Editing Mehmed VI (section)

==Reign==
{{Main|Turkish War of Independence}}
{{More citations needed section|date=April 2025}}
Mehmed Vahdettin ascended to the throne at the age of 57 with little experience in statecraft. Though he detested the Unionists and was ideologically an absolutist, for a four months he had to maintain the Sultanate's subservience to the CUP. Vahdeddin reappointed [[Talaat Pasha|Talât Pasha]] as [[List of Ottoman grand viziers|Grand Vizier]] for another term. This awkward fact aside, he was happy to allow the Unionists to take responsibility for their crimes, troubles, and mishaps, and for now there wasn't too many problems between him and the CUP.{{Sfn|Bardakçı|1998|p=77–78}}<ref name=":1" />

Mustafa Kemal's first audience with Vahdeddin as Sultan was on 5 August 1918, where he implored his sovereign to dismiss [[Enver Pasha]] as Deputy Commander-in-Chief and hinted that he should be his chief of staff. Vahdeddin would give vague and non-committal answers. Several more audiences of this nature later, and Kemal understood he was going nowhere. He was soon assigned to once again take command of [[Seventh Army (Ottoman Empire)|Seventh Army]] on the crumbling [[Sinai and Palestine campaign|Syrian front]] by the sultan himself, which seemed to be orchestrated by Enver. One small consolation for Kemal was that instead of serving under von Falkenhayn, it was [[Otto Liman von Sanders|Liman von Sanders]] as commander of [[Yildirim Army Group|Yıldırım Army Group]], though his relations with him were not much better. All of his meetings with Sultan Vahdeddin came to crooked fruition when the Sultan took the title of Commander in Chief himself and installed his son-in-law [[İsmail Hakkı Okday|İsmail Hakkı Pasha]], a graduate of the [[Prussian War Academy]], chief of a private staff organization attached to [[Yıldız Palace]]. Mustafa Kemal soon understood after arriving to his command that his troops, demoralized and badly under-equiped, stood no chance to repel a British attack. Three weeks after arriving to his assignment, on 19 September, the British attacked in the [[Battle of Megiddo (1918)|Battle of Megiddo]] and smashed through Turkish lines. Perhaps as a way to motivate him, Vahdeddin made Mustafa Kemal Pasha his honorary aid-de-camp on 22 September. Over the course of October, one major Levantine city after another fell to the British, while Istanbul attempted to negotiate ceasefire terms.{{Sfn|Bardakçı|1998|p=86–88}} With the tides of war turning against Turkey, Talât Pasha resigned, the CUP dissolved itself, and the Ottomans exited [[World War I]] with the signing of the [[Armistice of Mudros]] on 30 October 1918, which was a turning point for Vahdettin's reign.{{Sfn|Bardakçı|1998|p=77–78}}

The First World War was a disaster for the Ottoman Empire. Turkey's entry into the war was initiated by the [[Committee of Union and Progress|CUP]] dictatorship. British and Allied forces captured [[Baghdad]], [[Damascus]], and [[Jerusalem]] during the war, and most of the Turkey was set to be partitioned amongst the Allies. As part of the armistice terms, much of the empire beyond the armistice lines was also to be under occupation, including the Sultan's own capital: Constantinople. Now dealing with an existential crisis over the Turkish state, Sultan Mehmed VI hoped to pursue the traditional policy of close cooperation with Britain and France in order to rehabilitate Turkey into the international community and sign a lighter peace treaty.<ref name=":1" /> He earnestly believed in a natural alliance between Britain, France, and Turkey, or, as he said: friendship with Britain, closeness with France, which had a precedence from the [[Crimean War]].{{Sfn|Bardakçı|1998|p=46–47}} However this strategy did not turn out to be successful, as despite the leadership change, the Allies considered the participation of Turkey during the Great War -and its trend in the last decade towards political instability- akin to a [[rogue state]] that deserved punishment. Therefore, Entente statesmen sought to elevate [[Kingdom of Greece|Greece]] as a responsible Eastern Mediterranean Great Power in Turkey's place. The French leg of this strategy was abandoned due to the overwhelming British leverage over the Ottomans by the wars end. In an interview with [[The Morning Post]] in 21 June 1919, Sultan Vahdeddin said: “I have always been a friend of England, like my father [[Abdülmecid I|Abdul Mecid]]. I believe that England will provide mercy and justice."{{Sfn|Bardakçı|1998|p=96–98}}

