Caliph·Modern
Ottoman Caliphate Abolished
- Date
- 3 March 1924 CE1342 AH102 years ago
- Place
- Ankara
- People
- Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, Abdulmecid II
On 3 March 1924 CE, the Grand National Assembly in Ankara abolished the Ottoman caliphate. The office had been held by the Ottoman dynasty since 1517. Mustafa Kemal Ataturk led the new Turkish Republic, which was declared in 1923. Caliph Abdulmecid II was sent into exile the same year. Several attempts to restore a caliphate followed in the decades after.
Why it matters
The abolition ended the claim to a single Islamic caliphate and started a long debate among Muslims about who should lead them.