{{Short description|Lower house of the General Assembly of the Ottoman Empire}}
{{Infobox legislature|name=Chamber of Deputies|meeting_place=[[Dolmabahçe Palace]] (1876-1878)<br/>[[Old Darülfünun building|Darülfünûn building]] (1876-1878, 1908)<br/>[[Çırağan Palace]] (1909)<br/>[[Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University|Cemile Sultan Palace]] (1910-1920)|first_election1=[[First 1877 Ottoman general election|1877]]|coa_res=200px|coa_pic=Osmanli-nisani.svg|succeeded_by=[[Grand National Assembly of Turkey|Grand National Assembly]]|preceded_by=[[Imperial Council (Ottoman Empire)|Divan-ı Hümayun]]|disbanded=14 February 1878<ref name=tarihiolaylar>{{cite web |url=http://www.tarihiolaylar.com/tarihi-olaylar/meclis-i-mebusan-mebuslar-meclisi-991 |title=Meclis-i Mebusan (Mebuslar Meclisi) |work=Tarihi Olaylar |access-date=2021-08-03 |archive-date=2021-02-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210225071412/https://www.tarihiolaylar.com/tarihi-olaylar/meclis-i-mebusan-mebuslar-meclisi-991 |url-status=dead }}</ref><br/>11 April 1920<ref name=tarihiolaylar/>|last_election1=[[1919 Ottoman general election|1919]]|native_name={{nobold|مجلس مبعوثان}}<br/>Meclis-i Mebusan|voting_system1=[[Ottoman electoral law|Electoral college]]|leader1_type=[[List of presidents of the National Assembly of the Ottoman Empire|President]]|foundation=23 December 1876<ref name=tarihiolaylar/><br/>23 July 1908<ref name=tarihiolaylar/>|body=Ottoman Parliament|house_type=Lower house|background_color=#D50000|seats=275}}{{State organisation of the Ottoman Empire}}{{listen
 | filename     = Marche des Députés par Mehmed Zati.ogg
 | title        = '''March of the Deputies'''<br />Turkish: '''Mebusan Marşı'''
 | format       = [[Ogg]]
 | description  = The anthem of the Chamber of Deputies, performed at its reopening in 1909.<br /><br />The lyrics reference the contemporary 1908 [[Young Turk Revolution]] leaders [[Ahmed Niyazi Bey]] and [[Enver Pasha]], as well as democrats of the previous generation, [[Namık Kemal]] and [[Midhat Pasha]].
}}
The '''Chamber of Deputies''' ({{langx|ota|مجلس مبعوثان}} {{lang|ota-Latn|Meclis-i meb'ūs̱ān}};<ref>{{cite book |author=Röder, Tilmann J. |title=Constitutionalism in Islamic Countries |date=2012-01-11 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press USA]] |isbn=9780199759880 |editor=Grote, Rainer |pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=PJBpAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA321 321]-[https://books.google.com/books?id=PJBpAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA372 372] |chapter=The Separation of Powers: Historical and Comparative Perspectives |editor2=Tilmann J. Röder}} - Cited page: [https://books.google.com/books?id=PJBpAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA345]</ref> {{langx|tr|Meclis-i Mebusân}} or {{lang|tr|Mebuslar Meclisi}}) of the [[Ottoman Empire]] was the lower house of the [[General Assembly of the Ottoman Empire|General Assembly]], the Ottoman Parliament.<ref name="WeinerÖzbudun1987">{{cite book |author1=Myron Weiner |author2=Ergun Özbudun |title=Competitive Elections in Developing Countries |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x6RgvJ1ni3wC&pg=PA333 |year=1987 |publisher=Duke University Press |isbn=0-8223-0766-9 |page=333 }}</ref> Unlike the upper house, the [[Senate of the Ottoman Empire|Senate]], the members of the Chamber of Deputies [[Elections in the Ottoman Empire|were elected]] by the general Ottoman populace, although suffrage was limited to men of a certain financial standing, among other restrictions that varied over the Chamber's lifetime.<ref name="GroteRöder2012" />