Mehmed VI witnessed many of the monarchies of Europe experiencing their demise or extreme shakeup with the end of the Great War. The German [[House of Hohenzollern|Hohenzollerns]], Austrian [[House of Habsburg|Habsburgs]], and Russian [[Romanovs]] all met their end due to the Great War, and Greece and Bulgaria's monarchies also experienced great instability due to the war. The highest priority for the Sultan was to safeguard [[Ottoman dynasty|his dynasty]]'s interests, which soon came into conflict with his empire's national interest.<ref name=":1" />

Domestically, he hoped to rely on Grand Viziers that were connected to the royal family by marriage ties. [[Damat Ferid Pasha]] was Vahdeddin's full-brother-in-law, or imperial ''[[damat]]'', for his marriage to his sister [[Mediha Sultan|Mediha]]. Even though Ferid Pasha would eventually be appointed to the premiership five times, Vahdeddin had a terrible relationship with his ''damat''. He would write of Ferid "...he was very ignorant about domestic issues. He fell victim to the cunning of the British and Mustafa Kemal Pasha and led us to a complete defeat. Poor Ferid Pasha was looking at the world through the British glasses. May God forgive him."<!-- “...iç meselelerde çok bilgisizdi. İngilizlerle Mustafa Kemal Paşa'nın kurnazlıgının kurbanı oldu ve bizi tam bir yenilgiye götürdü. Zavallı Ferid Paşa dünyaya İngilizlerin gözlüğüyle bakıyordu. Allah onu affetsin”  --> When asked by Abdul Mejid his thoughts of appointing Ferid Grand Vizier he answered "Brother, am I crazy? Neither his personality nor his disposition suits me. I would pay him a compliment for the sake of my sister. Otherwise, would I ever appoint him as Grand Vizier." But in a conversation with his daughters, the Sultan believed he no one else to appoint as Grand Vizier but him due to his supposedly good relations with the British.{{Sfn|Bardakçı|1998|p=109–111}} [[Ahmet Tevfik Pasha|Ahmed Tevfik Pasha]] was his in-law through his son [[İsmail Hakkı Okday|İsmail Hakkı]]'s marriage to Vahdeddin's daughter [[Ulviye Sultan|Ulviye Sultana]]. He was a capable, though elderly, statesman from the [[Abdul Hamid II|Hamidian]] regime, who often had to "clean up" Ferid's mess.{{Sfn|Bardakçı|1998|p=112}}<ref name=":1" />

=== Armistice era ===
[[File:Sultan Mehmed VI Vahideddin.jpg|thumb|Riding the royal carriage]]
With Talât Pasha's resignation and the CUP's self-liquidation at end of the Great War, Sultan Vahdeddin was given the opportunity to reassert the Sultanate, in contrast to his deceased half-brother who was accommodating to the CUP. He could now appoint a new Grand Vizier. His first choice was his in-law [[Ahmet Tevfik Pasha|Ahmed Tevfik Pasha]], a senile Hamidian that everyone objected to and couldn't present a government, so he dropped the matter. Mustafa Kemal Pasha sent a telegram to the Sultan, asking him to appoint [[Ahmed Izzet Pasha|Ahmed İzzet Pasha]] (the Sultan's new [[aide-de-camp]]) and make himself [[Ministry of War (Ottoman Empire)|War Minister]]. İzzet Pasha wooed the Sultan by promising to 'secure the dynasty's 'legitimate rights' and restore justice in the nation'.{{Sfn|Gingeras|2022|p=92}} The sultan assigned the task of forming the government to İzzet, though Mustafa Kemal was excluded from the [[İzzet Pasha cabinet|new cabinet]], as well as any minorities.<ref name="Mehmed">{{TDV Encyclopedia of Islam|title=Mehmed VI|url=https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/mehmed-vi|last=Küçük|first=Cevdet|volume=28|pages=422–430}}</ref> In his speech for the opening of the new legislative year of the parliament, he wished for peace along the lines of [[Woodrow Wilson]]'s [[Fourteen Points]], and that he accordingly wanted peace with the appropriate honour and dignity of the state.<ref name=":1" />{{Sfn|Bardakçı|1998|p=98}}

