Normative developments of human rights and freedoms in the last period of Ottoman Empire

Ill ABSTRACT This study, under the view of superior legal norms,examines the developments related to human rights and freedom, focusing on the era between 1808-1918. First, the modern and universal definitions of human rights and the idea of freedom are given, and both philosophical and normative developments of these concepts are demonstrated in their historical contexts. The documents exhibiting the normative developments are chosen from the legal documents that are accepted as sound in the field where the international human rights and freedom are studied. Before the part where the normative regulations in the Ottoman Empire are examined, comes the one exposing the state and legal structure of the Ottoman Empire in this era. While doing this, the idea that the structure of the state directly influences the legal structure is considered as true. Particular attention is given to show the autocratic- theocratic structure of the state and the position of the institutions in this structure, and the Muslim law is examined at length. As the period starting with the "Sened-i İttifak" in 1808 and containing the reformist activities in the political arena is being examined, the conditions causing and, in a way, forcing the state to implement these reforms are mentioned chronologically. Furthermore, the improvements thinking these issues are given particular attention. Then, the documents such as "Sened-i İttifak, Gülhane Hatt-i Hümayunu, İslahat Fermanı" and the one and only constitution of the Ottoman Empire, "Kanun-u Esasi", which all are considered as superior legal norms and consist of sound regulations related to human rights and freedom, are examined in detail and commented on. As a furtherIV effort, all these texts and their legal value are interpreted and information about their practice is given. Finally, it is worth to note that legal issues are considered more important; so though scientific-historical principals are taken into consideration, priority is given to legal aspects of the subject of study.