==First Constitutional Era (1876–1878)==
{{Main|First Constitutional Era}}
In the [[First Constitutional Era (Ottoman Empire)|First Constitutional Era]], which only lasted for two years from 1876 to 1878, the initial selection of Deputies was made by the directly elected Administrative Councils in the provinces, who acted as an electoral college for Deputies and also as local governments. [[1st Chamber of Deputies of the Ottoman Empire|The first Chamber]] met on 19 March 1877.<ref name="WeinerÖzbudun1987" /> Its main power during this period was its right to vote on annual budgets submitted by the [[Council of Ministers (Ottoman Empire)|Council of Ministers]].<ref name="GroteRöder2012">{{cite book|author1=Rainer Grote|author2=Tilmann Röder|title=Constitutionalism in Islamic Countries: Between Upheaval and Continuity|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MO5MAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA329|date=16 February 2012|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-975988-0|pages=328–330}}</ref> All members of the parliament, including those in the Chamber, had a right to free expression and were immune from arrest and criminal prosecution during their term, unless their chamber voted to waive this right for a member.<ref name="GroteRöder2012" />

After the establishment of the whole parliament, [[General Assembly of the Ottoman Empire|General Assembly]] ({{langx|tr|links=no|Meclis-i Umumî}}), in the provinces, the members selected the deputies from within the General Assembly to form the Chamber of Deputies ({{langx|tr|links=no|Meclis-i Mebusan}}) in the capital, [[Constantinople]]. The Chamber of Deputies had 130 members and reflected the distribution of the [[Millet (Ottoman Empire)|millets]] in the empire.<ref name="WeinerÖzbudun1987" /> After the [[Ottoman general election, 1877 (first)|first elections]], a sort of trial to populate the Chamber for the first time, there were 71 [[Islam in the Ottoman Empire|Muslim millet]] representatives, 44 [[Christianity in the Ottoman Empire|Christians millet]] representatives, and 4 [[History of the Jews in the Ottoman Empire|Jewish millet]] representatives.<ref name="Palmer2011">{{cite book|author=Alan Palmer|title=The Decline and Fall of the Ottoman Empire|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wExCJpgNlmMC&pg=PA1859|date=19 May 2011|publisher=Faber & Faber|isbn=978-0-571-27908-1|page=1859}}</ref> After the [[Ottoman general election, 1877 (second)|second elections]], there were 69 Muslim representatives and 46 representatives of other millets (Jews, [[Greeks]], Armenians, etc.).

The actions of the Chamber were subject to a veto by the upper house, the [[Senate of the Ottoman Empire|Senate]] (whose members were selected by the Sultan), thus limiting the Chamber's power during this period.<ref name="Somel2003">{{cite book|author=Selcuk Aksin Somel|title=Historical Dictionary of the Ottoman Empire|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jGZQL41tg_oC&pg=RA1-PA225|date=13 February 2003|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=978-0-8108-6606-5|page=225}}</ref> No true system of checks and balances between the houses of parliament or the Sultan's office existed during this period.<ref name="GroteRöder2012" /> [[2nd Chamber of Deputies of the Ottoman Empire|The second session of the Chamber]] lasted from 13 December 1877 to 14 February 1878, when Sultan [[Abdul Hamid II]] dismissed General Assembly and the [[Ottoman constitution of 1876|1876 constitution]], restoring his [[despotism]].<ref name="WeinerÖzbudun1987" /> The sultan, known to be paranoid of limitations on his personal power,<ref name=Cleveland>{{cite book|title =A History of the Modern Middle East|first1 =William |last1 = Cleveland|first2= Martin|last2= Burton| pages= 123–124|publisher = Westview Press|location = Boulder, CO|isbn = 978-0-8133-4833-9|year=2013}}</ref> had become increasingly alarmed of the open criticisms leveled by the members of the parliament at the military policies and inefficiencies of his reign.<ref name="GroteRöder2012" />

==Second Constitutional Era (1908–1920)==
{{Main|Second Constitutional Era}}

[[File:AhmedRiza.jpg|thumb|200px|[[Ahmet Riza]], first president]]