When İzzet's naval minister [[Rauf Orbay|Hüseyin Rauf (Orbay)]], reluctantly signed [[Armistice of Mudros]], the Sultan said the following of the cease-fire terms: "Let’s accept these conditions, even though they are very harsh. I think that the friendship and the condescending policy of the English in the East, which has continued for centuries, will not change. We will gain their tolerance later.” Rauf himself believed the many loopholes of the terms wouldn't be exploited due to his trust in English diplomatic credit and [[Somerset Gough-Calthorpe|Admiral Calthorpe]]. Instead, the allies exploited Article VII to continue occupying Ottoman territory, to much dismay from Ottoman anglophiles. Writing of the armistice terms during his exile, Vahdeddin believed Rauf to be responsible for all of the occupations of territory following Mudros, and Mustafa Kemal for exasperating the ensueing crisis.<ref name=":1" />{{Sfn|Bardakçı|1998|p=98, 121}}

Sultan Vahdeddin soon requested the resignation of İzzet, which was unconstitutional, and assigned [[Ahmet Tevfik Pasha|Tevfik Pasha]] to form a government. Two days later, the [[Occupation of Istanbul|allies occupied Istanbul]], though Tevfik Pasha was able to receive a vote of confidence from a disgruntled parliament afterwards. Sultan Vahdeddin made a press statement absolving the Ottoman people of [[collective guilt]] stating that the CUP was solely responsible for the war and its excesses, such as the [[Armenian genocide]]. He requested of his government to establish [[Prosecution of Ottoman war criminals after World War I|tribunals]] to try war criminals and that he would work with all his might to maintain friendship with England. The [[Chamber of Deputies (Ottoman Empire)|Chamber of Deputies]], dominated by Unionists [[1914 Ottoman general election|elected back in 1914]], objected that only the chamber has the authority to establish special tribunals. It looked like the Chamber was drawing up a motion to censure Tevfik, Vahdeddin and the Grand Vizier decided to dissolve the Chamber on 21 December 1918. The Sultan postponed elections until a peace treaty could be signed, even though they were constitutionally mandated to occur four months after parliament's dissolution, on the grounds that the country was under occupation.<ref name=":1" />

The question which immediately dominated Turkey was the fate of the war criminals and the Unionists. Sultan Vahdeddin asked Tevfik Pasha to resign and assigned him to form a new government in order to purge Unionist sympathizers from the government. The escape and suicide of the former governor of [[Diyarbakır|Diyarbekir]], [[Mehmed Reshid|Reşid Bey]], from prison (25 January 1919) renewed British interest in prosecuting war criminals. Britain ended up cooperating with the Turkish government in these arrest campaigns, though controversially demanded extradition of some criminals. British and French demands on war criminals increasingly mounted on the Tevfik Pasha government, and after the Sultan complained about the lack of progress on the matter in the last three and a half months, he resigned, and [[Damat Ferid Pasha|Damad Ferid Pasha]] was appointed Grand Vizier on 4 March 1919. 

A new government, consisting of members of the [[Freedom and Accord Party]], arrested the leaders of the CUP, including one of the former grand viziers, [[Said Halim Pasha]]. The trial of [[Boğazlıyan]] District Governor [[Mehmed Kemal Bey]] was quickly concluded. He was sentenced to death and publicly hanged in [[Beyazıt Square]] after the [[fatwa]] was signed by the sultan, which did not go over well with the Turks, and he was declared a national martyr.<ref name="Mehmed" /> Ferid Pasha was unable to send a Turkish delegation to the [[Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920)|Paris Peace Conference]], and the Allies increased interference in government. To calm the situation at home and shore up his popularity, Vahdeddin dispatched [[Commissions of Admonition]] [''Heyet-i Nasîha''], delegations representing the imperial family headed by royal princes to Anatolia and Rumelia.<ref name=":1" />

