At the time the Ankara Government was proclaimed, there existed another Turkish government in the
Allied-occupied
Constantinople (now
Istanbul), namely the
Imperial Ottoman Government, often known as the "
Constantinople Government" (as opposed to the nationalist Ankara Government) and another Turkish parliament as the
Chamber of Deputies. On 12 November 1918, Constantinople was
occupied by the Allied forces led by the British. However, the occupying forces did not touch the Parliament and government buildings. On 21 December 1918, the parliament was dissolved by Sultan Vahdettin to hold new elections. As a result of the elections, the last parliament held its first meeting on 12 January 1920. The newly elected Ottoman parliament in Istanbul did not recognize the occupation; they developed a
National Pact (Misak-ı Milli). The British, disturbed by the declaration of the National Pact, decided to completely occupy the city with the Allied military forces and seize the government buildings. Following the military occupation of Istanbul on 16 March 1920, the parliament was officially closed on 11 April 1920, under pressure from the occupying forces, in violation of the constitution. While some deputies were arrested, most fled to Anatolia to join the
resistance. The new parliament opened in Ankara as a joint effort of these fugitive deputies and the resistance structure in Anatolia, opened on 23 April 1920, shortly after the old parliament was forcibly closed. The new parliament in Ankara declared itself to be the continuation of the parliament closed in Istanbul on 11 April stated that it was loyal to the National Pact and began its work by holding the last meeting of the old parliament as its first meeting. The Ankara Government was officially loyal to the Ottoman Sultan and the Caliphate. The Ankara Government never claimed that it was a new or different state. However, it declared that the Istanbul Government could not govern the country and had no validity due to the occupation of Istanbul. For this reason, it did not use the title "nazır" (minister) for its own cabinet members. Instead, it used the title
vekil (acting minister). The Ankara Government was founded to represent
Turkey because the
de jure capital, Constantinople,
was under occupation. The president of the GNA (renamed the
Grand National Assembly of Turkey after 8 February 1921) and later of the Republic of Turkey, was
Mustafa Kemal Pasha. Once the
Armistice of Mudanya was signed, replacing the
Armistice of Mundros (signed by the Ottoman Empire in 1918 at the end of
World War I) and ending the
Turkish War of Independence, the GNA
abolished the imperial Sultanate, which was accused of collaborating with the
Allies during the occupation of Turkey. The Constantinople Government, representing the Ottoman sultanate and the old imperial and monarchical order, initially refused to recognize the
Turkish national movement and the Government of the Grand National Assembly in Ankara, holding that it alone was the legitimate government of the Ottoman Empire. It attempted to militarily defeat the Ankara Government using its
Kuva-yi Inzibatiye, i.e. the "Forces of Order", commonly known as the "Army of the Caliphate" (as opposed to the GNA's forces, the
Kuva-yi Milliye, the "Army of the Nation"), but failed to do so. In 1921, diplomatic teams from both the monarchist Constantinople Government and the republican Ankara Government appeared at the
Conference of London. In a surprising move, however, the Ottoman diplomatic team led by
Ahmet Tevfik Pasha gave in and allowed the Turkish diplomatic team led by
Bekir Sami Kunduh to be the sole representatives of the country at the conference. The
Treaty of Lausanne was signed on 24 July 1923, between the representatives of the Allies and of Ankara, thus officially recognizing the government of Ankara as the legitimate Turkish government. On 29 October, the National Assembly declared the
Republic of Turkey. == Government and politics ==