The Ottoman Special organization - Teşkilat-ı Mahsusa : an inquiry into its operational and administrative characteristics

Abstract

The usage or misuse of the terms, “intelligence” and “band”, has culminated in the production of a number of irreconcilable Special Organization (hereafter SO) definitions in literature, thereby leading to complications in the limitation of the scope of the subject matter. This thesis argues that the most effective way to understand and grasp the SO is closely related to the conceptualization of the term, “Teşkilat-ı Mahsusa”. In this way, a simple definitional model of the SO is produced, thus eliminating some ambiguities about the subject from the outset. This definition emphasizing the nature of the SO is also expected to act as an epistemic guide for the clarification of the operational and administrative characteristics of the SO.