By the end of the war, conditions in Thrace and Anatolia -by all metrics- were disastrous, to the point where public order collapsed. The Allied Powers allowed officers to be assigned to the army in Anatolia to ensure public order. On 30 April 1919 [[Mustafa Kemal Pasha]] was assigned to the Ninth Army Troops Inspectorate, a wide-ranging responsibility which effectively gave him civil and administrative authority over all of Anatolia. In the lead up to this assignment, Kemal and the Sultan reconnected and held several audiences, with Vahdeddin trying to assess through Kemal the attitude of the army towards him, Kemal wrote later that Vahdeddin's singular concern of the army's loyalty gave him a feeling of hopelessness.{{Sfn|Bardakçı|1998|p=116}} Once he arrived in [[Samsun]], out of the reaches of Istanbul and without the Sultan's permission, Kemal indeed used his extraordinary powers to coordinate [[Turkish National Movement|a nationalist resistance]] with like minded officers, which led to British demands for his recall. The sultan was indifferent to his activities until late June. Though the government announced Mustafa Kemal's cashiering from the army on 23 June, Vahdeddin preferred to remain silent.<ref name=":1" />

On 15 May 1919, after receiving the necessary support from the Allies, Greece landed an occupation force in Izmir, which inflamed sectarian tensions in Turkey. This began the [[Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922)|Greco-Turkish War]]. In order to calm nationalist tempers, the Sultan had Ferid, who had resigned following the Greek [[Occupation of Izmir]], form his second government on 19 May, which included ten nationalist ministers without portfolio unaffiliated with political parties or the palace. Twenty-three jailed nationalists, whose trials had already been postponed were released. On 26 May, Damad Ferid convened a [[Sultanic Council]] [''Şûrâ-yi Saltanat''], a faux parliament akin to an ''[[Estates General (France)|estates general]]'', to formulate a response to the Greek occupation of Izmir. The delegates concluded the council demanding complete independence and the establishment of an emergency national council. Though the government did not implement the council's recommendations, in response the Allies extradited sixty-seven prisoners from the Bekir Ağa Division to [[Malta]], making them the first of the [[Malta exiles]]. The Sultan sent a special message to the British High Commissioner [[Somerset Gough-Calthorpe|Admiral Calthorpe]] and complained about Greek atrocities that had "[[Battle of Aydın|turned Aydın into a slaughterhouse]]". He stated that if the Greeks’ excesses were not stopped, it would be impossible to hold back the Anatolian people. He said that since his army had been demobilized, he had no soldiers to maintain order, that the journey had become terrifying and dangerous, and that he saw no hope other than the British government in preventing disasters.<ref name=":1" />

=== Initial clashes with Mustafa Kemal ===
[[File:Kemal Atatürk portrait.jpg|thumb|[[Mustafa Kemal Atatürk|Mustafa Kemal Pasha (Atatürk)]], with his [[World War I|Great War]] medals, leader of the [[Turkish National Movement|Turkish nationalist movement]] and responsible for Vahdettin's downfall]]
Following the tension between the British units stationed in Samsun and [[Refet Bele|Refet Bey]], the British demanded that Refet Bey be dismissed from the army and Mustafa Kemal be arrested and brought to Istanbul. Mehmed VI made an effort to prove to the British that he had no connection with the incident in Samsun. In a conversation on the night of 8–9 July 1919 over telegram with Kemal, who was in [[Erzurum]], Vahdeddin stated that the British wanted him to come to Istanbul immediately and that they had given him a guarantee that they would not treat the general dishonorably. In a second telegram he sent without waiting for the reply to the previous telegram, he announced that Mustafa Kemal Pasha had been dismissed from his duty as the Third Army Inspector (position since renamed) and that he should return to Istanbul. Mustafa Kemal Pasha simultaneously announced his resignation from the army and that he was ready to continue the struggle as a civilian.<ref name=":1" />

By the summer of 1919, the Allies finally decided to invite a Turkish delegation to the Paris Peace Conference, which coincided with the commencement of the trial and arrest of the Unionists once again. The Sultan demanded Tevfik accompany Damad Ferid Pasha, who headed the delegation, as he did not trust the Grand Vizier. At this time crown-prince [[Abdülmecid II|Abdul Mecid]] sharply criticized his cousin for following such a pro-British policy and placing Ferid in a position of authority. His presentation of the Turkish position to the conference, effectively demanding ''[[status quo ante bellum]]'', produced shock and ridicule from the Allied representatives, discrediting Istanbul's diplomatic position.{{Sfn|Akçam|2006|p=217–221}} The sultan nevertheless reappointed him Grand Vizier after his resignation upon returning from Paris, hoping that stacking his cabinet with even more nationalist ministers could unite the country and minimize the influence of Mustafa Kemal's burgeoning movement. Tevfik, Ahmed Izzet and [[Ali Rıza Pasha]], who were sympathetic to the national movement, were appointed ministers without portfolio. Ferid issued a circular opposing the proceedings of the [[Erzurum Congress]]. When the Erzurum Congress (23 July) convened under the presidency of Mustafa Kemal Pasha anyway, it began its work by sending a telegram of loyalty to the sultan, and a telegram criticizing the Grand Vizier's circular.<ref name=":1" />

