Special Organization (Ottoman Empire)

The Special Organization (Ottoman Turkish: تشکیلات مخصوصه‎, Teşkilât-ı Mahsusa) was an Ottoman imperial government special forces unit under the War Department and was allegedly used to suppress Arab separatism and Western imperialism under Ottoman Empire. Many members of this organization also played leading roles in the Armenian Genocide. The main aim of the Special Organization was to re-open the Ottoman parliament. The members of the organization also participated in the resistance against Italians in Libya. It was the progenitor of the National Security Service (Turkish: Milli Emniyet Hizmeti) of the Republic of Turkey, which was itself the predecessor of the modern National Intelligence Organization (Turkish: Milli İstihbarat Teşkilatı, MİT).

The exact date of establishment is unclear or disputed. According to some researchers, the organization might have been established by Enver Pasha, who placed Süleyman Askeri in charge of the organization on 17 November 1913. It was founded on the recommendation of the British ambassador Stratford Canning and the first head of the organization was a foreigner, Civinis Efendi, who had been in the service of Catherine II of Russia.

Enver Pasha assumed the primary role in the direction of the Special Organization and its center of administration moved to Erzurum shortly before massacres. Many members of this organization who had played particular roles in the Armenian Genocide also participated in the Turkish national movement. The Special Organization assisted by government and army officials, deported all Greek men of military age to labor brigades beginning in summer 1914 and lasting through 1916.

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