1. The basis for the Constitution will be respect for the
predominance of the national will. One of the consequences of this principle will be to
require without delay the responsibility of the minister before the Chamber, and,
consequently, to consider the minister as having resigned, when he does not have a
majority of the votes of the Chamber.
2. Provided that the number of senators
does not exceed one-third the number of deputies, the Senate will be named as follows:
one-third by the Sultan and two-thirds by the nation, and the term of senators will be of
limited duration.
3. It will be demanded that all Ottoman
subjects having completed their twentieth year, regardless of whether they possess
property or fortune, shall have the right to vote. Those who have lost their civil rights
will naturally be deprived of this right.
4. It will be demanded that the right freely to constitute
political groups be inserted in a precise fashion in the constitutional charter, in order
that article 1 of the Constitution of 1293 A.H. [Anno Hegira=] be respected.
7. The Turkish tongue will remain the official state language.
Official correspondence and discussion will take place in Turkish.
9. Every citizen will enjoy complete liberty and equality,
regardless of nationality or religion, and be submitted to the same obligations. All
Ottomans, being equal before the law as regards rights and duties relative to the State,
are eligible for government posts, according to their individual capacity and their
education. Non-Muslims will be equally liable to the military law.
10. The free exercise of the religious privileges which have
been accorded to different nationalities will remain intact.
11. The reorganization and distribution of the State forces, on
land as well as on sea, will be undertaken in accordance with the political and
geographical situation of the country, taking into account the integrity of the other
European powers.
14. Provided that the property rights of landholders are not
infringed upon (for such rights must be respected and must remain intact, according to
law), it will be proposed that peasants be permitted to acquire land, and they will be
accorded means to borrow money at a moderate rate.
16. Education will be free. Every Ottoman citizen, within the
limits of the prescriptions of the Constitution, may operate a private school in
accordance with the special laws.
17. All schools will operate under the surveillance of the
state. In order to obtain for Ottoman citizens an education of a homogenous and uniform
character, the officials schools will be open, their instruction will be free, and all
nationalities will be admitted. Instruction in Turkish will be obligatory in public
schools. In official schools, public instruction will be free. Secondary and higher
education will be given in the public and official schools indicated above; it will use
the Turkish tongue. Schools of commerce, agriculture, and industry will be opened with the
goal of developing the resources of the country.
18. Steps shall also be taken for the formation of roads and
railways and canals to increase the facilities of communication and increase the sources
of the wealth of the country. Everything that can impede commerce or agriculture shall be
abolished.
Source.
From: "The Young Turks," trans. A. Sarrou, in Civilization since
Waterloo, Rondo Cameron, ed. (Paris, 1912), pp. 40-42
Scanned by Jerome S. Arkenberg, Cal. State Fullerton.
This text is part of the Internet
Modern History Sourcebook. The Sourcebook is a collection of public domain and
copy-permitted texts for introductory level classes in modern European and World history.
Unless otherwise indicated the specific electronic form of the document is copyright.
Permission is granted for electronic copying, distribution in print form for educational
purposes and personal use. If you do reduplicate the document, indicate the source. No
permission is granted for commercial use of the Sourcebook.
© Paul Halsall June1998
