Vatan ve Hürriyet

Vatan ve Hürriyet ("Motherland and Liberty" in Turkish) was a small, secret revolutionary society of reformist officers opposed to the autocratic regime of Ottoman sultan Abdul Hamid II in the early 20th century. It was started by Mustafa Cantekin while in exile in Syria. The future founder of the Republic of Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, joined the group in 1905 as a young lieutenant in the Ottoman army in Damascus.^[1]

Intern officers for staff in the Ottoman Army. Left to right: Halil, Mustafa Kemal, and Lütfi Müfit, Beirut, 1906.

References

1. Bay, Austin. Ataturk: Lessons in Leadership from the Greatest General of the Ottoman Empire. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011. Print.