After a long struggle instigated by British pressure, Ferid was able to obtain an arrest warrant for Mustafa Kemal Pasha and [[Rauf Orbay]] on 29 July. Crown Prince Abdul Mecid stormed the palace and criticized the sultan for blindly supporting Damad Ferid Pasha, to the point of insult. With a decree Ferid had the Sultan personally sign, all of Mustafa Kemal Pasha's decorations were withdrawn and his honorary rank of aide-de-camp to the sultan was also abolished (9 August). İzzet and Tevfik Pasha would resign from government over this event. The government was again unsuccessful in dispersing the [[Sivas Congress]] (4–11 September). Upon its conclusion, Mustafa Kemal began the [[Telegram War]] by telling provincial officials to cut communications with Istanbul until they give in to Sivas' demands. Within a month, all of Anatolia and Thrace, save Istanbul, pledged allegiance to Kemal's movement. The British urged the Sultan to create a national unity government, and with the resignation of Damat Ferid Pasha, on 2 October [[Ali Rıza Pasha]], a general with nationalist credentials, was brought to the premiership and signed the [[Amasya Protocol]] with the nationalists. Vahdeddin was unhappy to have been forced to compromise with what he thought were unreconstructed Unionists rebelling against rightful monarch.<ref name=":1" />

=== Detente with the nationalists ===
In the [[1919 Ottoman general election|1919 general election]], held as part of the Amasya Protocol, Mustafa Kemal's [[Association for Defence of National Rights|Association for the Defence of Rights of Anatolia and Rumelia]] won an uncontested victory. The sultan did not attend the opening of the legislative session, citing his illness as an excuse. In order not to be subject to criticism, he had reports about his health published in the press. Mustafa Kemal Pasha sent a get well soon telegram to the sultan. He cordially responded and thanked him. In an interview Sultan Vahdeddin gave to an American agency, he stated that he wanted peace as soon as possible, because delay was worse than war. He stated that the desired peace in the East could only be achieved by continuing Turkey's independence.<ref name=":1" />

Despite the appearances of national unity, the sultan would always believe that the Turkish nationalists surrounding Mustafa Kemal were Unionists (most members of the movement, including Mustafa Kemal, were previously members of the CUP). This disrespect was mutual, Kemal thought of Vahdeddin as naïve and incompetent. The fear of losing Istanbul prevented Vahdeddin from establishing close relations with the nationalists. He considered the nationalists’ seizure of the country's administration as a rebellion, based on the fact that the sultan's prerogatives were no longer absolute. He believed that it was out of the question for a sovereign to compromise and negotiate with rebels. The nationalists imploring him to escape from Istanbul to Bursa or Ankara was also offensive to the sultan, as he thought it would make a compelling excuse for Greece or the Allies to press a claim on the imperial capital.{{Sfn|Bardakçı|1998|p=101}} While meeting with the British High Commissioner Rumbold (23 March 1921), he said that Mustafa Kemal Pasha was a “revolutionary.” He brought up the issue of the caliphate and said, “...The caliphate will become a tool in the hands of wolves who love foggy weather.” In his memoirs written years later, he would say that he had dispatched Mustafa Kemal, but that he had openly rebelled, that Damad Ferid Pasha had tried to remove him from his post and bring him to his senses, but he had failed, that he had called Tevfik Pasha to duty to reach a compromise, but he had also failed.<ref name=":1" />

After the military [[occupation of Istanbul]] (16 March 1920), an action the Sultan had to accept under duress, Vahdeddin reported that he received the Allies' pronouncement with sorrow. He said that he had always desired cooperation with the Allied Powers, that he was relieved by the arrest of certain nationalist leaders in Istanbul, and that if the allies had not made such a decision, he would have had to do it himself. He expressed his appreciation for the guarantees regarding his own royal prerogatives.<ref name=":1" />

