The Turkish constitution exists today only because of Armenians. In 1856, the Ottoman Reform Edict (Tanzimat) gave non-Muslims some equal rights in order to counter the nationalist movements that followed the French Revolution and to save the empire from collapse. The Reform Edict’s emphasis on equality among the Ottoman millets created tension within the Armenian community. Before the reform, the Armenian Patriarch served as both the spiritual and secular leader of the Armenians, holding extensive authority over 50 regions and the power to dismiss bishops. Armenian reformers sought to limit the Patriarch’s power and reduce the influence of the nobility by creating a new national regulation. Their draft was accepted by the Armenian Council in May 1860 and later approved by the Ottoman government with minor changes in March 1863. This became the Armenian National Constitution, a 150-article code that defined the Patriarch’s role and established the Armenian National Assembly. As a result, the Patriarch had to share authority with the Assembly, which he and his supporters viewed as a weakening of the community’s traditional leadership structure. It is the first constitutional document in Ottoman and Turkish history. (Հայ ազգային սահմանադրութիւն / Nizâmnâme-i Millet-i Ermeniyân / The Armenian National Constitution) More about the Reform Edict of 1856 (Tanzimat Reform Edict): 1⃣ The Reform Edict guaranteed freedom of religion, protected people from forced conversion, and gave religious communities the right to maintain their own schools, hospitals, cemeteries, and places of worship. 2⃣ It also made religious leaders accountable through state-approved oaths and fixed salaries, while giving the imperial government final approval over new religious buildings, especially in mixed-population areas. Finally, it committed the state to building roads and canals, funded by private contributions and special provincial taxes, to improve transport and economic development. 3⃣ It opened civil and military schools to all Ottoman subjects regardless of religion or community. It also allowed each religious community to create its own public schools for science, art, and industry. However, these community schools were not fully independent: their teaching methods and the appointment of professors had to be supervised by a Mixed Council of Public Instruction, effectively an education ministry. In short, the decree expanded equal access to education while placing non-state schools under central educational oversight. 4⃣ It reformed the Ottoman legal system by creating mixed tribunals for disputes between Muslims and non-Muslims, or among non-Muslims of different sects. These courts held public hearings, allowed both parties to confront each other, and accepted sworn witness testimony. Civil cases were heard publicly before Mixed Provincial Councils, which included the governor and judge. 5⃣ It also required new penal, correctional, commercial, and procedural laws, which would be translated and published in all languages of the empire so that the law would be clear and accessible. 6⃣ Finally, it ordered the reform of prisons and correctional institutions to balance justice with humane treatment, and it abolished corporal punishment. 7⃣ It required the police to protect the safety of every person and their property, and its regulations could not override those guarantees. A commission was created to revise the police system, after which police officers would be held personally responsible for their conduct. The police force was to be organized separately in the capital, provincial towns, and rural districts, so that law enforcement could operate effectively at every level of the empire. In addition: - Non-Muslims were allowed to hold government and civil-service positions. - Non-Muslim communities could choose to handle inheritance disputes through their Patriarchates. - Laws on murder and commerce were to be published in the languages of minority communities. - A higher court was established, with two representatives from every religious community. - Patriarchates received broader authority to administer justice within their communities. - Foreigners were granted the right to own property in the Ottoman Empire.

ԱԶԳ. ԵՐԿՍԵՌ ՎԱՐԺԱՐԱՆ, ՕՐՏՈՒԻ National Co-educational School of Ordu Another stolen Armenian property, another Ataturk sculpture. This time with the quote: 'Science is the most reliable guide in life.' Ironic, considering the murder of hundreds of thousands of Christians was carried out by those trying to appear wise. Science was apparently not the most reliable guide in the lives of the Armenian children of Ordu, because they were uprooted from their schools and land, massacred, and deported, just like the 5,000 other Armenians in Ordu. If you visit that school's webpage today, it begins with: 'Institutes of Maturation, the first of which opened in 1945, are educational institutions that preserve our cultural values in their authentic form and pass them on to future generations.' Shameless liars.