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Pact of Halepa
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Caption: It May be Turned to Mourning for its Loss. Our picture shows a group of the wounded lately from the Dardanelles, Ottoman Empire (Turkey) at the festivities, ca. 1914-1918. (World War I)
Understanding the Ottoman Empire
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Also called:
Treaty of Halepa
Halepa also spelled:
Khalépa
Date:
October 1878
Participants:
Ottoman Empire
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Pact of Halepa

Balkan history
Also known as: Pact of Khalépa, Treaty of Halepa, Treaty of Khalépa(Show More)
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History

Pact of Halepa, convention signed in October 1878 at KhalĂ©pa, a suburb of Canea, by which the Turkish sultan AbdĂŒlhamid II (ruled 1876–1909) granted a large degree of self-government to Greeks in Crete as a means to quell their insurrection against Turkish overlords. It supplemented previous concessions to the Cretans—e.g., the Organic Law Constitution (1868) and the Cyprus Convention (July 4, 1878), which had been consummated as part of the Treaty of Berlin after the Russian defeat of the Turks in 1878.

Specifically, the Halepa treaty broadened the rights of Christians in Crete by granting them preference for official posts and a majority in the General Assembly. Greek was declared the official language of the assembly and courts, insular revenues were reduced, and provisions for public works were made. The Greek governor-general, PhotiĂĄdes Pasha, administered the reforms, which marked the apex of liberal Turkish rule.

Insurrections recurred in 1889, causing the sultan to nullify the treaty. He tried to reinstate it in 1896, but to no avail, because the Cretans had by then decided to agitate for union with Greece.

Caption: It May be Turned to Mourning for its Loss. Our picture shows a group of the wounded lately from the Dardanelles, Ottoman Empire (Turkey) at the festivities, ca. 1914-1918. (World War I)
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