Abide-i Hürriyet
| Hürriyet Anıtı (Abide-i Hürriyet) | |
Monument of Liberty
|
|
| Coordinates | 41°04′05″N 28°58′55″E / 41.06814°N 28.982041°ECoordinates: 41°04′05″N 28°58′55″E / 41.06814°N 28.982041°E |
|---|---|
| Location | Şişli, Istanbul, Turkey |
| Designer | Muzaffer Bey |
| Type | memorial and cemetery |
| Material | marble |
| Beginning date | 1909 |
| Completion date | July 23, 1911 |
| Dedicated to | Soldiers killed during the 31 March Incident in 1909 |
The Monument of Liberty or Monument of Eternal Liberty (Turkish: Hürriyet Anıtı; Ottoman Turkish: Abide-i Hürriyet), located in the Şişli district of Istanbul, Turkey, is a memorial in honor of the soldiers killed defending the Ottoman parliament against reactionary monarchist forces during the 1909 countercoup, most notably in the 31 March Incident.
The Tanzimat reforms, which began in 1839, along with other subsequent liberalization processes, were strongly opposed by conservatives in the Ottoman Empire. They hoped to re-affirm the monarchic powers of the Sultan Abdulhamid II as absolute monarch, even though the Sultan himself came to power accepting a Constitution and opening the first Ottoman parliament, the General Assembly of the Ottoman Empire, in 1876 during the First Constitutional Era. Parliament was adjourned in 1878 with the pretext of the Russian War and Abdulhamid II reigned as an absolute monarch for over 30 years until 1908, when Parliament resumed its activities in the Second Constitutional Era, upon pressure of the progressive forces in the Empire. However, a reactionary uprising that began on April 13, 1909 (March 31, 1325 AH in Rumi calendar) caused the democratic process to be interrupted once again. Progressive forces of the "Hareket Ordusu" (Turkish for "Army of Action") that came from the Rumelia, under the command of Mahmud Șevked Pasha, suppressed the countercoup on July 23, 1909. Abdulhamid II was deposed by the Committee of Union and Progress, the foremost constitutionalist party, and sent to exile in Salonica, then part of the Ottoman Empire.
...
Wikipedia