İyd-i Milli is a national holiday that started to be celebrated in the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

on 23 July, the date of the declaration of the

Second Constitutional Era The Second Constitutional Era ( ota, ایكنجی مشروطیت دورى; tr, İkinci Meşrutiyet Devri) was the period of restored parliamentary rule in the Ottoman Empire between the 1908 Young Turk Revolution and the 1920 dissolution of the G ...

, since 1909. The celebration of İyd-i Milli, the only national holiday in the Ottoman Empire, continued after the establishment of Turkey in 1923, and after it was celebrated for the last time in 1934, it was abolished with the law adopted on May 27, 1935.

History

The issue of establishing a national holiday in the country first came to the fore upon the application of Mehmed Ziya Bey, an officer of the

Ministry of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

, when the relevant motion was read by

Member of parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

İzmir İzmir ( , ; ), also spelled Izmir, is a metropolitan city in the western extremity of Anatolia, capital of the province of the same name. It is the third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara and the second largest urban agglo ...

Ahmed Müfid Bey at the session of the Parliament on January 21, 1909. While this proposal was being discussed at the parliamentary session on January 26, 1909, Istanbul deputy Hüseyin Cahit Bey suggested that the 23rd of July, when the Second Constitutional Monarchy was declared, be used as a national holiday instead of the establishment of the state. As a result of the voting in the assembly, it was accepted to send the issue to the Layiha Committee.Yamak, Sanem; sf. 4 In the session of the Assembly dated 1 June 1909, it was decided to use the 23rd of July as a holiday after the mandate from the Layiha Council was read and put to the vote. This decision was then presented to the Grand Vizier

Hüseyin Hilmi Pasha Hüseyin Hilmi Pasha ( ota, حسین حلمی پاشا tr, Hüseyin Hilmi Paşa, also spelled Hussein Hilmi Pasha) (1 April 1855 – 1922) was an Ottoman statesman and imperial administrator. He was twice the Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empir ...

, and with the decision of the Council of Ministers dated 30 June 1909, the memorandum for the approval of the issue of holding official celebrations on 23 July was sent to the Presidency of the Parliament. The bill, which was read in the first session of the Parliament of Parliament held on July 5, 1909, was accepted and enacted.Yamak, Sanem; sf. 5 The decree in this direction was published in the newspaper ''Takvim-i Vekayi'' dated 6 July 1909.

References

* {{Public holidays in Turkey Ottoman culture Public holidays in Turkey July observances