Sultan Abdülhamid II’s Reign  and  the Legacy  of the Ottoman Surveillance State

By Varouj Pogharian, Bogota, 12 April 2025

Sultan  Abdülhamid II’s  reign  (1876–1909) marked  the  crystallization  of  the  Ottoman surveillance state. His  methods of control, which  included the widespread use  of informants, ethnic scapegoating, and  repression, have  left a lasting imprint on Turkish political culture. For over a  century, this pervasive espionage has  fostered a  climate of self-censorship and suspicion, where no one can be sure who is watching or listening.

At  the  core of  this  system was   the Yıldız   İstihbarat  Teşkilatı (Yıldız  Palace Espionage Bureau), a parallel intelligence apparatus loyal  solely  to Abdülhamid. It maintained dossiers on political activists, diplomats, foreign missionaries, Ottoman officials,  and  even  members of the sultan’s extended family. This  fragmented and  overlapping surveillance network served a strategic   purpose:  by   preventing  any    single   agency   from   monopolizing  intelligence, Abdülhamid reduced the  risk  of  a  coup  during a  period  of  imperial  decline and   rising nationalist unrest.

Abdülhamid’s spies  relied on  a  vast network of informants, known as  journaliers, from the French word for day  laborers, to reflect their daily  reporting duties. Their task was  to detect dissent, foreign influence, or nascent nationalism. The  informants were drawn from the civil service, clergy, teachers, barbers, coffeehouse owners, and  students. Teachers and  the clergy were among the  first to be  co-opted.  Church sermons were transcribed  and   analyzed for subversive themes, and   Armenian and   Greek schools   were scrutinized  for nationalist  or liberal teachings. Those   who  refused to cooperate faced  arrest on  vague charges such   as ‘inciting communal unrest’, ‘disrespecting the sultan’, or simply ‘disloyalty’.

Ethnic Armenians and  Greeks employed in the civil service, post offices, or the railway were under constant surveillance. Prominent journalists, physicians, lawyers, and  school  directors from non-Muslim communities were routinely targeted.  Their homes were searched, letters intercepted, and  movements tracked. Many  were imprisoned without trial, and  some  died  in custody under  suspicious circumstances.  When   trials did  occur, they  were often held   in secret, with predetermined verdicts.

To   suppress   Armenian   aspirations   and    justify   crackdowns,   Abdülhamid   employed provocateurs, false  flag  operations, and  divide-and-rule tactics. He  organized Kurdish tribal militias into the irregular Hamidiye cavalry regiments, which  raided Armenian villages with impunity. The  militias exacerbated ethnic strife, destabilizing Armenian communities and hindering  their  ability to organize as  a  united  force. Inter-communal  tensions  deflected blame for the empire’s instability.

Abdülhamid extended his  intelligence operations abroad, with Ottoman embassies doubling as  spy  hubs to monitor Armenian and  Greek dissidents—particularly the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun) and  the Greek Ethniki Etaireia, advocates of the Megali Idea.  Bribes  and   threats  were used   to silence diasporan  newspaper  editors  and publishers.

Continuity Under the CUP  and  the Republic

After Abdülhamid’s deposition in 1909,  the Committee of Union and  Progress (CUP),  despite initial  promises of  reform,  adopted  and   intensified  his   authoritarian  methods.  Wartime paranoia led  the CUP   to establish  the  Teşkilât-ı Mahsusa  (Special Organization), which infiltrated Armenian groups and  implemented ethnic engineering policies, including death marches, assassinations, and  staged provocations.  The  organization played a  direct role in the Armenian Genocide (1915–1917).

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk  abolished the sultanate and  caliphate, but his  regime retained the surveillance apparatus under the guise  of modernization. The  early Republic maintained a powerful Interior Ministry and   gendarmerie,  monitoring not only  Kurds, Armenians, and Greeks but  also   leftists,  conservative Muslims, the  press,  and   academics.  The   İstiklal Mahkemeleri (Independence Tribunals) of the 1920s  and  1930s  prosecuted dissent, while  the Citizen, Speak  Turkish!  campaign  reinforced the  assimilationist  policies. Armenian  and Greek minorities remained under suspicion, enduring ‘soft surveillance’, especially after the Wealth Tax (Varlık Vergisi, 1942) and  the Istanbul Pogrom (1955).

Cold War Escalation and  the Deep State

From the  1950s   onward,  as   Turkey  became  a  NATO   frontline state,  surveillance and repression   intensified.   The     Milli     İstihbarat    Teşkilatı   (MIT,    National   Intelligence Organization)  received  CIA  training,  reinforcing a  security-state  mindset that  targeted leftists,  Kurdish  movements, labor unions, and   religious groups. Military  coups   in  1960, 1971,  and  1980  were followed  by purges and  expanded surveillance of journalists, students, unionists, and  Kurdish activists. The  Deep  State  (derin devlet)—a shadowy alliance of MIT, the  judiciary, and   organized  crime—operated  outside  democratic  checks,  a  legacy   that persists today.

Erdogan’s Surveillance State

Under Recep  Tayyip Erdoğan, the post-2016 coup crackdown saw  thousands of civil servants, judges, teachers, and  military officers purged or imprisoned. The  state employs informants in universities,  mosques, and   workplaces, while   digital  journaliers monitor social  media for anti-state activity—including tweets, Facebook posts, and  even  ‘likes’. Opposition journalists, academics,   and    human   rights   defenders  face    routine  surveillance,  harassment,   or prosecution.

Conclusion

Turkey’s authoritarian reflexes, its paranoia and  obsession with internal enemies, originated with  Abdülhamid II.  The   methods  evolved   under the  CUP   and   the  Kemalist Republic, becoming entrenched in modern Turkey’s political structures. The  culture of surveillance has left a deep  psychological imprint: people  remain cautious in public, in taxis, online, and  even in classrooms. Whistle blowing  is rare, and  conspiracy theories thrive in the absence of open debate.

From  Abdülhamid to  Erdogan,  the  tools  of  control  have   adapted, but  their  purpose— suppressing dissent and  enforcing conformity—has remained remarkably consistent for over a century.

*****

Varouj Pogharian was born and raised in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. His grandparents were from Van, Arapkir and Urfa. His family moved to Canada when he was 18. He retired from the Canadian federal government following a career that included assignments in South America. He is currently working on a historical novel, which is set in Asia Minor during the tumultuous period that spanned the reign of Sultan Abdulhamid II and the rise of the Young Turks. His narrative is poised to explore the complexities of this historical backdrop.