Towards the middle of the nineteenth century, various European Masonic obediences set up lodges throughout the Ottoman empire, many in Istanbul, while another important centre was Smyrna. Freemasons were also active in Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, Cyprus and Macedonia. Lodges were established in the main political, economic and cultural centres of the Empire. There was a strong parallelism between the Ottoman Masonic geography and that of European colonial expansion. It is easy to delineate the social and ethnic structure of lodges, but we know less about what was going on behind the walls of Masonic temples. For sure, Ottoman Freemasons, like their brethren in other parts of the world, when not busy with ‘table works’ or ceremonies, dedicated themselves to philanthropic activities. A considerable part of the annual income of the lodges was used to finance various charitable works (assistance to orphans, to brethren in distress …) and to fund educational institutions. The lodges were also places for the discussion and exchange of ideas about current themes: socialism, feminism, venereal diseases, progress of science, etc. Some mingled with politics, displaying a highly nationalistic discourse. The politicization of Ottoman/Turkish freemasonry climaxed during the years of the Young Turk revolution (1908–1914), when an autochthonous obedience was created. One of the goals of the new organization, coldly received by most European freemasonries, was to rid the Ottoman Empire of foreign penetration. After the proclamation of the Turkish Republic in 1923, this national freemasonry continued to flourish, except for 13 years between 1935 and 1948 when Masonic activity was banned.
P. Dumont, Bolchevisme et Orient. Le parti communiste turc de Mustafa Suphi, 1918-1921.
L'histoire des origines du parti communiste turc se confond dans une large mesure avec le récit de la vie de Mustafa Suphi, son premier dirigeant. Interné en Russie pendant la Première Guerre mondiale, en tant que sujet ottoman, Mustafa Suphi entra en contact avec les Bolcheviks. Après la révolution d'Octobre, on le retrouve à Moscou, rédacteur en chef du Yeni Dünya et à la tête de la section turque du Bureau central des peuples d'Orient, dépendant du commissariat aux Nationalités dirigé par Staline. En mars 1919, il représente la Turquie au Ier Congrès de la IIIe Internationale. Au cours des années 1919 et 1920, il sillonne la Crimée et le Turkestan, dans le but d'établir le contrôle de Moscou sur les sections musulmanes du parti. Arrivé à Bakou le 27 mai 1920, il s'empare de la formation créée ici par les Unionistes et la réorganise en lui adjoignant une section para-militaire. A la fin de l'année 1920, il se rendra en Turquie. Son projet est d'aller à Ankara et de négocier avec Mustafa Kemal l'installation de son parti en Anatolie. Mais les nationalistes des provinces orientales, Karabekir notamment, accueilleront fort mal cette initiative et provoqueront sur sa route des « manifestations populaires » anticommunistes qui aboutiront, fin janvier, à son assassinat (en même temps qu'à celui de quatorze de ses compagnons), au large de Trabzon, dans des circonstances mal éclaircies.
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