Establishment of the Police Organization in the Ottoman Empire: The Case of Urfa (1845-1918)
Ahmet AslanAfter the abolition of the Janissary Corps, a police order consisting of 17 articles was accepted on March 20, 1845 to ensure public order and security in the capital and the provinces, and a police agency affiliated with the Tophane-i Amire Consultancy was established on April 10, 1845. In addition, a Zaptieh organization was established on February 15, 1846, independent of Bâb-ı Seraskerî. Until 1879, the period of “unity of Zaptieh” which was independent of the police and gendarmerie army, but controlled from the same center, occurred. During the reign of Abdulhamit II considerable improvements were made in both the number and education of the police, and the Police Ordinance was published in 1907. During the Second Constitutional period, the police organization was restructured, and a new Police Ordinance was published in 1913. In Urfa, which was originally connected to Aleppo, the police was part of the Aleppo police force. After Urfa became an independent sanjak on April 13, 1910, the Urfa Police Service was connected directly to the capital.
Osmanlı Devleti’nde Polis Teşkilatının Kurulması: Urfa Örneği (1845-1918)
Ahmet AslanYeniçeri Ocağı’nın kaldırılmasından sonra başkent ile eyaletlerde asayiş ve güvenliği sağlamak için 20 Mart 1845 tarihinde, 17 maddeden oluşan bir Polis Nizamnâmesi kabul edilmiş; 10 Nisan 1845 tarihinde ise Tophane-i Amire Müşiriyeti’ne bağlı polis teşkilatı kurulmuştur. Ayrıca 15 Şubat 1846 tarihinde Bâb-ı Seraskerî’den bağımsız bir zaptiye teşkilatı kurulmuştur. 1879 yılına kadar polis ve jandarmanın ordudan bağımsız, fakat aynı merkezden kumanda edildiği “Tevhid-i Zabıta” dönemi yaşanmıştır. II. Abdülhamit döneminde polisin gerek eğitim gerekse sayısında büyük gelişmeler sağlanmış, 1907 yılında Polis Nizamnâmesi hazırlanmıştır. II. Meşrutiyet döneminde polis teşkilatı yeniden yapılandırılmış ve 1913 yılında yeni bir Polis Nizamnâmesi yayımlanmıştır. Halep’e bağlı olan Urfa’da polis, Halep Polis Teşkilatı içinde yer almıştır. 13 Nisan 1910 tarihinde Urfa’nın müstakil sancak olmasından sonra Urfa Polis Teşkilatı, doğrudan başkente bağlanmıştır.
After the abolition of the Janissary Corp, the police organization affiliated with Tophane-i Amire Consultancy was established to ensure public order and security in the capital and the provinces, and a Zaptiye organization independent of General Staff (Bâb-ı Seraskerî) was established. Until 1879, the police and gendarmerie were independent of the army, but commanded from the same center. In Urfa, after the Tanzimat, the timar was abolished, and the Zaptiye organizations had been established since 1867. During this period, tribes were also assigned the task of providing security.
During the reign of Abdulhamit II, considerable improvements were made in both the number and education of the police. While previously literacy was not a criterion for being a police officer, in this period, police were also trained in judicial and administrative issues in addition to reading and writing. In this period, significant advances were made in the development of the police in Istanbul, and the development of the police in the provinces accelerated. These developments are clearly observed in the Aleppo Province. In this period, the first police officers appointed to Urfa in 1889, which was a sanjak of Aleppo Province, were commissioner Kadri Efendi and police Yunus Efendi. In 1892, outside of Urfa, police were appointed for the first time in the Birecik town. The number of police in the Urfa banner increased in the following years.
During the Second Constitutional period, the police organization was restructured, new arrangements were made, and the uniforms were changed by dismissal, recruitment, and assignment. After the 31 March Incident, the Supervision of Zaptieh was eliminated. With the law adopted on August 4, 1909, General Directorate of security and a police directorate affiliated to the Province of Istanbul were established. By the law published on June 4, 1911, a branch was established for the safety and security of the country, Public Directorate of Security under the Ministry of Interior, and a separate directorate was established under the name of the Istanbul Police Directorate, supervised by the Minister of İnterior.
Urfa, connected to the Province of Aleppo, became the independent sanjak of Urfa on April 13, 1910.The Urfa Police Service was also separated from the Aleppo Province and connected directly to the General Directorate of Security. In 1910, there was a deputy commissioner and ten police officers in Urfa.
II. During the constitutional period, the number of police in the Urfa police force increased. II. During the reign of Abdulhamit II, the police consisted of Muslims exclusively, whereas in the constitutional period, non-Muslim police officers were also appointed. In addition, police officers graduated from schools such as Ottoman junior high school (Rüşdiye) and high school (İdadi). Moreover, police officers who received medical and madrasa education were accepted. Some police officers switched from sergeants, master sergeants, and guards to policemen.
New regulations regarding the police force were enacted during the Union and Progress period. A new police order prepared in 1913 was more in line with the principles of the new period and met the needs of the time. The Committee of Union and Progress developed parallel to the period in the Urfa Police Service. In 1913, there was an increase in the number of Urfa police crew, but this was not sufficient. During this period, most of the police officers in Urfa were from Urfa, and the minority was from other cities. Policemen living in Urfa and its vicinity graduated from the Beirut Police School and other police officers came from cities such as from Edirne and Thessaloniki. They were trained in police schools close to their hometowns. The vast majority of police officers spoke at least one foreign language (e.g., Arabic, Armenian, Kurdish, and French). Apart from the Muslims, non-Muslim policemen also served. Some of the police officers were appointed during the reign of Abdulhamit II and continued his duties after the Second Constitutional Era.
The General Directorate of Security issued a circular on May 4, 1914 and requested that police officers gather at the headquarters. Due to the insufficient number of police in Urfa, police and gendarmerie cooperated in some police stations, while only gendarmes took part in some police stations. Although the number of police in Urfa was insufficient, the police played an effective role in ensuring security with their devoted efforts.
After Operation Sarıkamış failed, the Russians captured Van, Muş, and Bitlis, and then occupied the territory up to the west of Trabzon on the coast of Erzurum and Erzincan. People living in these occupied areas migrated to other places. Some of the immigrants who came to Urfa were former police officers in Van and Bitlis. These police officers were temporarily employed in Urfa during their stay.