=== Conflict with the nationalist movement ===
[[File:Damad Ferid Pasha 1919.jpg|thumb|[[Damat Ferid Pasha]], Vahdeddin's brother-in-law and five times appointed Grand Vizier]]
While the Allies supported Sultan Vahdeddin against the nationalists, he understood this incident disrupted the rapprochement that had been forming between Istanbul and Anatolia for past six months. Indeed, He received a delegation from the [[Chamber of Deputies (Ottoman Empire)|Chamber of Deputies]] and advised the deputies to be careful in their speech as the British presence was overwhelming. When he was told that the nation was loyal to the sultan and that the British could not do anything to Anatolia, he stated that they could even go to Ankara tomorrow if they wanted. Rauf Orbay, who was in this delegation, asked the sultan not to sign any international treaties without a verdict from parliament. The sultan got angry at this and replied, “Rauf Bey, there is a nation, a flock of sheep! A shepherd is needed for its administration, and that is me!” and tried to explain that an occupied parliament could not do anything.<ref name=":1" /><!-- Bardakçı writes of this quote in a different context but also with Rauf Bey, right after signing the armistice, p120–121 -->

The [[Salih Hulusi Pasha|Salih Hulusi]] government was forced to resign because it did not accept the Allied powers’ demands to “condemn” and “reject” the nationalists (2 April). It was understood that [[Damat Ferid Pasha]] was due to return to the prime ministry. The second president of the Chamber of Deputies, [[Hüseyin Kazım Kadri|Hüseyin Kâzım Bey]], stated that appointing Ferid as Grand Vizier without receiving a solid guarantee from the British would be a disaster for the country and the sultanate. This angered the sultan who said, “If I want, I can bring the Greek Patriarch, the Armenian Patriarch, and the Chief Rabbi [to the Grand Vizierate]!”{{Sfn|Bardakçı|1998|p=111}} and assigned Damad Ferid Pasha to form a government for the fourth time (5 April). Under pressure from the British, fatwas were issued declaring that the nationalists were “infidels” and that they were “obligatory” to be killed. These fatwas were distributed by throwing leaflets from British planes. The Sultan ordered the Chamber of Deputies shuttered (11 April), and on 18 April, the [[Kuva-yi Inzibatiye|Army of the Caliphate]] was established against the [[Kuva-yi Milliye|National Forces]] (April 18). The [[Constitution of the Ottoman Empire|Constitution]] was retracted as well, formally ending the [[Second Constitutional Era]], though it was practically not in effect since 1912.<ref name=":1" />

On 23 April 1920 the [[Grand National Assembly of Turkey|Grand National Assembly]] was established in [[Ankara]] and declared itself the sole legitimate government of Turkey. This created a diarchy in Turkey: the Sultan's government in Istanbul and the [[Ankara government|Nationalist government in Ankara]] a situation [[Kingdom of Greece|Greece]], [[First Republic of Armenia|Armenia]], [[French Third Republic|France]], and [[United Kingdom|Britain]] hoped to exploit. On 27 April 1920 [[Fevzi Çakmak|Fevzi Pasha]] defected to Ankara and delivered a speech, noting that his defection was encouraged by Sultan Vahdeddin. afterwards, a telegram of allegiance was sent to the sultan, and the [[Grand National Assembly of Turkey|new parliament]] announced that the national resistance was being carried out to rescue the captive sultan. Istanbul's response to this was to sentence Mustafa Kemal Pasha and five of his comrades to death in a martial law court (24 May), a decision signed by the sultan. The Grand Vizier Ferid Pasha returned to Istanbul after receiving the harsh peace terms from the Paris Peace Conference on 11 July.

