March 3, 1924

Abolition of the Caliphate

Turkey abolishes the Ottoman caliphate and deposes Abdülmecid II

Told that night he had been deposed, Abdülmecid said he did not believe Parliament had passed it and refused to leave the room. The next morning he was taken from Dolmabahçe Palace and put on a train to Switzerland.

3 March 1924: Law No. 431

The Grand National Assembly adopted Law No. 431 on 3 March 1924, deposing Caliph Abdülmecid II and abolishing the office of the caliphate on the ground that its authority was already inherent in the republic and its government. The Urfa deputy Şeyh Saffet Efendi and 53 colleagues had submitted the proposal.

The law reached past one officeholder. It permanently barred the deposed caliph and specified members of the former Ottoman dynasty from residing in Turkey, revoked their Turkish citizenship and required them to leave within ten days of publication.

One of three laws that day

The abolition came as part of a package. Parliament also reorganized state religious administration and unified education, eliminating autonomous institutions associated with the former Islamic state structure.

Sultanate and caliphate had not ended together. The sultanate was abolished in 1922, and the Assembly then elected Abdülmecid caliph — an office without sovereign political power.

Dolmabahçe to Çatalca, before dawn

Officials led by Haydar Bey, the governor of Istanbul, brought the decision to Abdülmecid that night. He initially said he did not believe Parliament had passed it and refused even to leave the room.

At about 6 a.m. on 4 March he left Dolmabahçe Palace under police supervision and boarded the Simplon Express at Çatalca for Switzerland, carrying passports bearing Swiss visas and £2,000 for his immediate family's journey.

Sources

Researched 23 Aug 2026 6 sources 2 audit passes

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What the sources leave uncertain

March 3 is the date Parliament adopted the law and deposed the caliph. The statute appeared in the Official Gazette on March 6, so databases may distinguish its adoption from its formal publication or entry into force.