27
Iranians in Ottoman Lands in the 19th
Century and Their Political Activities
during the Constitutional Period
(1906-1912)
Celal Metin
The history of Turkish-Iranian relations is multi-
dimensional. The complexity of these relations and Iranians
who arrived in Ottoman lands for various reasons between
the 19
th
century and the 20
th
century as well as opposition
movements that influenced political developments in Iran
have not drawn interest or have been studied in Turkish
literature. However, developments related to these issues
have had significant impact in modern Iranian history. The
Constitutional Movement that is associated with overcoming
Associate Professor at Manisa CBU
Faculty of Education
28
the state of stagnation in Iranian state and community as
well as drive for political change has defined Iranian
political elite and intellectuals’ most significant political
goal with inspiration from Ottoman Reform, First
Constitutional Era and
Kanun-u Esasi (Constitution of
1876). The search for a constitutional monarchy since the
mid-19
th
century had led to the Constitutional Reform of
1906. Iranians in Ottoman lands who are Ottoman chapter of
this political movement, their political enlightenment
activities and their role in reinstating Constitutionalism
should be examined with a different perspective in terms of
Turkish-Iranian relations. This study aims to bring forward a
different aspect of Turkish-Iranian relations aside from
political rivalry, regional hegemony struggles, Shiite-Sunni
conflict and assertion of cultural dominance.
Key
Words:
Iranians
in
Ottoman
lands,
Constitutional
Movement,
Council,
Young
Turks,
Constitutionalism,
Ahter Newspaper, Saadet-i İraniyan.
Introduction:
The history of Turkish-Iranian relations is full of
various consultations over a long period time. These
relations have mostly been defined by military conflicts,
struggle for ethnic, religious and political domination, which
resulted in many devastating wars. However, after the dawn
of the 19
th
century, Turkish-Iranian relations were mostly
involved in solution of territorial problems, reviving trade,
ending sectarian conflicts and strengthening socio-cultural
relations, setting aside some minor military encounters. As
Western imperialism targeted the region where the two
countries are located in the 19
th
century, large scale military
conflicts ended and search for peace and cooperation took
over while some religious and ethnic disputes persisted. This
was partly caused by exhaustion of two countries after
military, economic, cultural and political developments of
the 19
th
century. Starting from the 19
th
century and
continued
in the 20
th
, both countries were in search of reform and new
political regimes.
A series of political mass movements took place in
the 19
th
and 20
th
centuries in Iran and Constitutional (1906-