Young Turks, the Committee of Union and Progress, and Freemasons

After the Tanzimat period came the first Constitutional Period (I. Mesrutiyet) (1876-1878). On February 14, 1878, Abdulhamid sacked the Constitutional government and ruled the nation directly until the second constitutional government was declared in 1908. Some historians have therefore chosen to portray this era as a dictatorship. The truth is different, however.

Sultan Abdulhamid inherited an Empire at the verge of collapse. With skill and balanced diplomacy, he not only kept the Empire alive, but prevented warfare and bloodshed between 1876 and 1909. He reformed many areas of the Ottoman government, including the institutions of justice, education, and the military. During his reign, the Dar-ul-Funun (The House of Sciences) was established and later became the University of Istanbul. His government built the foundations of the railway system and the infrastructure of telegraphy. The generation that was to establish the Republic of Turkey, including Ataturk, received its education in the modern schools Abdulhamid had built. Claims that his regime was "bloody" are baseless and unfair, considering that not even his fiercest enemies were sentenced to death, but instead were exiled.
The real reason for the hostile propaganda against him was that he was a devout Muslim, ruling his Empire according to Islamic morality.

The opposition facing him during the 40-odd years of his rule was the Young Turks. Theirs was not a united front with a common ideology-some of them actually held religious values. Most Young Turks believed that the way forward for the Ottoman Empire was to adopt Western philosophies and systems. Most were well-meaning and hoped to save the Empire but history was to prove their ideology faulty soon enough. The Young Turks did succeed in bringing down Abdulhamid's government, but their own lasted only ten years, during which time the Empire disintegrated. One fraction within this movement was the Union and Progress Party. They were in charge from 1910 onwards and became the Empire's ruling party in 1913. But simply opposing Abdulhamid was not sufficient to improve the situation in the Empire.
Masonic elements within the Young Turks' movement and the Union party were responsible for their wholesale adoption of Western philosophies, ideologies and systems. An article in the Paris daily Le Temps on August 20, 1908, based on an interview with Mr. Refik and Colonel Niyazi-two Union party members in Thessalonica-reveals the extent of the Masons' influence on the movement:

The journalist conducting the interview asked the extent of the aid received from Masonry between 1905 and 1908. Their answer to this question is interesting. "Masonry, especially Italian Masonry, supported us. Many lodges in Thessalonica were active. In practice, the Italian lodges helped the Committee of Union and Progress and protected us. Because most of us were Masons, we met in the lodges, and this was where we were trying to recruit. Istanbul became suspicious and managed to introduce a few agents into the lodges."


After the declaration of the second Mesrutiyet (Parliamentary Monarchy), a British MP and the founder of the Balkans Committee, Roden Buxton visited Istanbul and recorded that the initiation ceremony of the committee of Union and Progress was an identical copy of the Freemasons':
Candidates who wanted to be admitted to the Committee of Union and Progress were informed that they were about to be told a great secret. After their trustworthiness was established, they were made to swear an oath. Then the initiation stage began. The candidates were blindfolded and taken to another chamber, where the blindfolds were removed. The candidates found themselves in semi-darkness, facing three hooded strangers. Here they were required to put their hand on a sword and swear an oath of absolute secrecy and to kill anyone who committed treachery against the party, even if it were a friend or relative.

Prominent Turkish journalist Ilhami Soysal writes about the relationship between Masonry and the Committee of Union and Progress:
The Macedonia Rizorta lodge and the Veritas [Latin for "Truth"] lodge in Thessalonica where the Turks were a minority to begin with, gradually became the meeting and recruiting center of the Committee of Union and Progress, then eventually came under their control. The leaders of the Committee of Union and Progress-Talat Pasha, Mithat Sukru Bleda, Kazim Pasha, Manyasizade Refik, Kazim Nami Duru, Colonel (later MP for Mus) Naki, Drama Gendarmerie Commander Huseyin Muhittin, Financial Controller Ferit Aseo-belonged to the Macedonian Rizorta lodge. Emmanuel Karasu, Cemal Pasha, Faik Suleyman Pasha, Ismail Canbolat, Hodja Fehmi Efendi, Mustafa Dogan, Mustafa Necip (later shot dead during the raid on the Babiali), were all illuminated at the Veritas lodge. Talat Pasha, who was to become Prime Minister, and Colonel Naki were active in both the Veritas and Macedonian Rizorta lodges.

While these activities in Thessalonica continued, Abdulhamid was anticipating great danger from the Masons and tried to contain the Masonic lodges. He had organized a network of informers to report the activities taking place in the lodges. Grand Master Kemalettin Apak relates the events of that period, from his perspective:
Sultan Abdulhamid II was afraid of the Masons. He systematically persecuted and tried to contain the Freemasons, nor was he wrong in being afraid of Masonry. Honorary Mason Sultan Murad V passed away in 1904, relieving Abdulhamid of one of his nightmares. A few years later a new movement, in which the Rumelia Masons played an important part, brought freedom and light to the nation's firmament. Those who forced Abdulhamid to accept and declare the Second Parliamentary Monarchy in 1908 were all Masons ...

Abdulhamid wasn't persecuting Masonry in Istanbul and leaving us alone here [in Thessalonica]. His agents were at work here [Rumelia] too. Especially in Thessalonica, the undercover officers were watching the lodges and recording the people's comings and goings. But his influence and might weren't the same here as in Istanbul, because Thessalonica, Kosovo and Manastir were under the foreigners' control.78

In short, Masonry played an active role in the last half century of the Ottoman Empire and the conflict between Abdulhamid and the Young Turks. The Masons, siding with the Young Turks, became powerful within the movement. Masonry was a serious influence in politics and, to the detriment of Turkish people, they imposed their European brothers' materialistic philosophies as a lasting influence.







Source:
http://www.globalfreemasonry.com/knight_templars_04.html