The doctrine of Reason of State and Te？kilat-？ Mahsusa (Ottoman Special Organization) as an its manifestation in the transition process of modern Turkey

The doctrine of Reason of State is a mentality and political approach which is as old as the state’s historical existence. This doctrine sees the state as the highest worth and objective in itself. According to this approach, the legitimacy of state is inherent and self-proclaimed. The doctrine of reason of state gives priority to protection of state’s existence and preservation of its safety. To ensure the state’s existence and integrity, any methods, tactics and tools applied to are counted as permissible and accepted as legitimate. More specifically, Reason of State does not correspond to any legal or moral principle in cases of emergency and critical conditions so as to protect state itself. The necessity and emergency, the guide of Reason of State, have also revealed and shaped intelligence as a technique of the art of government. The doctrine of reason of state underlies the principle of statism which has been Turkey ’s traditional understanding of state and political attitudes in crisis periods. Turkey has emerged and developed in the womb of Ottoman modernization process and its reason of state has also been inherited from Ottoman as its predecessor. Without hiding anything, it appears that Te？kilat-？ Mahsusa (Ottoman special organization) is one of the examples of reason of state. It was secretly established as an intelligence department and military organisation by ？ttihad ve Terakki (Committee of Union and Progress) which came to power in a crisis in the last period of Ottoman Empire . This study aims to research the doctrine of reason of state in many aspects and to analyse Te？kilat-？ Mahsusa as an example in the transition process of modern Turkey within the scope of this doctrine