The Government of the Grand National Assembly (Turkish: Büyük Millet Meclisi Hükûmeti), self-identified as the State of Turkey (Türkiye Devleti) or Turkey (Türkiye), commonly known as the Ankara Government (Ankara Hükûmeti), or archaically the Angora Government, was the provisional and revolutionary Turkish government based in Ankara (then known as Angora) during the Turkish War of Independence (1919–1923) and during the final years of the Ottoman Empire. It was led by the Turkish National Movement, as opposed to the crumbling Istanbul government, which was led by the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed VI Vahdeddin.
The provisional government was established on 23 April 1920, after the formal occupation of Istanbul in March 1920, a decision supported by Mehmed VI. A brief civil war between Ankara and Istanbul erupted. The Istanbul government went on to sign the Treaty of Sèvres with the Allied powers, which would have left the Ottoman Empire a colonial satellite of the European powers. During the War of Independence, the Government of the Grand National Assembly amalgamated militia of the Kuva-yi Milliye ("National Forces") into a regular army to fight Greece, Armenia, France, Britain, and Istanbul. After the war, the Ankara Government abolished the Sultanate in November 1922 and the next year proclaimed the Republic of Turkey in October 1923. The Grand National Assembly is today the parliamentary body of Turkey.
