Why did Atatürk want to dissolve the Parliament?

He had saved the capital from destruction in the War of Independence,

He had cleared all occupations in Anatolia and fought and won a War of Independence.

He had abolished the Sultanate and established a brand-new state by declaring the Republic.

Atatürk could very well have declared his own kingdom instead of a Republic. No one could have objected.

But he did not. He declared the Republic. In 1924, he prepared a draft Constitution that was far ahead of its time for the nation to govern itself and brought it to the Parliament.

In the draft Constitution he had prepared, Atatürk wanted to assume the authority as President, included in Article 24, to "dissolve the Parliament at his own discretion and call for new elections."

The reason was simple.

A country that had just emerged from war. 85% of the 11 million population had never seen a school. Children were sickly. The male workforce had been decimated in an 8-year war. There were no people to work. There were no factories operating other than 3-5 cave-like workshops. Poverty was rampant. A world of debt remained from the Ottoman Empire to the Public Debt Administration (Düyun-u Umumiye). It was to be paid off in 25 years.

It is easy to say.

The society was ignorant.

Closed to innovations. For 600 years, the Ottoman Empire had been lulled into a culture of submission under one-man rule. People would go wherever they were led. Let alone democracy, people did not know what the Republic or the Constitution was.

They considered the Constitution heresy. There were even members of parliament who did not know what secularism was.

We had to get out of this pit of backwardness as soon as possible and take our place among developed societies. Otherwise, we would sink again.

At this point, new social and economic revolutions were necessary. But debating these revolutions at length in Parliament was a waste of time. It could even lead to fighting. The Parliament could tear itself apart. Therefore, the Revolution laws had to be enacted and implemented as soon as possible. Revolutions could not wait. There were tasks that needed to be done and Revolutions that needed to be implemented immediately.

Because the war did not end with driving the enemy into the sea.

On the other hand, Atatürk was worried about anti-republican individuals infiltrating the Parliament and wanted to take precautions with this authority. If such individuals gathered support in the Parliament, he would dissolve the Parliament and renew the elections.

This was Atatürk. He would not leave things to chance.

On March 9, 1924, the constitutional debates began. The Constitutional Commission brought Article 25 to the General Assembly. According to this article, "The Parliament could decide to renew elections on its own, and the President could also decide to renew elections, provided that he informed the Parliament and the Nation of the justification after taking the opinion of the government."

Fierce debates began in the Parliament. There were objections from young members of parliament. They thought that national sovereignty would be compromised. But Atatürk insisted on this issue.

The young members of parliament gathered, chose Mahmut Esat Bozkurt as their spokesperson, and sent him to Atatürk to speak on this matter. Mahmut Esat Bozkurt expressed his and his friends' opinions to Atatürk's face that this authority should not be granted and said;

-"My Pasha, the Turkish Revolution was built on the blood of the Turkish people, the poor Turkish peasant. At the foundation of the Republic, along with the blood of this people, there are also their rights and sovereignty. This sovereignty belongs solely to the nation. It cannot be given to anyone and cannot be transferred!" He also warned, "If we give the President the authority to dissolve the Parliament, what difference would there be between you and Abdülhamit?"

The room fell silent for a moment. Those present thought that Atatürk would react very harshly to these words. But Atatürk did not react; he paused for a moment, thought, and gave the following answer;

-"You are right, my child! The rights and freedom of the Turkish Nation cannot be taken away. I am withdrawing my proposal," he said.

He was tolerant enough to show such greatness. But Atatürk was right. While the struggle for independence was being fought outside during the Lausanne negotiations, Atatürk was being obstructed in the elections to be held inside, and some anti-republican individuals had managed to get elected as members of parliament and enter the Parliament.

After all, how could social development and enlightenment be achieved with anti-republican individuals? How would he carry out the revolutions? This would be very difficult.

According to Atatürk, the Republic was very important, but what was more important was to keep it alive. That is why Atatürk wanted Article 24.

But he gave up. Because he had always shown respect for opposing views and counter-ideas. On the contrary, he personally rewarded the members of parliament who opposed him. He made Mahmut Esat Bozkurt Minister of Justice and Cemal Hüsnü Taray Minister of National Education. He ensured that Ahmet Süreyya Bey, who made the most effective speech against Article 25 in the Parliament, remained a Member of Parliament for several more terms.

Atatürk had shown respect for opposing views, but time proved Atatürk right. The Progressive Republican Party (Terakkiperver Cumhuriyet Fırkası) founded in 1924, the Free Republican Party (Serbest Fırka) founded in 1930, and the Democrat Party that came to power in 1950 are the most painful examples of this.

If that authority had been given to Atatürk that day, it would not have been given to a one-man regime today.

Because Atatürk wanted that authority to protect the Republic.

It was not to protect themselves like those of today.