Young Turks

Young Turks A loose group of opposition leaders which began to form in the Ottoman Empire in response to the abrogation of the constitution by Sultan Abdülhamit II in 1878. It was organized clandestinely in 1889 as the Association for the Union of Ottomans, which in 1895 became the Committee for Union and Progress. It called for the removal from power of Abdülhamit II, and the reintroduction of constitutional rule, basing its popular appeal on Islamic nationalism. Its members became the leaders of a rebellion against Abdülhamit in 1908, who was subsequently forced to establish constitutional rule. He reneged on some of his promises, whereupon a second rebellion removed him from power in 1909. Relations between the Young Turks, many of whom had remained outside the government, and the new Sultan, Muhammad V, remained uneasy until Enver Pasha's coup of 1913 finally brought them to power.