Middle East Information Resource
Political Entities - Millet
Millet is a Turkish term that essentially refers to a method or strategy for governing minority populations. "Millet" is derived from the Arabic "Milla;" it was used in reference to any one of the religious communities within the Ottoman Empire. The Millet System was the organization of the non-Muslim population into religious communities. It established their rights and obligations under their ecclesiastical leaders.
The Millet system was based on a long established Islamic tradition and administrative concept. The Ottomans granted the Christian and Jewish religious communities wide autonomy in matters of personal status, community affairs, legal procedure and education, giving their leadership jurisdiction over their members, as long as no Muslims were involved. These leaders were responsible for the maintenance of order within their communities, and the payment of various taxes that applied to non-Muslims.
Until the nineteenth century there were only three officially recognized Millets: the Greek Orthodox, the Armenian Gregorian, and the Jewish. In response to pressure from Europe, Millet status was given to other denominations and sects. By 1914 there were fourteen recognized religious communities., representing the broadening of the system to include many ethnic and religious groups. The prolifereation of Millets in the mid-nineteenth century, combined with the Capitulations (privileged status, first granted to foreign residents in the sixteenth century to facilitate trade) gave the European powers further economic and cultural influence in the Ottoman Empire.
Ottoman reforms in the 1850`s and 1860`s included legislation which improved the non-Christians` civil status, but it also sought to undermine the system to protect Ottoman sovereignty and integrity. Millet constitutions were introduced in the 1860`s; this was an attempt to dilute the religious content of the foreign communities. However, as the power structure of the Millet communities became more secular, they also tended towards nationalism. The Millet system endured until after the final dissolution of the Empire, when the new Turkish constitution established the principle of national unity and equality.
The rights of minorities became a major issue in the Lausanne Peace Conference in 1923. The Western powers secured an agrement on the part of the new Turkish government to uphold some of the traditional religious, judicial and educational rights of the non-Muslims, under the aegis of the League of Nations. These rights were voluntarily renounced by the Jewish, Armenian and Greek communities in 1925 and 1926, in order to agree with the Turkish government`s change to a secular state.