Constantinople

On April 27, 1909 Sultan Abdul was deposed by the Turkish Parliament. The parliament act to depose him after he supported a counter-revolution to restore his total powers, which had been limited by the Constitution he had agreed to abide.

In Turkey, reactionary forces that supported the old order decided to stage a counter-revolution against the new Constitution. On April 13, 1909, they seized power in Constantinople, the Turkish Capital. However, army troops in Salonika, which had been one of the initial power centers of the Young Turks, stood by the revolution and the Constitution. On April 24, they recaptured Constantinople. The Turkish National Assembly was called into emergency session, and they voted unanimously to depose Abdul Hamid, who was seen as the force behind the counter-revolution. Hamid had ruled Turkey since 1876, and one of the reasons given for his ouster was his support for the Armenian Massacres of 1894-96. Hamid was succeeded by his brother Rashid Effendi, who was declared as sultan as Mohammed V.