{{Short description|National legislature}}
{{Infobox legislature
| name               = General Assembly
| native_name        =  مجلس عمومی
| native_name_lang   = Ottoman Turkish
| coa_pic            = Osmanli-nisani.svg
| coa_res            = 200px
| house_type         = [[Bicameralism|Bicameral]]
| body               =
| houses             = [[Senate of the Ottoman Empire|Senate]]<br/>[[Chamber of Deputies (Ottoman Empire)|Chamber of Deputies]]
| term_limits        =
| foundation         = 23 December 1876<ref name=tarihiolaylar/><ref name=sabah/><br/>23 July 1908<ref name=tarihiolaylar/><ref name=sabah/>
| disbanded          = 14 February 1878<ref name=tarihiolaylar/><ref name=sabah/><br/>11 April 1920<ref name=tarihiolaylar/><ref name=sabah/>
| preceded_by        = [[Imperial Council (Ottoman Empire)|Divan-ı Hümayun]]
| succeeded_by       = *[[Grand National Assembly of Turkey|Grand National Assembly]]
*[[Senate of the Republic (Turkey)|Senate of the Republic]] (1961–1980)
| leader1_type       =
| leader1            =
| seats              =
| house1             =
| house2             =
| structure1         = Palacio de Dolmabahçe, Estambul, Turquía, 2024-09-28, DD 113.jpg
| structure1_res     = 220px
| structure2         =
| structure2_res     =
| political_groups1  =
| political_groups2  =
| committees1        =
| committees2        =
| joint_committees   =
| voting_system1     =
| voting_system2     =
| last_election1     =
| last_election2     =
| 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)
| footnotes          =
|background_color=#e30a17}}
[[File:Delegation to Abdul Hamid II.jpg|thumb|250px|right|Delegation of the Ottoman Parliament to Abdul Hamid II.]]

The '''General Assembly'''<ref>[http://www.anayasa.gen.tr/1876constitution.htm Article. 42 of the Constitution]</ref> ({{Langx|ota|مجلس عمومی|translit=Meclis-i Umûmî}}; French romanization: "Medjliss Oumoumi"<!--https://fr.wikisource.org/wiki/Rescrit_de_la_Constitution_ottomane where it is stated as "M e d j l i s s O u m o u m i" // French has affinity for this topic, see [[:en:Languages of the Ottoman Empire]]--> or ''Genel Parlamento''; {{langx|fr|'''Assemblée Générale'''}}<!--From: https://fr.wikisource.org/wiki/Constitution_ottomane-->) was the first attempt at [[representative democracy]] by the [[Imperial Government (Ottoman Empire)|imperial government]] of the [[Ottoman Empire]]. Also known as the '''Ottoman Parliament''' ({{langx|fr|Parlement Ottoman}}<ref>''[[Legislation ottomane]]'' Volume 5: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/67/L%C3%A9gislation_ottomane_ou_Recueil_des_Aristarchi-Bey_Gr%C3%A9goire_Tome5.pdf p. 295 (PDF p. 299/370)</ref>), it was located in [[Ottoman Constantinople|Constantinople]] ([[Istanbul]]) and was composed of [[bicameralism|two houses]]: an upper house ([[Senate of the Ottoman Empire|Senate]], ''Meclis-i Âyân''), and a lower house ([[Chamber of Deputies (Ottoman Empire)|Chamber of Deputies]], ''Meclis-i Mebusân'').<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=PA328|date=16 February 2012|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-975988-0|page=328}}</ref> 

The General Assembly was [[First Constitutional Era (Ottoman Empire)|first constituted on 23 December 1876]] and initially lasted until 14 February 1878, when it was dissolved by [[Sultan]] [[Abdul Hamid II]].<ref name=tarihiolaylar>{{cite web|url=http://www.tarihiolaylar.com/tarihi-olaylar/meclis-i-mebusan-mebuslar-meclisi-991|title=Meclis-i Mebusan (Mebuslar Meclisi)|publisher=Tarihi Olaylar|access-date=2018-07-12|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><ref name=sabah>{{cite web|url=https://www.sabah.com.tr/egitim/2017/01/19/meclis-i-mebusan-nedir-ne-zaman-kurulmustur|title=Meclis-i Mebusan nedir? Ne zaman kurulmuştur?|publisher=Sabah|date=19 January 2017}}</ref>

As a result of the [[Young Turk Revolution]] which brought substantial reforms and larger participation by [[List of parties in the Ottoman Empire|political parties]], the General Assembly was revived 30 years later, on 23 July 1908, with the [[Second Constitutional Era]].<ref name=tarihiolaylar/><ref name=sabah/> The Second Constitutional Era ended on 11 April 1920, when the General Assembly was dissolved by the [[Allies of World War I|Allies]] during the [[occupation of Constantinople]] in the aftermath of [[World War I]].<ref name=tarihiolaylar/><ref name=sabah/>

Many members of the dissolved Ottoman Parliament in Constantinople later became members of the [[Grand National Assembly of Turkey]] in [[Ankara]]<!--Use Ankara instead of Angora since this is the present tense--> (known in English as Angora in the Ottoman and pre-1930 Republic eras), which was established on 23 April 1920, during the [[Turkish War of Independence]].<ref name=tarihiolaylar/><ref name=sabah/>

<gallery>
File:Postcard-from-1908-celebrating-the-new-parliament.png|A postcard depicting the opening of the new Parliament in 1908.
File:Postcard parliament.jpg|A postcard depicting a meeting of the Parliament in 1914.
File:SPRY(1895) p733 - THE OTTOMAN PARLIAMENT, 1877.jpg|The Ottoman Parliament in 1877.
File:Ottoman Parliament Dec1908.jpg|The Ottoman Parliament in 1908.
</gallery>

==See also==
* [[Grand National Assembly of Turkey]]

==References==
<references/>

{{Organization of the Ottoman Empire|state=collapsed}}
[[Category:Government of the Ottoman Empire]]
[[Category:Government agencies established in 1876]]
[[Category:Defunct bicameral legislatures|Ottoman Empire]]
[[Category:1876 establishments in the Ottoman Empire]]
[[Category:1878 disestablishments in the Ottoman Empire]]
[[Category:1920 disestablishments in the Ottoman Empire]]