Takrir-i Sükûn Kanunu

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Basic data
Title: تقریر سکون قانونی
Takrir-i Sükûn Kanunu
Number: 578
Type: law
Scope: Republic of Turkey
Adoption date: March 4, 1925
Official Journal : No. 87 v. March 4, 1925, p. 36
( PDF file; 539 KB )
Expiry: March 4, 1929
Please note the note on the applicable legal version .

The Takrir-i Sükûn Kanunu ("Law to Ensure Public Quiet ") was a law that the Turkish government enacted in response to the Kurdish religious Sheikh Said uprising in 1925 to restore order in the country. The law was also used to persecute opposition politicians or to censor newspapers. Although the law expired in 1929, it ushered in an authoritarian phase in Turkish politics that lasted until after 1945.

In February 1925, the Sheikh Said uprising broke out in Eastern Anatolia, which put the still young republic to a severe test. The abolition of the caliphate had dissolved an important link between the Turks and the Kurds. The then Prime Minister Ali Fethi Bey , who was viewed by many as too liberal, resigned because of his policy towards the uprising on March 2, 1925. His predecessor İsmet Pascha, known as a hardliner, took his place . Already in 1924 he had tried in vain to pass a law against religiously motivated hostility towards progress (tr: dinsel irtica ). The uprising now provided an occasion for the law.

The law led to heated discussions in parliament between the government provided by the Cumhuriyet Halk Fırkası (CHF) and the opposition party Terakkiperver Cumhuriyet Fırkası . The opposition was in favor of a swift and severe suppression of the uprising, but saw freedom of the press and the constitution in jeopardy with the law and, according to Kâzım Karabekir Pasha, warned that in the 20th century no people could be governed with mistrust and delusion. At the following vote, many of the 287 MPs were absent. The law, which gave extraordinary powers to the government, was passed with 122 votes in favor and 22 abstentions. It came into force on March 4, 1925 for a period of two years, with an extension of another two years in 1927. The independence courts founded in the Turkish Liberation War were reinstated and used to sentence insurgents and other "undesirable" people in a fast-track process. The judges were members of parliament and exercised “political justice”. The uprising was put down within a few weeks. Sheikh Said was caught, sentenced to death in Diyarbakır Independence Court, and hanged in September 1925. It is not known how many people were convicted by the Independence Courts. As a further measure, influential Kurdish clergymen or tribal leaders were resettled in western Turkey. However, the deportation of tribes loyal to the government led to resentment among the Kurds and to an increase in Kurdish nationalism.

Among other things, the law provided for high penalties and bans for subversive publications in the press. In April 1925, all newspapers were banned except for two newspapers close to the CHF. The Terakkiperver Cumhuriyet Fırkası was banned two months after the law came into force because of its links with the insurgents. Leading members later fled abroad after they were suspected of plotting an assassination attempt on Mustafa Kemal Pasha in 1926 . During this time, six members of the party were sentenced to death and executed.

Since the archives are not accessible, it is not possible to take stock of the law.

Legal text

The law consisted of three articles:

  1. With the consent of the President, the government is allowed to ban organizations, provocations, incitement and publications that incite reactionism and insurrection and that seek to disrupt the country's social order, peace, tranquility and security. The government can refer persons who carry out these actions to the Independence Court.
  2. This law comes into force for a period of two years from the date of its publication.
  3. The council of enforcement officers is entrusted with the implementation of this law.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Martin Strohmeier, Lale Yalcin-Heckmann: The Kurds: History, Politics, Culture , CH Beck , p. 99.
  2. ↑ Uğur Mumcu : Kürt İslam Ayaklanması 1919-1925 , at: ag Yayınları, p. 77
  3. ↑ By law No. 979 of March 2, 1927 amending Art. 2 of the law to ensure public peace, RG No. 570 of March 3, 1927.
  4. ↑ a b Sait Çetinoğlu: Takrir-i Sükûn Kanunu , p. 9
  5. ^ Message from the Turkish Ministry of Education .
  6. ↑ Sevan Nişanyan : yanlis Cumhuriyet , Everest Yayınları, p 84

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