In a speech to the Grand National Assembly, Mustafa Kemal said the following of Sultan Mehmed VI's legitimacy as a Caliph:<blockquote>“..Istanbul is officially and effectively occupied by the enemy. Today, there is no difference between saying Istanbul and saying London. Unfortunately, in Istanbul, which is like London, our caliph, to whom the entire Islamic world is devoted, and our sultan, the most precious legacy of our great ancestors, has remained."{{Sfn|Bardakçı|1998|p=104}}</blockquote>[[File:Mustafa Kemal Paşa ile arkadaşlarının idam cezasına çarptırıldıkları.pdf|thumb|Death sentence signed by Vahdeddin and [[Damat Ferid Pasha]], condemning Mustafa Kemal Pasha, [[Ali Fuat Cebesoy|Ali Fuat Pasha]], [[Mustafa Vasıf Karakol|Kara Vasıf Bey]], [[Ahmet Rüstem Bey|Alfred Rüstem Bey]], [[Adnan Adıvar|Doctor Adnan Bey]], and [[Halide Edib Adıvar|Halide Edib Hanım]]]]
The sultan convened the last Sultanate Council of the Ottoman Empire in [[Dolmabahçe Palace|Yıldız Palace]] to deliberate over the peace terms, which he described as a “conglomerate of calamities” [''musibetler mecmuası''] (22 July). The grand vizier reported that it was understood from a telegram that Istanbul would be fully occupied by Greek troops if the treaty was rejected. After the deliberations, everyone except Topçu Feriki Rıza Pasha accepted signing of the treaty. With the approval he received from the sultanate council, Ferid Pasha shuffled his cabinet to suppress the Turkish nationalist movement in Anatolia and formed his fifth cabinet. Sultan Vahdeddin's representatives signed the [[Treaty of Sèvres]] on 10 August 1920. This treaty detached the Arab provinces of Turkey and turned them into independent countries under British and French [[League of Nations mandate|mandates]], while recognizing British, French, and Italian spheres of influence in Anatolia. Izmir was to be under Greek control and Armenia was to be given independence, leaving Turkey as a rump state in Anatolia and Eastern Thrace under foreign influence. In a secret session of the Grand National Assembly (25 September), Mustafa Kemal claimed that the sultan could not be considered a legitimate caliph, and accused him of treason. However, he argued that it was unwise to neglect the caliphate, the sole support of the Islamic world, and that loyalty to the sultanate and the caliphate must continue in order to achieve salvation. On the other hand, the signatures of the Treaty of Sèvres, including Damad Ferid Pasha, were sentenced to death by an [[Independence Tribunal]] in Ankara (7 October).{{sfn|Sakaoğlu|2015|p=494}} Ankara denounced the rule of Mehmed VI and the command of [[Süleyman Şefik Pasha]], who was in charge of the Army of the Caliphate; as a result, a [[Turkish Constitution of 1921|temporary constitution was drafted]] for Kemal's counter-government in Ankara.<ref name=":1" />

Despite Vahdeddin's support for peace he chose not to ratify the Sèvres Treaty despite British pressure, with the justification that it would completely divide the nation. So he put all responsibility of the Sèvres Treaty on Damad Ferid Pasha, who had been discredited even among anti-Unionists and royalists. On 17 October, the Allied Powers sent their high commissioners in Istanbul to the sultan and requested that the government of Damad Ferid Pasha be changed for a new government that could reach an agreement with Ankara.{{Sfn|Bardakçı|1998|p=105–106}} The sultan appointed [[Ahmet Tevfik Pasha|Tevfik Pasha]] to the premiership on 21 October, made up of ministers sympathetic to the Nationalists. A delegation which included former grand viziers, Minister of the Interior [[Ahmed Izzet Pasha|Ahmed İzzet]] and Minister of the Navy [[Salih Hulusi Pasha|Salih Pasha]] were sent to [[Bilecik]] to hold talks with Mustafa Kemal. However Kemal said that he did not recognize the government in Istanbul, and the delegation was detained and brought to Ankara where they were held under arrest for a month and a half.<ref name=":1" />

With the Treaty of Sèvres unpopular with the Turks and the Istanbul government seen as illegitimate, the Greeks began an offensive against the nationalist movement. The Allies now hoped to draw up a new peace settlement more acceptable for the Turks, and invited Istanbul and Ankara to the [[Conference of London of 1921–1922|Conference of London]]. Ankara did not accept the invitation as Istanbul (Tevfik Pasha) refused to recognize Ankara as the legitimate government of Turkey. In another secret session of parliament on 8 February 1922 Mustafa Kemal and the delegates discussed the feasibility of dethroning Vahdeddin with the justification that the sultan had vacated the caliphate by accepting Sèvres.<ref name=":1" />