The [[Second Constitutional Era]] of the Ottoman Empire began shortly after Abdul Hamid II was forced to restore the constitutional monarchy after the 1908 [[Young Turk Revolution]]. The longer lasting period also saw the establishment of [[List of political parties in the Ottoman Empire|many political groups and parties]]. [[Ahmet Rıza]] became the first President of the Chamber in 1908. Following the 31 March Incident in 1909 an amendment to the original 1876 constitution resulted in the Chamber gaining more true political power at the expense of the non-democratically elected Senate and the Sultan.<ref name="Somel2003" /> A [[Elections in the Ottoman Empire|series of elections during this period]] resulted in the gradual ascendance of the [[Committee of Union and Progress]]'s (CUP) domination in politics. The second largest party was the [[Liberty Party (Ottoman Empire)|Liberty Party]] (1908 - 1910) and the [[Freedom and Accord Party]] (1911 - 1920) ({{langx|tr|links=no|Hürriyet ve İtilâf}}) both parties led by [[Mehmed Sabahaddin]].

The second constitutional era came to a ''de facto'' end after the [[1912 Ottoman general election|1912 elections]] (known as the ''Sopalı Seçimler'', "Election of Clubs"), which the CUP was widely understood to have rigged in its favor.<ref name="GroteRöder2012"/> After the [[1913 Ottoman coup d'état]] the following year and the seizure of power by the CUP triumvirate known as the [[Three Pashas]], the Chamber of Deputies, along with the Sultan and the Senate, ceased to exercise any meaningful political power over the government.<ref name="GroteRöder2012" />

The era formally ended after [[World War I]] during the [[Occupation of Constantinople]]. The last meeting on 18 March 1920 produced a letter of protest to the Allies, and a black cloth covered the pulpit of the parliament as reminder of its absent members.On April 11, 1920, the Assembly was dissolved by the Sultan under pressure from the occupying forces. Some deputies were arrested. Many of the deputies who were not arrested went to Anatolia and joined the new [[ Government of the Grand National Assembly | assembly]] in Ankara. The assembly in Ankara declared at its first opening meeting that it was the continuation of the assembly in Istanbul.


== March of the Chamber of Deputies ==
The leaders of the revolution, [[Ahmed Niyazi Bey]] and [[Enver Pasha]], were mentioned in the March of the Deputies ({{langx|tr|links=no|Meclis-i Mebusan Marşı}}), the anthem of the restored Chamber of Deputies (see audio at top right at 01:20); the fourth line was sung "Long live Niyazi, long live Enver!" ({{langx|tr|links=no|"Yaşasın Niyazi, yaşasın Enver!"}}).

== Parliaments sessions ==

=== First Constitutional Era ===
* [[1st Chamber of Deputies of the Ottoman Empire]] (First half of 1877)
* [[2nd Chamber of Deputies of the Ottoman Empire]] (Second half of 1877)

=== Second Constitutional Era ===
* [[3rd Chamber of Deputies of the Ottoman Empire]] (1908–1912)
* [[4th Chamber of Deputies of the Ottoman Empire]] (1912–1914)
* [[5th Chamber of Deputies of the Ottoman Empire]] (1914–1919)
* [[6th Chamber of Deputies of the Ottoman Empire]] (1919–1920)

==See also==
* [[Elections in the Ottoman Empire]]
* [[List of political parties in the Ottoman Empire]]
* [[Senate of the Ottoman Empire]], the upper house
* [[General Assembly of the Ottoman Empire]], the parliament as a whole

== External links ==
* [https://www.tbmm.gov.tr/develop/owa/tutanak_dergisi_pdfler_mmb.meclis_donemleri?v_meclisdonem=0 Minutes of the Chamber of Deputies and Senate]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Organization of the Ottoman Empire |state=expanded}}
{{Abdul Hamid II}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Defunct lower houses]]
[[Category:Government of the Ottoman Empire]]
[[Category:1876 establishments in the Ottoman Empire]]
[[Category:1908 establishments in the Ottoman Empire]]