Thessaloniki), Istanbul’s northern cousin, which through the centuries had shared in Istanbul’s sieges, burnings, revolts, regime-changes. A number of Westward-looking constitutionalists allied themselves with a group of determined, disgruntled military officers stationed in Salonica to form the Unionists (the Committee of Union and Progress, or CUP). Popularly known as the Young Turks, their name was an anglicisation of a Westernisation; some Ottomans called these constitutionalists Jön Türkler – Jeunes Turcs in French – and gave rise to the memorable ‘Young Turks’ brand. Sultan Abdülhamid II was forced to accept a constitutional monarchy. Once again Istanbul’s streets were filled with music and flowers. Over a long, hot summer in 1908, 60,000 gathered outside the Yıldız Palace yelling, ‘Liberty, Equality, Fraternity and Justice!’ On the streets of Istanbul men huzzahed and then interpreted the inch towards reform as a mile. Kids threw stones at cars, illegal traders appeared on many street corners, a counter-coup was mounted in 1909, the Society of Muhammad was established and there was a call to return to the four pillars of the empire: Islam, the House of Osman, Guardianship of Mecca and Medina, and the Possession of Kostantiniyye. But, resolute, the Young Turks sent the soldiers of the reformed government back on to the streets of Istanbul and quelled the counter-revolution. The Sultan was deposed and ...