Takrir-i Sükûn Law is passed
The Sheikh Said Rebellion had necessitated certain extraordinary measures to be taken. The first act of the new government formed under İsmet Pasha was to have the Parliament sanction the Law on the Maintenance of Order (Takrir-i Sükûn Kanunu) on March 4, 1925.
Takrir-i Sükûn Kanunu is considered the first martial law in the history of the Turkish Republic. While the law led to the establishment of Independence Tribunals (İstiklal Mahkemesi) in Ankara and in the Eastern provinces, many political activities were suspended and publications were censored. The law also instigated the closing of Terakkiperver Cumhuriyet Fırkası (Progressive Republican Party) led by Rauf Bey (Orbay), which was allegedly involved in the Sheikh Said Rebellion. The association of this party with the rebels is still a matter of controversy between historians.
It would; however, be incorrect to evaluate Takrir-i Sükûn Kanunu as a “ despotic law” without taking the special conditions of the time into consideration. Mustafa Kemal Pasha addresses such allegations as follows in his Nutuk (The Great Speech) as follows:
Some proposed and tried to impose the idea that we would use the Law on the Maintenance of Order and the Independence Tribunals as means of despotism. We did not use any extraordinary measures as means to go above the law. On the contrary, we used then to implement order and security in the country and to ensure the sustenance and independence of the state.
