The group of Felah-ı Vatan

In this thesis study, we refer to the Group called Felah-ı Vatan which wasestablished in the Last Ottoman Parliament(Son Osmanlı Mebusan Meclisi). The aim ofour thesis study is to make clear how the Group of Felah-ı Vatan was established, itsagreement, its rules and regulations, its managing committee, the members who took placein this alliance, the actions of the group and the effects of these actions on the politics ofthat period.Mustafa Kemal started the movements for rescuing the country from the day hestepped Samsun and he aimed to awake people for national consciousness and organisethem with the circulars and congresses. While he was working for rescuing the occupiednation territory, he also aimed to trigger the Ottoman Empire, which was indifferent to theevents, for taking decisions that would influence the fate of the nation. For this reason, bymeans of Mustafa Kemal, the Last Ottoman Parliament was gathered and the membersapproved the National Pact(Misak-ı Milli).Mustafa Kemal wanted to establish the Group of Association for Defence ofNational Rights(Müdafaa-i Hukuk Cemiyeti) which would work for rescuing the countryand act according to national benefits but instead of that group, the Group of Felah-ı Vatanwas establihed within the Last Ottoman Parliament.Instead of being the voice of Mustafa Kemal and national movement in ?stanbul,Felah-ı Vatan was an alliance composed of members who elevated their own personalprofits, desired their own elevation and loved to look nice to the Sultan and the foreigners.They cannot take the historical duty on them in the Parliament which was under theshadow of the Sultan and the Central Powers.The members of this group who had the uniting role for executing the NationalPact in the Parliament witnessed the justification of Mustafa Kemal who had warned themfor the occupation of ?stanbul. With the dissolution of the Last Ottoman Parliament and theoccupation of ?stanbul, the Group of Felah-ı Vatan was dissolved and some members werearrested and exiled to Malta, other members went to Ankara and joined the independencemovement in Anatolia.Key Words: The Last Ottoman Parliament, The National Pact, The Group ofFelah-ı Vatan.